The Ground Zero Mosque
As I was making my way back to the car after attending Saturday afternoon’s University of Georgia football game, I was stopped by two students who were shooting video for a class project.
They were asking me my opinion about the proposal to build an Islamic community center and mosque approximately two blocks from the site of the World Trade Center in New York.
This Saturday will mark the ninth anniversary of that infamous attack on our country that saw the destruction of the World Trade Center.
The day of the attack was clearly one of the most surreal days that I can remember and is a day that I will never forget.
We must always honor those who died that day and also honor those who have defended our freedom in response to that act of cowardice and evil.
I reflected on that day as I answered the students’ questions on Saturday. They first asked me if I thought that this particular congregation of Moslems should be able to build the mosque at the site they have chosen.
I remarked that indeed I do feel they should be allowed to do so.
What we have to remember that in a free society is that the same rights that we enjoy belong not only to us but to those with whom we have clear philosophical differences.
We are a country that promises religious freedom. Thus, the same protection that I have to recite the Apostles’ Creed and sing “Amazing Grace” applies to Moslems just as it applies to Methodists.
That said, the mosque controversy reminds me of a something I once heard a mentally ill homeless man say while I was riding on a MARTA train in Atlanta.
He said, “Knowledge can tell us how to build a bridge but wisdom will tell us whether or not we should build the bridge.”
As I explained to the young men Saturday, having the right to do something doesn’t mean it is right to do something.
In my mind if those building the mosque were interested in promoting good will for their faith with the citizens of our nation they would not seek to build a mosque on this site.
To build a mosque at this site is insensitive at best and an overt attempt to inflame passions at its worst. Wisdom clearly dictates that the mosque should be built elsewhere.
The students then asked me if I felt that Islam was an anti-American religion. Though I will confess that my understanding of Islam is limited it would not appear that the religion itself is anti-American. However, it seems fairly clear that some practitioners of that faith are anti-American.
The question that is left to be answered is are those practitioners of Islam that are anti-American typical of all Moslems or are they exceptions to the rule?
In answering that question Christians must remember there have been those who have done things in the name of the Christian faith that did not reflect the attitudes and values of most Christians.
Christians do not agree on how to practice our faith. We have differences in doctrine, church polity, and interpretation of scripture. Sincere, committed and devoted Christians worship God and live out their faith in many different ways.
This is evidenced by the fact that there are over 50 different churches of various denominations in Jasper County alone!!
The truth is that the world around is changing. In the neighborhood in which I was raised in Macon religion was fairly simple. We were either a Methodist or a Baptist with a few Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Roman Catholics and Pentecostals in the mix.
Our religious culture is in a state of flux. Today there are more Moslems in this country than Episcopalians and Presbyterians. Questions such as the “Ground Zero Mosque” question will continue to arise.
As we deal with these issues as Christians we are called to deal with them out of the content of our character and in such a way that brings glory to God. In doing so, we will give a great witness to the Christian faith.