The American people have it right.
Newt Gingrich's made the ridiculous to the point of comical statement on the issue of a 'ground zero' mosque saying it would be okay 'when Saudi Arabia allows churches'. Never mind the entire controversy is one grounded in the Constitution that applies only to sovereign territory of the US. This was like saying we'll allow you to speak freely when they can speak freely in China. No, you'll do it now, because I'm an American and here we have rights. Meanwhile the 'professional left' framed the issue as purely one of fundamental rights and ignored the issue of common sense, common decency and emotions entirely.
But despite both sides' stupidity, it seems Americans have figured it out. The polls on the subject say about 70% of Americans are against the construction of the Islamic cultural center in lower Manhattan. However nearly 90% of Americans agree they have the right to do so. If you read my article 'Mosque Anyone' on August 10th (see archives if you haven't) you probably remember that I made this distinction. The idea that the right to build was not necessarily the same as the wisdom to build.
For anyone struggling with the difference between right and wisdom, consider any conversation you might have in a given day. We have the right to speak, and you have the right to speak your mind with few constraints, but every single time you craft a sentence you are considering the wisdom and impact of those words on your audience. Saying “Your tie makes me want to rub peanut butter all over my body and do the macarana on your desk.” is probably not generally wise at a job interview. You certainly have the right to do so, and your words are not offensive, but the impression it leaves and the impact it generates on those hearing that sentence may cause tension, discomfort, and sabotage your goal of gaining employment.
So throughout, the tension that our society has not been nearly as polarized as the media and politicians have tried to make it. Almost everyone sees the same picture: The cultural center has every right to do what it's doing. However something about it still awakens those dark feelings of association we have with being attacked on September 11, 2001. We're not comfortable with the execution of that right and as a people, we feel wrong even as our minds tell us this is permissible. There is a voice in our collective heads that objects to the construction on the grounds of a feeling we're having even though we find it difficult to give that feeling a rational groundwork.
So the result is predictable. Some Americans go with the feeling. They feel it's wrong, and to hell with logic or rights or anything else, they don't' want it because their gut feeling is that this is somehow a treason against their own. Others, like myself, still hear that inner voice and that twinge that says perhaps this isn't the time or the right place, but when we look at the evidence and our fundamental rights, we come to the conclusion that we must support these Muslims even if we are uncertain about the details: That sometimes being true to who we are as Americans isn't comfortable or easy, and despite our injuries, we need to move forward. Finally we certainly do have people who stand on the right to do so as definitive, and find any opposition to the cultural center as simply oppressive xenophobia.
The majority of us, however, are in the middle there. We're not sure what to DO, but we've pretty much parsed out what we feel and what we know is right. Americans are absolutely NOT ambivalent about this, but they are uncertain.
And therein lies where the politicians have taken advantage of us. Republican talking heads have used this issue to stoke up the fury of their already disenfranchised voter base, once again using irrationality, prejudice and misinformation to escalate fervor from which they benefit particular in a voting year. Democrats have been criminally silent. Where underhanded manipulation seems to be the rule of the day with the Republicans, almost criminal negligence has been the Democrat's position, their failure to stand up for a position and to advocate for one side or another out of fear of voter response undermining their claims of new and principled government. Harry Reid's adoption of the conservative position is particularly damning, a clear political move to attempt to prevent Sharon Angle from getting a leverage issue by assuming her stance.
In both cases, this is the worst of American politics. The exploitation by political talking heads going on is embarrassing. This issue should be a simple one: A group of people has decided to do something within their rights that is controversial. They should proceed, be protested, face opposition, make friends, make enemies, and stir the pot, and when it's all over, they should be protected and guarded by the same rights that make all of us free.
Everything about this issue is a microcosm of what it is to be American. The political machine, however, wants to bend the boiling pot of Americans figuring out their feelings and reacting naturally. They want to use the fervor and uncertainty and anger to their own ends instead of letting this take it's natural course and once again reaffirm our individual rights.
We have an economy that is suffering, high joblessness, rampant corporate exploitation of our uncertainty, and wars overseas costing us billions every day, and this is what politicians resort to in order to keep power or depose those in their way?
To them I say: 'You tools. Get back to work.'
Newt Gingrich's made the ridiculous to the point of comical statement on the issue of a 'ground zero' mosque saying it would be okay 'when Saudi Arabia allows churches'. Never mind the entire controversy is one grounded in the Constitution that applies only to sovereign territory of the US. This was like saying we'll allow you to speak freely when they can speak freely in China. No, you'll do it now, because I'm an American and here we have rights. Meanwhile the 'professional left' framed the issue as purely one of fundamental rights and ignored the issue of common sense, common decency and emotions entirely.
