To all the wingnuts out there trying to put together an argument against the Cordoba House - I’m sorry, but it really does. Maybe I shouldn’t expect all that much. I mean, writing is not easy. If there is one thing Web 2.0 has taught us it is surely that. But as blog readers, we put up with it. I’ve seen persuasive writing and journalism abused in every way on the internet. I read the comment section on general news sites, so I know terrible. I understand Not everyone is a professional. I’m not a professional writer either - this diary won’t be the best you read today. But these mosque analogies - ugh.
Analogies are difficult. They take a deft hand where most bring a sledgehammer to the internet. Historical analogies are especially difficult because they take some grasp of history – more, seemingly, than most people have. But, in good old American fashion, not knowing stuff hasn’t stopped anyone. That’s why everything on the internet becomes analogous to either Nazis or slavery. Boom – sledgehammer. To write an analogy for the Cordoba House you should also have some knowledge of Islam. After nine years of war in Muslim counties you’d think there would be some of that that around, but sadly no. So we get a whole lot of suck. Here are some actual examples I’ve seen, and why they suck. Add the especially egregious analogies you’ve seen in the comments.
"It’s like building a KKK museum next to where a black church was bombed"
I see the where you got confused with the whole terrorist thing. But, you see, Islam is not a terrorist organization. Protestantism is not a terrorist organization. Al Qaeda is an Islamic terrorist group, and the KKK is a Protestant terrorist group. So if Al Qaeda were building the center you would be right. Or, if the Protestants were putting a center near the church bombing, you would be right but you wouldn’t care. Anyway, the black churches that were bombed were Protestant too – but wait, Muslims were also killed in the World Trade Center...hmmm.
"It’s like a church in Saudi Arabia"
There’s such a horrible misunderstanding here it’s difficult to know where to begin. The attack on the WTC was not an attack on Christianity. The work that took place in those towers was economic (trade center) not religious. While America may have a Christian majority, it is still a secular country. So I have no idea where you get this church thing, or this Saudi thing. Is it because Mecca is in Saudia? Fine, Jerusalem is in Israel, so all Jews are now responsible for Israel’s policies. See how stupid that is?
"It‘s like a cavalry memorial at Wounded Knee"
Sure, that would be shitty, but the cavalry actually killed those people at Wounded Knee, while the people starting the community center killed no one. Not only that, but the cavalry that carried out the massacre were agents of the US military and the US government – so any military or governmental building near that site would, to you, be just as bad. Except...Lakotah people have served in the US military...so that’s kind of like how Muslim people were victims at the WTC...hmmm. What really sucks about this analogy is that with all the shitty things the US government has done to native people this stupid hypothetical is all you could think of. What about those giant presidents’ heads carved on the Lakotah’s sacred mountains? You miss those?
Extra special shitty Native American analogy: "It’s like building a memorial to Custer at Little Big Horn". Psst...you’ve got something backwards!
"It’s like that convent at Auschwitz"
No, it isn’t, and if you would bother to read a little bit about that convent you wouldn’t write such stupid things. At the time that convent was proposed, Poland was still tight under Communist government and the genocide at Auschwitz was not yet being properly recognized. The Catholic Church was thinking only of the Catholic murders there. The Polish government was being a dick to the Jewish people who wanted to be involved in the Auschwitz site. The convent was going into a building were poison gas had been stored. The convent was eventually moved to just outside the Auschwitz grounds but a huge cross was left behind. But the biggest reason this analogy sucks is because over one million Jewish people were purposely forced into train cars, shipped to Auschwitz, and poisoned to death. Leave it alone.
Extra special shitty Auschwitz analogy: "It’s like a statue of Hitler at Auschwitz". Fuck you.
"It’s like a Shinto shrine at Pearl Harbor"
I see what you did there. The Japanese military attacked an American naval base at Pearl Harbor, and you heard somewhere (Wikipedia?) that "Shinto" is a Japanese religion, so you thought you’d just throw it all together. What about Buddhism? Who cares! Look, Japan is a nation, with a military, that made a strategic decision to attack the United States. Since the war we’ve become great allies (but we keep our military bases there just in case!). Hawai’i is actually full of Japanese people – tourists, expats, and Americans of Japanese descent. So if anything, you’ve brought up a great analogy showing how former enemies can become friends.
Extra special shitty Japanese analogy: "It’s like a Benihana at Pearl Harbor". Yuk.
So please, all you internet people, I understand your difficulty but please remember:
It's better to be silent and thought a fool, than to speak up and remove all doubt.