Newsletter: Vol. 10. Iss. 1
September 2010
The Essence of Evil
Peter J. Miano
Nothing so illustrates the deterioration of public discourse in America than the current flap about the so-called ground zero mosque. The cheapening of public debate by itself is cause enough for alarm, because there is no democracy without public information. Popular pundits such as Glen Beck, Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh, not to mention once and future politicians such as Newt Gingrich and Sarah Palin, generate heat but remarkably little light on a broad spectrum of issues, especially this one, which is obviously a sensitive one. Rather, they flaunt their ratings as if the number of viewers or listeners validates their opinions. After all, 10,000 flies can’t be wrong can they? I believe that sincerely concerned individuals deserve better than the misleading rants of sensationalistic, journalistic bottom feeders and opportunistic politicians who want to capitalize on a hot button issue.
More alarming than the decibel levels of public discourse, however, is the casual disregard for accuracy in reporting and the nonchalance with which ethnic and religious stereotyping creeps into public debate. The popular debate about the so-called ground zero mosque seems to center on the propriety of developing a section of lower Manhatten as a mosque. The critics assert that somehow the presence of a mosque in the vicinity of ground zero dishonors the memory of the September 11 disaster. The critics, however, tend to ignore the simple reality that there was a mosque within three blocks of the World Trade Center site before the twin towers were even built and that that mosque has remained active in the thirty years since their construction and the nine years since their infamous destruction. They tend to ignore that there are two churches and a synagogue within a five block radius of the site of the September 11 attack. How does discrimination against a particular development project on the basis that, among other things, it will house a mosque square with American religious and democratic values? Critics sometimes correctly observe in reply that no one would be allowed to build a church in Mecca. That answer is peculiar in that it seems to suggest that we should model our democratic values after those of a feudal monarchy. Since when does American democracy imitate Saudi Arabia? By the way, it is not just Muslim societies that restrict religious freedoms. We would not be allowed to build a church anywhere in “democratic” Israel either. The critics of the proposed community center in lower Manhatten themselves strongly favor restriction of religious freedom themselves. Why would any flag loving American want to degrade American democratic values by undermining a constitutional right?
Critics of the so-called ground zero mosque, including pundits and politicians, also tend to ignore the fact that the neighborhood within five blocks of the site of the World Trade Center is not a particularly wholesome one to begin with. They argue that building a mosque there would be insulting to the memory of the September 11 disaster. Am I to understand that the Pussycat Lounge, located within five blocks of ground zero, where they proudly advertise that they can arrange private lap dances, somehow honors the memory of September 11?
Most importantly, however, my concern over the debate about the ground zero mosque centers on the atmosphere of bigotry in which it occurs. Consult your dictionary of choice and you will find that bigotry is defined as religious intolerance or intolerance and hatred of a particular group. Thanks to 24 hour cable news stations and talk radio in which ratings are more important public information, bigotry is the suffocating atmosphere in which all public discussion of the so-called ground zero mosque takes place in America today. I don't object to sincere concern about public issues. I do object to fear mongering and deliberate distortions. I also object to religious slurs which infiltrate civic discourse in America more and more each day.
