The Right-Wing's Racist Freak Out Over the "Ground Zero" Muslim Center

From AlterNet:

In May, news of the project grew more widespread and inflamed anti-Muslim rhetoric from the right (even though there has been a mosque in the neighborhood since the 1980s). Enraged (and now disgraced) Tea Party leader Mark Williams said the site would allow Muslims to worship their "monkey-god." From there, a right-wing freak out was born. "I hope somebody blows it up," said conservative radio talk show host Michael Berry. Rush Limbaugh said that because of the project, alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed won't "have an impossible time" getting a "sympathetic jury" if he is tried in New York. The Weekly Standard's Bill Kristol writes today that in order to save his presidency, President Obama should say the Islamic center is "a bad idea." Conservative blogger and executive director of "Stop Islamization of America" (SIOA) Pamela Geller said the Islamic center is a "triumphal mosque" on "conquered lands."

More here.

Augh. This is so 2002.

From everything I've read, it appears that this mosque and cultural center is exactly what it appears to be, a mosque and Islamic cultural center, no connections with radical clerics, no ties to Hamas or Hezbollah, no charitable donations going to the Taliban, not even any major criticisms of our fucked up and illegal wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Just a mosque and cultural center. So the sole issue here is that the thing is going up near the hallowed Ground Zero, where radical Islamic extremists flew hijacked jet planes into the World Trade Center.

In order to have a problem with that, as the essay goes on to observe, you have to equate all of Islam with the psychotic assholes who blew up the WTC. See the problem here? Obviously, all of Islam did not blow up the WTC. For that matter, all of Islam does not approve of that or any other act of terrorism, just as all of Christianity does not condone bombing abortion clinics. Indeed, most Christians and Muslims refuse to condone terrorism. That's because, for the most part, both of these religions support non-violence and peace.

So what's with the right wing on this? I mean, their boy, Monkey-Face Bush, told us again and again that we're fighting a war against terrorism, not against Islam. I guess they didn't get the memo. Or, rather, the right wing is heavily populated with bigots, racists, and xenophobes who hate Muslims just because they're not white Christians, and even though it's totally irrational, it makes a sort of sense that these angry conservatives see no difference between the 9/11 hijackers and average ordinary people who call the Supreme Being "Allah" instead of "Yahweh."

You know, I'm not particularly fond of Islam, myself--actually, I'm not particularly fond of religion in general. But this is some sick shit. One of the bedrock and most cherished principles of this nation is freedom of worship. I don't have to like Islam to see that such rhetorical vomit threatens that principle. I'm sure none of these people are capable of appreciating the irony that they were all "anti-American" this and "anti-American" that back in the days of shock and awe, and here they are trashing what it means to be an American.

These people are so fucked up.

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