Islamic Center overtly provocative

The controversial proposal to build an Islamic Center near Ground Zero has sparked venomous accusations and counter accusations. Sharif El-Gamal is the Imam behind the center, and his plans to build the center have begun a national debate that finds him standing in no-man's land, with El-Gamal and his supporters saying that the fight represents a lack of respect for religious freedom and an attempt by Americans to repress a feared religion. All I can say to El-Gamal and his supporters is this: Cry me a river. The Park 51 project, formerly called Cordoba House, is most likely a deliberate attempt to provoke the American people by playing on their fears and anger. While the arguments in favor of building the Center in the proposed location generally seem rational, there is a single problem that the proponents of the Center ignore. And the problem is that feelings on anything related to Sept. 11 seldom have anything to do with rationality.

El-Gamal would have been an utter fool to draw up plans to build Park 51 near Ground Zero and expect the American people, who are willing to take up arms against far more trivial things, to simply shrug and defend the project on Constitutional grounds. He had to have known that an uproar would ensue. He must have known how ridiculous some of the claims against the Center, such as "it would be a staging ground for terrorist operations," would be. In my opinion he is trying to build the Center to provoke and antagonize people.

Everything about Park 51 screams deliberate provocation. For example, the function of Park 51 would not be impeded were it to be moved. So why build it at such a controversial site unless the aim was to provoke? Even the original name of the center—Cordoba House—is a symbolic slap in the face. Giving an Islamic cultural center near Ground Zero the same name the Muslims gave their mosque when they conquered Spain is not the best way to go about convincing people that your intentions aren't provocative. While the original name of the center does not symbolize the Islamic conquest of the West, the mere fact that it can be interpreted that way lends credence to the idea that Park 51 is intended to provoke the American people into a heated argument. This is certainly an objective El-Gamal and his supporters have accomplished.

The fact is that while freedom of religion is an inalienable Constitutional right, and that El-Gamal absolutely does have the right to build an Islamic cultural center, he should not be building near Ground Zero. Building Park 51 near Ground Zero would be like building a Lutheran or Methodist church (branches of the Christian faith which were contributing factors to Hitler's rise to and maintenance of power) near Auschwitz. Hitler was a professed Christian, though his version of the faith was a perverted one, and was aided in his genocide by a small number of Christian fanatics. This is not to say that Christians in general were complicit in the Holocaust: the majority had no part in it, just like the majority of Muslims had no part in Sept. 11 and condemned the atrocity, but that does not mean it is permissible for them to build sites of religious worship at the sites of some of the greatest atrocities ever committed in the name of their faith.

Yes, the people who committed the horrid crimes in question are not representative of their whole religion; and yes, freedom of religion is a right, but El-Gamal should not exercise this right without regard to the grief and suffering of a nation; doing so is an abuse of these rights.

Park 51 could just as easily be built further away from the site that serves as a constant reminder to Americans of the dangers religious fanatics pose and to insist it stay in its intended location bespeaks of a "because I can" mentality that is grossly inappropriate considering the strong feelings with which El-Gamal is toying. Building Park 51 so close to Ground Zero is forcing us to choose between honoring absolute freedom of religion and suppressing the intense emotions many of us feel with regards to Sept. 11 and those terrorists responsible for the attacks. El-Gamal is playing a dangerous game and could end up turning even more Americans against his culture and religion as easily as it could get more people to accept them. El-Gamal is playing with fire and he should get burned.