Communication Breakdown
by Stephanie
You ever feel completely overwhelmed by the information overload provided to us via the internet, 24-hour news channels and the like?
My brain is swimming. There is so much information being thrown my way everyday and I do my best to ensure the filters in my brain let the truth pass through and keep the junk from clouding my thinking. Logic and reason must prevail. Augustine’s judicial philosophy of “hear both sides” is on my mind so much lately, I’ve considered getting it tattooed below the olive branch branded on the back of my neck (no joke). This is quite a difficult task considering there is a lot of stuff out there I know nothing about coupled with a lot of people content to force-feed us half-truths or lies. So it is inevitable that some junk will pass through the filters.
And so it happened with the this whole “Ground Zero Mosque” debacle. I let my guard down a little, listening only half-way to the stories circulating and formed a pre-mature opinion. A mosque at Ground Zero–that’s preposterous! Who would do such an insensitive thing!?! And why is Bloomberg so supportive of this atrocity?
Oh, you wily Media, you got me again! You clever tricksters, you!
There is no Ground Zero Mosque. Since when did an old Burlington coat factory situated between a bunch of strip joints and other colorful vendors get deemed “Hallowed Ground”? As a current New Yorker, I should’ve known better. I should have just taken the extra subway ride down to lower Manhattan to see for myself the proximity of the proposed Islamic cultural center in comparison to the giant gaping hole that is still Ground Zero, but I didn’t. Nor did I do the research that would have shown that there is already a Mosque in the area, one that was built far before the attacks on 9/11. It’s my fault really. And then I watched as this argument exploded into an appalling political debate preying on the fears and emotions of the uninformed (the kind of folks who consider Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh to be journalists). Now it wasn’t just this Mosque that was opposed, but ALL Mosques are dangerous terrorist breeding sites hell-bent on destroying America one terror-baby at a time. By the time the rest of the facts were presented in the matter, it was too late. The damage had been done. It suddenly gave folks license to openly hate Muslims living in America. Not cool, Media, not cool.
And they would have gotten away with it too, if it weren’t for those meddling facts.
You're right, it is an open sore for us uninformed Americans. To us, we hear "Muslim" and think "extremists" and think back to those weeks and months after 9/11 that the media shouted the extreme religious practice of the men that plotted to and punched our country in the gut. It's sensitive and touchy, and the media makes sure to keep it that way. Good for you for speaking out about the truth. Sometimes I wish some of the Christian "extremists" would look down at their WWJD bracelets and remember that Jesus loved EVERYONE.
Interesting points here Stephanie. There was a similar situation several years ago in Auschwitz when a group of Carmelite nuns opened a convent in what used to house the gas containers that killed millions of Jews. It caused severe tension between Jewish populations and the Roman Catholic Church. Upon a writing from Pope John Paul II to move, they finally agreed to abandon the convent. It was understood that nothing should compete with what really happened there; that sometimes the best things we need to be reminded of are just how destructive we can be. By the letter of the law a religious group has a right to build. But wisdom should remind us that though they have the right, it doesn't mean it is right. The media, in the end, probably does not care. They want to sell papers and advertising slots. They are a money making machine like any other. Alas, we are still at their mercy. Ironically, this puts the exercise of finding accuracy and truth in our hands. Maybe that is a good thing. Maybe not. Who knows…
I understand your perspective. It's not what is legal, but what is wise; however, had the media not taken a hold of this issue, that wouldn't even be a valid point b/c of Park 51's location.Your example is good but not quite the same–a convent AT the former gas chambers is different than a mosque 2 blocks from the actual Ground Zero. I think it's safe to say that NO ONE wants a Ground Zero mosque. Well lucky for us, that's not what is being proposed. The community center would not be visible from Ground Zero and it begs the question, "how far would be appropriate?" 3 blocks? 10 blocks? Jersey? The point is that this building was approved about a year ago with no opposition; however, now that it's an election year, people have exploited a very sensitive issue for political gain and that's unfortunate.