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Respect, A Two-Way Street

Ron Coody - 9/22/2010

Though the subject of the Cordoba Mosque proposed for construction near Ground Zero in New York has been in the news for several weeks, recent comments by political leaders (including Sarah Palin who introduced a new word “refudiate” to the English language) has brought new attention. The issue is fairly simple. A group of Muslims want to build a multi-million dollar mosque and multi-purpose Islamic center just next to where the Twin Towers stood until Sept. 11, 2001. The proposed religious center would occupy a building that an engine from one of the airplanes struck, raising the argument that it should be protected as an historical site and not used for any private purpose.

But the real concern is that the construction of a mosque next to the ruins of the once world-famous icons of Western capitalism and strength destroyed by a team of highly committed Islamic Jihadists simply endorses their success. Numerous writers have pointed out that historically, whenever Islam gains political, economic and military control over an area, it most often builds a mosque in a prominent place as a symbol of victory (think of the computer game, Age of Empires. In the final stage of empire development the player can build a religious monument). For the Christian Europeans of centuries past, similar monuments took the form of soaring cathedrals. The Saint Sofia cathedral in Istanbul, Turkey, stood as the chief symbol of imperial Christendom for a thousand years until Fatih Sultan Mehmet conquered the city in 1453 and immediately did his Islamic prayers in its cavernous sanctuary thus consecrating it as a mosque.

So now some Muslims, under the leadership of Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, have taken the initiative to establish the Cordoba Mosque in New York, arousing strong feelings on all sides. Are they trying to set up a symbol of conquest in a “Christian land”? Does Rauf actually have some questionable connections with Islamic elements that seek over the long-term to undermine democracy and set up an Islamic state? On the other hand, is this nonsense? Aren’t Rauf and his associates simply trying to foster mutual understanding and respect, hoping to the average non-Muslim American can better understand and appreciate their religion and various cultures of background?

Respect seemingly should be a two-way street. Recently while visiting some friends in Turkey (99.9% Muslim population) I was enjoying an evening of conversation and tea-drinking under a gazebo in the garden behind a bed and breakfast. The evening air was cool and clean and I was enjoying quietly strumming my guitar. No problem, until the local mosque starting broadcasting the evening call to prayer. Still no problem. Few Turkish people actually drop what they are doing and go to their ritual prayers.
But a problem arose when another guest in the hotel informed me that all music should cease during the call to prayer. In other words, I should have stopped strumming my barely audible $50 acoustic guitar. But, I replied, I’m not a Muslim, and Turkey claims to have freedom of religion. The guest said, “if I was in a church, I should respect what is going on there.”
“True”, I said, “but we are sitting in a garden behind a public hotel several blocks from the mosque. This isn’t the mosque.” In a recent poll in Turkey 60 percent of the country said no religion other than Islam should be allowed. According to historical Islamic law, no church can be built near a mosque and no religion other than Islam is allowed to publically practice or spread its beliefs.

From a global perspective, the problem is not so much what is happening in New York with the proposed mosque near Ground Zero. Its builders may or may not be consciously erecting it as a symbol of conquest. The problem is that in Islam respect almost always runs in one direction. The majority of Americans are usually willing to tolerate diversity of belief, and willing or not, our constitution guarantees freedom of religion. But what do you do with a “religion” that is also a political system? Islam never had the teaching to “give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.” It has Shariah law that teaches, “everything is Allah’s, throne and pulpit, give everything to him.” That’s what the word Islam means, submission to Allah. America will allow mosques in every city, village and hamlet, but don’t expect the favor to be returned in Cairo or Medina or Pakistan.

Perhaps this is a moment when somebody can say, you know, we need to do more than just smile and live in blissful ignorance. Islam is a worldview claiming absolute truth. Okay, what if it is true, what if it isn’t? (and forget the notion that “it may be true for you but not for me”.) Will the appearance of mosques in corn fields and on street corners followed by loudspeaker calls of Allahwakbar prod folks out of their slumber to engage seriously with Muslims about what constitutes truth? Will thoughtful people of conviction bring their completing ideas into contact with one another before it is too late to share those ideas freely?