Sunday, August 08, 2010

The NYC Ground Zero Mosque Debate - Vini, Vidi, Bombed, Vincero, Holly Cow!



Veni, Vidi, Bombed, Vincero – “I came, I saw, I bombed, I Build the Arab World's Third Holiest Place, I win!

Posted By CotoBlogzz

In a piece published in the Red County last week, Assistant Director of the Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence and adjunct professor at Chapman Law School Karen Carpenter Lugo not only argues against the building of a Mosque close to 9-11 Ground Zero, but argues for a national mosque litmus test.
Using what appears to be Islam-phobia,  Ms. Lugo quotes  from Bernard Lewis’  Islam and the West:  “There is only a single law, the shari’a, accepted by Muslims as of divine origin and regulating all aspects of human life: civil, commercial, criminal, constitutional, as well as matters more specifically concerned with religion in the limited, Christian sense of that word.”



Ms. Lugo further  argues that because of  “…. a blind fixation on free speech, freedom of association and a general sense that anything called religion gets a pass from government scrutiny”, then “ Islamists are free to set up shop in America’s towns and cities with little more than random protests. The Ground Zero Mosque has become a flashpoint for a long overdue national discussion.”

While we agree with Ms. Lugo that  Ground Zero Mosque should not be built, our reasons are perhaps diametrically opposite:.  For example, Ms. Lugo’s use of Lewis assertion is akin tosaying there is only one interpretation of the US Constitution - we know different. Or not unlike Calvary Chapel Patriarch Chuck Smith taking exception to the Vatican’s assertion that the only true path to salvation is through the Vatican’s teachings.

Or take the New National Automobile Support Administration's (NASA) new mission to build a 21st Century Bridge to the Muslim world.  To AG Holder, this means to refuse to acknowledge that Islamic terrorists have been involved in  the three most recent terrorist incidents:  Ft. Hood Murderer Nidal Hassan, Christmas Day Underwear Bomber and Time Square Bomb Square.   However, he profusely praised the Muslim community for its help in this week indictment of 14 individuals charged with  supporting terrorist organization Al-Shabaab.

Now,  consider that Radical Islam, including Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's Shi'ite creed says mortals can not only influence but also hasten the awaited return of the 12th Imam, known as the Mahdi. Iran's dominant "Twelver" sect holds that this will be Muhammad ibn Hasan, the righteous descendant of the Prophet Muhammad. He is said to have gone into "occlusion" in the 9th century, at age 5. His return will be preceded by cosmic chaos, war, bloodshed and pestilence. After this cataclysmic confrontation between the forces of good and evil, the Mahdi will lead the world to an era of universal peace - standing in the way is Israel.

On the other hand, the symbolism of the Cordoba Initiative Mosque is more powerful than planting the US Flag on the moon.  The message?  Paraphrasing  Caesar's phrase:  Veni, Vidi, Vici, - I came, I saw, I conquered,” in this case, Veni, Vidi, Bombed, Vincero – “I came, I saw, I bombed, I win!

Not convinced, yet? Do you know that not unlike the Palestine issue, Medina,  the Arab world's second holiest city, allegedly purely Arab city  was first settled by Jewish tribes?



According to Bernard Lewis:

“The city of Medina, some 280 miles north of Mecca, had originally been settled by Jewish tribes from the north, especially the Banu Nadir and Banu Quraiza. The comparative richness of the town attracted an infiltration of pagan Arabs who came at first as clients of the Jews and ultimately succeeded in dominating them. Medina, or, as it was known before Islam, Yathrib, had no form of stable government at all. The town was tom by the feuds of the rival Arab tribes of Aus and Khazraj, with the Jews maintaining an uneasy balance of power. The latter, engaged mainly in agriculture and handicrafts, were economically and culturally superior to the Arabs, and were consequently disliked.... as soon as the Arabs had attained unity through the agency of Muhammad they attacked and ultimately eliminated the Jews.”- 



Refer to  Medina, Islam's second holiest city, was originally a Jewish  "settlement" 
Ms. Lugo’s  demand  for a national mosque litmus test is even more misguided, even in light of an “Islamic Center Expansion”  strategic  context, as Ms. Lugo later adds.  Such plan is not only dangerous,  but also a slippery slope and detracts from the main issues:

We posit that activist judges and Attorney General Holder pose a greater danger.  Consider the extent to which California schools have gone to accommodate Muslim students, while making sure that the Christian God stays out of the public discourse, and if included, it is typically vilified.  Considering the Bible as “hate speech” by activist judges, is another example.

Wit Judge Walker’s irrational ruling on Prop 8,  writing that there was no "rational basis" for supporting marriage as the union of a man and a woman, despite the fact that 7 million California voters had approved the marriage amendment in 2008.

Now, whether Islam is a religion of peace is arguable.  Whether there are peaceful individuals in the world and in the United States who practice Islam is not up for debate.

The question is whether Islam should get a pass, at the expense of other religions, simply because the President and the Attorney General want NASA to  build a 21at Century Bridge to the Muslim World, or whether activist judges should be allowed to serve at all:

Turn to France and its  Burqa Issue for an illustration. :  Traditionally,  Americans have sought  personal liberty, to live as they see fit, to worship as they please.  Americans  seek freedom from the use of power wielded arbitrarily by whoever holds the political sword – enter the Constitution, creating  a political regime for individuals who wished to be united with their countrymen not essentially by a common language, ethnic background, or other accident of birth. Americans are united by a love of liberty, respect for the freedom of others and an insistence on their own rights as set forth in the Declaration. 

Not too long ago, a person on parole sued the OCSD because she was compelled to remove her burqa for safety reason.  Local papers, such as the OC Register and the LA Times focused on how the woman may have been traumatized, not on the fact that she was on parole, and transgressed, again!

So, should Islam, the President of the United States,  or any other new-age or traditional religion for that matter,  be allowed to apologize for American Exceptionalism?  That is,  should the Traditional American  be silenced for the sake or political correctness and or expediency?   Should Americans be subjected to different laws as a function of their religion and or choice? Should activist judges be allowed to  use the Constitution as tissue paper? – With all due respect to Ms. Lugo, these are the substantive issues.

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