Written by Jake Rush
For the past couple of months, one very hot topic in the news has been the plan to build an Islamic mosque and community center near the location where the Twin Towers, also known as the World Trade Center were destroyed by Islamic extremists on Sept. 11, 2001. Most in the left wing are for this proposed Islamic house of worship, calling it an expression of peace with Middle Eastern countries; on the other hand, most in the right wing are against building it in that location out of respect for those who perished on that dreadful day.As I tend to do with most political issues, I am sticking with the right on this one. In my opinion, there are just a couple of reasons why a mosque should not be built at the proposed location.The first reason the mosque should not be built at the proposed location (400 feet from ground zero) is out of respect for the nearly 3,000 American lives stolen by Islamic extremists on 9/11.I am aware that not all Muslims believe the same things. As a matter of fact, Islam and Christianity share many things in common, one being that there are different interpretations of their holy text. Some Muslims take what is known as Jihad, or “struggle” in the Quran, to mean that part of their faith is to bring all non-Muslims, or “infidels,” into the Islamic faith, otherwise they should be destroyed. Muslims of this belief tend to be the ones we know as “extremists.” Many other Muslims do not believe the Quran is literal in the sense that if a person refuses to come to the Islamic faith, then he or she should be harmed.Unfortunately, unlike Christianity where we have places of worship for the Church of Christ, Baptists, Methodists, etc., the majority of Muslims, extreme or not, don’t have separate mosques for those who are “extremists” or peaceful. Out of respect for the families of those who were lost on 9/11 and because of the beliefs of the “extremist” factions of Islam, I don’t believe that this mosque should be built so close to ground zero.Another reason the mosque should not be built so close to ground zero, and probably the most important to me, is that I believe doing so will only encourage more extremist attacks. By building a mosque so close to where so many were killed because of extremist faith, we are sending a message to them that their mission is being accomplished. It shows that we are willing to accept or submit to their methods of spreading their faith, which is by murdering innocent people.If we are to resist these terror attacks and win this war on terror, we must not show that we are willing to give in. In fact, there are already two mosques located near ground zero, one 12 blocks away, and another four blocks away. I see building another one as a sign of our willingness to, in some effect, surrender to these extremists.In all honesty, I would prefer there not be any place of worship built so close to ground zero no matter what religion it is. I believe ground zero should be nothing more than a memorial site for those lost on 9/11. There were Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists and many others who died there, and the memorial should serve as a monument to all of their lives and religious beliefs.JAKE RUSH is a guest contributor for the Bison. He may be contacted atjrush@harding.edu
