it's been nearly a decade since our country faced one of the worst events in modern history, 9/11. on that day ten years ago, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, husbands, wives, parents and friends did not come home. the world was forever altered.
i was just telling my best friend, as we discussed this somber anniversary, that one of the things i remember most from the days and months that followed 9/11 was the sense of overwhelming humanity. while i can't speak to the rest of the country, in new york (and the tri-state region), there was an understood camaraderie...an unspoken feeling that we are all amercians and we have each other’s backs. i remember thinking, if this is the one good thing that comes from this horrible event, what a wonderful legacy that would be. then tonight, i watched the cnn special, "unwelcome: the muslims next door" and my heart and hopes dropped.
part of the nashville metropolitan area, murfreesboro has a population of approx. 108,755 (according to the 2010 u.s. census). cnn states that murfreesboro has had a healthy muslim community for quite some time. as a matter of fact, right after 9/11 those muslims interviewed in the special said they were approached by neighbors reassuring them that they know not all muslims were involved with terrorism. as the muslim community increased in this area, they slowly out grew their house of worship. they did some fund raising among their members and raised enough money to purchase land to build a new 52,000-square-foot structure with a mosque, gym, playground and cemetery. (i don't need to tell you what came next, do i?)
just as quickly as they prepared their plans, the backlash followed. this included lawsuits, a fire that, according to cnn, "destroyed construction equipment and damaged vehicles at the construction site for the mosque,” (the police declared it arson) and the defamation of a sign at the front of the property with the words "not welcome" sprayed across it. additionally, during the taping of one of the segments, gunfire was heard on the plot of land. throughout the special, the legitimacy of the islamic/muslim beliefs as a religion is called into play (hence waiving the first amendment). as the huffington post explains, the opposition's positions sounded reminiscent of claims made by people against desegregation, "you hear opponents make claims like, 'they want to disrupt our way of life. they want to kill us. they beat their women. they're not like us.'"
the judge in the case ultimately ruled in favor of the islamic center and recently upheld his ruling stating: “those who are adherents to islam are entitled to pursue their worship in the united states just as are those who are adherents to more universally established faiths (in our community)."
the very first amendment of the u.s. constitution reads in part: "congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." why was this is the first one out of the box? because it was the one that our founding fathers believed the most in. yet here we are today with people going to extremes to "protect" their cities from neighbors who have differing beliefs from their own. it sometimes seems like 9/11 gave people with these types of stereotypes and excuse for their bigotry.
it's not that long ago a country murdered millions of jews because they had different religious beliefs and were therefore something that needed to be eradicated. additionally, in our own country, fears of the japanese during world war ii cause many (including japanese-americans) to be held in internment camps. (if put to a vote after 9/11 how many would have sadly said yes to muslim internment camps?) and it is already sneaking into our next presidential campaign. recently, chris wallace of fox news interviewed presidential candidate herman cain about the issue in murfreesboro. wallace asked cain if any community has the right to ban mosques? his answer was yes. he said: "yes, they have the right to do that. that’s not discriminating based upon religion – against their particular religion – there is an aspect of them building that mosque; and the people in the community know what it is and they’re talking about it." (cain went on to justify his statement that he would not hire a muslim for his cabinet, saying that is different from people discriminating against blacks during civil rights because he is erring on the side of caution. here are the clips from the interview).
my point, and i do have one is...who are we? ten year after 9/11 is the america we now live in a better place than before? can’t we be patriotic without being discriminatory? do we stand more firmly in our country's core beliefs? or are we using them because we are scared? i am humbled by the men and women of our military who put their lives on the line for not just our freedom, but the rights of all people who long to be free from oppression...yet right at home the oppression for some continues. while our military is fighting overseas, don't we owe it to them to be able to return to a country free of oppression for all?
next weekend, i will challenge myself to honor those taken too soon by re-finding the basic humanity i felt the days following the attack…as i still believe that would be the greatest legacy. what's your point?
