Tuesday, August 17, 2010

The Ground Zero Mosque: Exposing Bigotry

In order to demonstrate the bigotry inherent in the attacks on the proposed Muslim community center near the World Trade Center, I took the start of one of the pieces written in protest of this act and edited the text ever so slightly.

See: Pamela Geller: Monster Mosque Pushes Ahead in Shadow of World Trade Center Islamic Death and Destruction

Now, let me know if you find anything wrong with the reasoning when we make a slight change that has no effect at all on the logic (or lack of it) in this article.

Let us imagine a Christian church being built 2 blocks from the World Trade Center, and somebody posting the following rant:

One might think that the religious community might be capable of some sensitivity, considering what a manically sensitive bunch they are about everything. Every time there is a religious attack (which is happening with increasing frequency), they start wailing on us infidels about religious sensitivities and anticipatory and imaginary affronts and insults.

What could be more insulting and humiliating than a church in the shadow of the World Trade Center buildings brought down by an attack done in the name of God?

Worse still, the design is a mockery of the World Trade Center building design. Religion took down those buildings when they attacked, destroyed and murdered 3,000 people in an act of conquest and religiously motivated hatred. What better way to mark your territory than to plant a giant church on the still-barren land of the World Trade Center? Sort of a giant victory lap. Any decent American, religious or otherwise, wouldn't dream of such an insult. It's a stab in eye of America. What's wrong with these people? Have they no heart? No soul?

We would, of course, and properly, have accused the author of making a gross and bigoted overgeneralization. Just because the World Trade Center was attacked by people who believe in God, this would not give just cause to condemn all people who believe in God of insensitivity for wanting a church near the World Trade Center.

Hate-filled bigots think in terms of these types of overgeneralization - either in writing such an article, or failing to see it for what it is and praising such an article.

The above, slightly edited rewrite is proof of that.