An issue that not only Americans must oppose

Sep 11, 2010 Letters

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Dear Editor,
Just when you thought that some people couldn’t get more insensitive — to build a mosque so close to where thousands perished in one of the greatest attack on human rights, on the free world, on all that is good and moral, on humankind in general — is just thoughtless and provoking to say the least. What would the relatives of the Enmore martyrs and us Guyanese say if the British Government or people were to build a structure of their liking near to the Enmore Martyrs Monument?
Today, religious freedom is at an all time high especially in the Western world. Not so in the Eastern countries, especially for minority groups.
While the minorities here in the Western world get abundant freedom and leeway to practice openly their religious beliefs, our brothers and sisters who hold the minorities are not afforded this right in several Middle Eastern countries.
Today, Hindus and Christians suffer immensely as their sacred spaces are burnt and sabotaged; worshippers are tormented and statues desecrated — so much for the religious right and freedom enjoyed by all—in this part of the world.
Several Catholic Churches have been burned and torched, like the ones in Malaysia and Kuala Lumpur as recent as January this year. We will remember the churches and homes torched in Orissa a few years ago.
Christianity has never been at peace especially in countries where it does not hold a majority of the population.
But let’s get back to this act, which many say is akin to rubbing salt into the wounds of the hundreds of families who lost their loved ones in New York on September 11. The anniversary is fast approaching; another painful day when the names would be called, bells rung and ceremonies are held all across America to remember the thousands of souls lost. Most Americans oppose this deal to build a Muslim centre two blocks from Ground Zero. It has nothing to do with stifling religious freedom. Every religious group, Muslims included, have a right to build and pray anywhere they like.
Islam is not the enemy of anywhere, as Peeping Tom stated in his column this past week. However, when you consider what this act might do to the hearts and minds and psyche of the families of the 9-11 victims, I am perplexed as to why the initiators of this idea will not budge in their decision to carry out their plans to build a mosque at the location.
In 1993, Pope John Paul the Great ordered several nuns to move out near a former Auschwitz death camp, just because the Church is always sensitive towards the Jewish people even as we remember the cruel Nazi era. That is just one situation where a religious body had shown some kind of effort to respect the feelings of other people in given circumstances.
Freedom of worship for our Muslim brothers and sisters is not the discussion here. I have the utmost respect for our Muslim friends and they definitely deserve every right to worship and build anywhere they please just as their other brothers from the other religions. But this mosque in New York proffers the advancement of Sharia Law, all part of the global effort to make it legal in every part of the world. Let’s examine Sharia Law a bit. It is a code which is anti-female, orders death by stoning, promotes child marriage, decriminalises the abuse of women, gives wives no right to divorce, and explicitly recognises the duty of all Muslims to wage war against non-Muslims and promotes violence. I am disappointed that President Barack Obama is handling this issue as one which deals with religious freedom. Not only has the US President placed himself in the middle of two issues which he really did not have to make public pronouncements on – namely the Arizona immigration law issue and this mosque issue – but Obama has angered over two-thirds of Americans in the country who totally oppose this idea.
Perhaps, President Obama could answer to the 27 mosques that were built with US tax dollars, under the guide of an “outreach programme” aimed at fostering “goodwill” in Muslim countries. This was going on under the previous administration as well. You won’t hear about this on MSNBC, CNN, Reuters and Al- Jazeera.
The bottom line must not be missed. You cannot add to the devastation to the 9/11 families any more. This project, which I believe is going on as planned, will be a slap in the face to the families of the thousands who perished in the attacks on the free world, another painful anniversary which we would observe in a few days’ time. This is not an issue that only Americans must oppose and discourage. We in the world were all attacked on 9/11 by terrorists who claim to serve a respected world religion whose vendettas against Americans knew no boundaries and who promoted the deadly way of life namely Jihad and its concomitant, terrorism.
What is the local media reporting here on these issues and others as well? I believe our news organisations here need to revise the sources of international news that they bring to our homes during the day and the evenings. Tell me, what can CCTV and Al- Jazeera bring to a news-hungry world? The newspapers ought to stop duplicating Reuters articles and venture out to other news sources. The Canadian Free Press will expose much that is hidden by the others. Can the Guyanese media and people handle the real truth?
I believe the Ground Zero Mosque will be an issue of talking points for years to come. The story is sickening to the mind and spirit: first you bomb; then you occupy. That’s the way I see it. Well, if Ground Zero’s good enough for a mosque to be built, then they should also build a Church and Temple there too while they’re at it.
Leon Jameson Suseran

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