Here are two quotes that I came across while skimming through the ongoing controversy in the U.S, over the proposed mosque near Ground Zero -
and a poster carried in a protest against the proposed mosque -
It shows weak support for freedom of religion in the U.S - when Muslims are involved.
Ron McNeil is an American Republican Congressional candidate who has been going around telling school children that Islam is against American ideals.
Mr. McNeil’s opinion of where the new mosque in New York should be built is quite absurd and very disrespectful. He believes that the proposed mosque near Ground Zero should be built “nine stories underground, so we can walk above it as citizens as Christians.”
and a poster carried in a protest against the proposed mosque -
Building a mosque at ground zero is like building a memorial to Hitler at Auschwitz
It shows weak support for freedom of religion in the U.S - when Muslims are involved.
Ron McNeil is an American Republican Congressional candidate who has been going around telling school children that Islam is against American ideals.
This story reminds me of the movie "My name is Khan" and its depiction of a Muslim in America, post 9/11. It had seemed an exaggeration to me before, but seems too true now. Not every Khan is a terrorist. Yet, there is a sense of fear and prejudice associated with a Muslim name, a Muslim worship place or anything to do with Islam among a certain section in present America. Not everything can be blamed on American intolerance though.
The terrorists have misused the word "Islam" and phrases such as "a fight to save Islam" or "to die for Allah", that an average ignorant person may end up associating the two, which is not to say that the two are associated. In fact, like any other religion, Islam is based on peace, love and harmony.
I say an ignorant person because holding a whole religion responsible for the acts of a few who think they do what they do for saving/promoting their religion amounts to nothing more than ignorance. Since Muslims have been equated with Hitler in the above poster, we can safely say that as Hitler and the Nazis went about 'purging' Germany by getting rid of the Jews because they believed them to be an inferior people, all Christians in Germany are terrorists or were terrorists at the time. So let's not build a church near Auschwitz.
We need to open our minds and be more tolerant and accepting of others. Because otherwise, an eye for an eye will make the whole world blind.
The terrorists have misused the word "Islam" and phrases such as "a fight to save Islam" or "to die for Allah", that an average ignorant person may end up associating the two, which is not to say that the two are associated. In fact, like any other religion, Islam is based on peace, love and harmony.
I say an ignorant person because holding a whole religion responsible for the acts of a few who think they do what they do for saving/promoting their religion amounts to nothing more than ignorance. Since Muslims have been equated with Hitler in the above poster, we can safely say that as Hitler and the Nazis went about 'purging' Germany by getting rid of the Jews because they believed them to be an inferior people, all Christians in Germany are terrorists or were terrorists at the time. So let's not build a church near Auschwitz.
We need to open our minds and be more tolerant and accepting of others. Because otherwise, an eye for an eye will make the whole world blind.
