It's just that knowing about their total lack of tolerance makes their demands for our tolerance seem extremely irritating.
Here's another point on which you and I totally agree. When I hear the Saudis talk about "hurt feelings" over contentious religious issues and how other people aren't respectful enough of Islam, it makes my eyes roll so far back I'm afraid my retinas will detach. Your tolerance for cognitive dissonance has to be pretty high when dealing with them. Maybe it makes me a bad person, but I spend a lot of the time thinking to myself, "my God, I'm glad we're not like you."
And yes, there is a verse in the Quran in which God tells Jesus, (paraphrased) "you will be crucified, but you won't die, I'll just make everyone think you died."
I do appreciate that many (if not all) Christians heed the fact that we're supposed to love one another. Sometimes when it feels like I'm fighting an uphill battle over here, I try to remember my favorite verse from the New Testament: "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God."
Is the mosque and community center near Ground Zero meant to be mischief making? I don't know. I don't know what's going on in the thoughts of its supporters. I don't know if they're sincere in saying that they need more space and there is a demand and need in the community (like I said before, there is a substantial Muslim community in the neighborhood and they have been holding prayers in that building for some time). But I do know that I believe government has no business trying to stop the project. Maybe a dialogue should have been opened up in terms of finding a place that would serve the Muslim community's needs, meet the physical requirements such a space would require, and would still serve the purpose of an inter-faith dialogue without setting off the really contentious debate that we got. Truthfully, though, finding good real estate in Manhattan (especially an entire 13 story building) is extraordinarily difficult. There might not have been another suitable space in the neighborhood.
Finally, a recent
Duke Study has shown that American mosques actually serve to de-radicalize Muslims in the US. The outreach and community building initiatives undertaken by many American imams has served to combat the sense of alienation that often leads youth to become violent extremists. All the protests I'm seeing against mosques across the country are really disheartening. If we put Muslim communities on the defensive and treat them like they're not welcome in America, it'll serve to undermine any efforts by moderate imams to combat radicalization.
Rac
