The argument against allowing some American citizens to worship as they see fit supposedly has nothing to do with "what" they are as opposed to "where" they are.
Supposedly, some part of the ground in New York has become Holy. Apparently, to allow a Muslim to worship in or near this Holy Soil would be a sacrilege, a blasphemy against....I don’t know, some god creator of some kind.
Or maybe it would just be gauche, you know like eating an entrée with a salad fork.
But apparently this outrage would be so severe, it is worth putting the U.S. Constitution and over 230 years of rule by law through the shredder to prevent it.
Witnessing the hysteria over the renovation of an old building from a former coat factory to a community centre staffed by Muslims and which – gasp – would include a place to pray and worship, I became curious.
What about the other "Holy" sites in America? Are they similarly protected from blasphemy or at least from other Americans and gauche behavior?
I decided to do a little checking and with limited resources discovered at least two instances where this is definitely not the case:
- Pearl Harbour. Attacked by the Navy Air Force of the Empire of Japan, precipitating U.S. entry in to the Second World War. Number of Americans killed 2,403, 68 of those were civilians. 1,178 were wounded.
Today: Japanese Americans are one of the most dominant and influential groups in Hawaii comprising over 16% of the Islands inhabitants. According to Wikipedia:
In Hawaii, where Nikkei are about one-fifth of the whole population, Japanese is a major language, spoken and studied by many of the state's residents across ethnicities. It is taught in private Japanese language schools as early as the second grade. As a courtesy to the large number of Japanese tourists (from Japan), Japanese subtexts are provided on place signs, public transportation, and civic facilities.
In and around Pearl Harbour today are a number of Japanese Cultural centres, which cater to the interests, beliefs and identity of Hawaii’s Japanese residents.
- The Alamo. Again from Wikipedia;
On February 23, approximately 1,500 Mexican troops marched into San Antonio de Béxar which is now named San Antonio as the first step in a campaign to re-take Texas.
Following a 13-day siege, Mexican troops under President General Antonio López de Santa Anna launched an assault on the Alamo Mission near San Antonio de Béxar (modern-day San Antonio, Texas). All but two of the Texian defenders were killed.
In the early morning hours of March 6, the Mexican Army advanced on the Alamo. After repulsing two attacks, Texians were unable to fend off a third attack. As Mexican soldiers scaled the walls, most of the Texian soldiers withdrew into interior buildings. Defenders unable to reach these points were slain by the Mexican cavalry as they attempted to escape. Between five and seven Texians may have surrendered; if so, they were quickly executed.
Today: Mexican presence in San Antonio and around the Alamo is extensive. Within site of the Alamo itself is Riverwalk, the San Antonio Public Library, designed by internationally acclaimed Mexican architect Ricardo Legorreta. Just a short distance further is the Mexican Cultural Institute, which promotes a "Cultural Representation of the Mexican Government in San Antonio. Its mission is to promote Mexican cultural Arts in the South of Texas".
It would seem to me that if the World Trade Centre site is so sacred that even the establishment of a community centre that includes a place to pray and worship is abhorrent, then multiple cultural sites in and around Pearl Harbor and the Alamo must be unconscionable. Especially the Mexican Cultural Institute which represents the Mexican Government in San Antonio.
I have no doubt, now that these outrages have been discovered, that the Republicans and their allies on Fox News will take up the banner and demand that Japanese Americans and Mexican Americans do the "responsible" thing and remove the offending presence post haste.