But despite both sides' stupidity, it seems Americans have figured it out. The polls on the subject say about 70% of Americans are against the construction of the Islamic cultural center in lower Manhattan. However nearly 90% of Americans agree they have the right to do so. If you read my article 'Mosque Anyone' on August 10th (see archives if you haven't) you probably remember that I made this distinction. The idea that the right to build was not necessarily the same as the wisdom to build.
For anyone struggling with the difference between right and wisdom, consider any conversation you might have in a given day. We have the right to speak, and you have the right to speak your mind with few constraints, but every single time you craft a sentence you are considering the wisdom and impact of those words on your audience. Saying “Your tie makes me want to rub peanut butter all over my body and do the macarana on your desk.” is probably not generally wise at a job interview. You certainly have the right to do so, and your words are not offensive, but the impression it leaves and the impact it generates on those hearing that sentence may cause tension, discomfort, and sabotage your goal of gaining employment.
So throughout, the tension that our society has not been nearly as polarized as the media and politicians have tried to make it. Almost everyone sees the same picture: The cultural center has every right to do what it's doing. However something about it still awakens those dark feelings of association we have with being attacked on September 11, 2001. We're not comfortable with the execution of that right and as a people, we feel wrong even as our minds tell us this is permissible. There is a voice in our collective heads that objects to the construction on the grounds of a feeling we're having even though we find it difficult to give that feeling a rational groundwork.
So the result is predictable. Some Americans go with the feeling. They feel it's wrong, and to hell with logic or rights or anything else, they don't' want it because their gut feeling is that this is somehow a treason against their own. Others, like myself, still hear that inner voice and that twinge that says perhaps this isn't the time or the right place, but when we look at the evidence and our fundamental rights, we come to the conclusion that we must support these Muslims even if we are uncertain about the details: That sometimes being true to who we are as Americans isn't comfortable or easy, and despite our injuries, we need to move forward. Finally we certainly do have people who stand on the right to do so as definitive, and find any opposition to the cultural center as simply oppressive xenophobia.
The majority of us, however, are in the middle there. We're not sure what to DO, but we've pretty much parsed out what we feel and what we know is right. Americans are absolutely NOT ambivalent about this, but they are uncertain.
And therein lies where the politicians have taken advantage of us. Republican talking heads have used this issue to stoke up the fury of their already disenfranchised voter base, once again using irrationality, prejudice and misinformation to escalate fervor from which they benefit particular in a voting year. Democrats have been criminally silent. Where underhanded manipulation seems to be the rule of the day with the Republicans, almost criminal negligence has been the Democrat's position, their failure to stand up for a position and to advocate for one side or another out of fear of voter response undermining their claims of new and principled government. Harry Reid's adoption of the conservative position is particularly damning, a clear political move to attempt to prevent Sharon Angle from getting a leverage issue by assuming her stance.
In both cases, this is the worst of American politics. The exploitation by political talking heads going on is embarrassing. This issue should be a simple one: A group of people has decided to do something within their rights that is controversial. They should proceed, be protested, face opposition, make friends, make enemies, and stir the pot, and when it's all over, they should be protected and guarded by the same rights that make all of us free.
Everything about this issue is a microcosm of what it is to be American. The political machine, however, wants to bend the boiling pot of Americans figuring out their feelings and reacting naturally. They want to use the fervor and uncertainty and anger to their own ends instead of letting this take it's natural course and once again reaffirm our individual rights.
We have an economy that is suffering, high joblessness, rampant corporate exploitation of our uncertainty, and wars overseas costing us billions every day, and this is what politicians resort to in order to keep power or depose those in their way?
To them I say: 'You tools. Get back to work.'
An interesting article by a Muslim.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.aifdemocracy.org/news.php?id=6131
While this author understands the issue, he is objectively wrong about the president's statement.
ReplyDeleteThis is absolutely about religious freedom. About the struggle between having that freedom and not liking the fact that a certain portion of the population is engaging in that freedom.
He is pleading that it is not right to build the mosque. Fine. That is his OPINION.
But government is not in the position to make a moral judgment about a fundamental right. The president's comments were directed at clarifying that the right exists to certain portion of the population that was loudly claiming it does not or should not. His stance is exactly what it had to be: They have the right to do so like anyone else and the rest is a private affair and should be beyond the reach of politics.
This writer, like many Americans, doesn't like that Religious freedom is uncomfortable and seems to be trying to use his religion as a point of leverage to broadcast that opinion with authority since he stands with a side of the issue that is mostly non-muslim. But his critique here is fundamentally flawed as he blends the moral judgment of the building's wrongness with the purpose of the President's comment (however successful) to distance political meddling beyond the issue of the fundamental right involved.