MARKET WATCH COLUMNIST
“Mike’s Gutsy Defense of Mosque” Ellis Henican Column, amNewYork, August 6, 2010
The predictable bashing has begun. Mike Bloomberg, defender of religious freedom, is getting plenty of grief for his principled support of what is incorrectly known as the “Ground Zero mosque.”
Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, the Wall Street Journal editorial board – their throaty outrage hasn’t quieted a decibel since the city’s Landmarks Preservation Committee refused to treat one religion differently from the others.
First things first: The mosque isn’t AT Ground Zero. It’s two blocks away in the former Burlington Coat Factory. But truly, this is not an issue of geography. It’s an issue of principle. And when the history of the early 21st century is written, Bloomberg’s eloquent words will command an honored place.
The polls are against him, as they are often when political leaders take principled stands. Various interest groups feel rattled, which is not entirely a bad thing. But the mayor’s words echo with such clarity that, like Martin Luther King’s on the Mall in Washington, you have to think America will eventually catch up.
Bloomberg’s rhetorical style doesn’t equal King’s. The mayor was reading, and he sounded like it. But what other politician – an erstwhile Republican, no less — was ever saying something like this?
I’ll use my remaining space for quotation. Anything else would pale.
“The World Trade Center site will forever hold a special place in our city, in our hearts. But we would be untrue to the
best part of ourselves and who we are as New Yorkers and Americans if we said ‘no’ to a mosque in lower Manhattan.
“Let us not forget that Muslims were among those murdered on 9/11, and that our Muslim neighbors grieved with us as New Yorkers and as Americans. We would betray our values and play into our enemies’ hands if we were to treat Muslims differently than anyone else. In fact, to cave to popular sentiment would be to hand a victory to the terrorists, and we should not stand for that.
“Political controversies come and go, but our values and our traditions endure, and there is no neighborhood in this city that is off-limits to God’s love.”
E-mail ellis@henican.com. Follow him at twitter.com/henican
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THE MOSQUE HAS BEEN THERE SINCE 1970, I AM A JEW AND I APPROVE THE MOSQUE BEING THERE. WHERE IS THIS GOING? RACISIM? I MEAN C’MON WHY PEOPLE DONT COMPLAIN WHEN CATHLOIC CHURCHES ARE BEING BUILD AROUND PLAYGROUNDS?
Shame on Bloomberg, you, and the Moslems that lost people on 9/11. Totally insensitive. Can build this Mosque anyplace in NYC. But no, the 9/11 site. Why? That in itself is curious. And where is the funding coming from?