The Mosque Debated

By Brooke Boniface

Recently one of the most controversial issues in the news has concerned the building of an interfaith center known as the Cordoba House just two blocks from Ground Zero, the site of one of the devastating terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

People on both sides of the argument are passionate and convinced of the righteousness of their stance. However, no matter what side you fall on, misconstrued characterizations have plagued the debate from the beginning. Those in favor of the center have been painted as religious fundamentalists and those against it have been painted as bigots. In my own home, my mother and I have had long and intense arguments about the subject. She believes that it is too soon for a mosque to be placed in that area and that those building it are acting insensitively.

In her mind, if the Muslims in favor of building the mosque were truly moderate and peace-loving, as they claim to be, they would show some tact and build somewhere else. Her heart pours out for the families who lost people on Sept. 11, and though she understands that legally the mosque must be allowed, she still thinks it is wrong. I, on the other hand, believe that the Cordoba House should be built. The head of the mosque, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, is a well-known moderate who has worked for the US State Department as part of Islamic Outreach.

Newsweek reported, "He speaks of the need for Muslims to live peacefully with all other religions. He emphasizes the commonalities among all faiths. He advocates equal rights for women, and argues against laws that in any way punish non-Muslims."He has also been involved in this New York community for over 20 years as the imam of another local mosque.

One of the real issues at stake is that people associate Rauf and his potential mosque with Sept. 11 and terrorism in general, when in fact, they are in no way connected. The events of that tragic day were executed by a small group of radicals whose convictions are not representative of the tenants and beliefs of Islam.

This center is an opportunity to give a more prominent face and voice to the majority of moderate Muslims around the world. The Cordoba House is also a chance to remind people that most Muslims are peace loving people no different from Christians, Jews, Buddhists or anyone else.

We as a nation should not associate Muslims or the religion of Islam as a whole with the events of Sept. 11 and terrorism in general. That is not what Imam Rauf stands for and that is not what the Cordoba House would stand for.

However, even if you do not agree with my aforementioned point, the mosque still must be built. On that fateful day nearly ten years ago terrorists attacked the United States and killed almost 3,000 people including the brave first responders who rushed in to the Twin Towers to help those in danger. In the process, they attacked the rights and freedoms that our nation holds dear.

As New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg so eloquently stated, "We do not honor their lives by denying the very Constitutional rights they died protecting. We honor their lives by defending those rights­-and the freedoms that the terrorists attacked."The only way the US will find a lasting solution to the problem of terrorism in radical Islam is to discredit the belief and world view that radicals subscribe to. Moderate Islam, as promoted in the Cordoba House, can provide a counter balance to the ideas of Osama bin Laden and all people like him.

People have every right to ask Rauf and the other mosque organizers to show as much sensitivity and respect as possible in light of the circumstances. Those building the mosque should take into account the feelings and objections of those offended by his project as much as possible.But by allowing this mosque to be built, Americans show, in some small fashion, that this is a nation that does not abandon its ideals at the first sign of difficulty. A nation of true religious freedom.

Brooke Boniface is a junior political science and history double major and editor of the opinion section.