Liberty v. Safety

Class 2 had no shortage of food for thought, but I really savored the quote by Ben Franklin, “those who give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.”

On a side note, it was sad to hear that roughly 60% of Americans could not name three Supreme Court Justices while they could easily remember the three stooges.  But of course I also had to wonder, what percentage of Americans can remember the Justices and not the Stooges?  Less than one percent?  Or, maybe it’s just one person – that would be me.  I couldn’t remember the third stooge.  My parents did not let me watch TV growing up.  – sigh!  oh and thanks a lot Mom and Dad.

Getting back to the Ben Franklin quote, this cautionary quote and the clip from The Siege seems remarkably relevant to present day and it instantly reminded me of the recent mosque debate in New York. 

Now I’ll be the first to admit – when I first heard the shocking headline “mosque at ground zero” – my knee jerk reaction was shock and horror.  What?! How can they put a mosque *at* Ground Zero? This makes no sense!

Fortunately, I also felt compelled to learn more – this was a good thing because as it turns out that little preposition, “at” was seriously misused in the news headlines as Clyde Haberman of the New York Times has astutely pointed out.  The fact is the proposed mosque site is about two and a half blocks away from the perimeter of Ground Zero. Hardly what anyone could legitimately call "at" Ground Zero. 

Nonetheless, correct use of prepositions was not a concern of many news organizations as they continued for weeks to suggest that building a mosque “at” Ground Zero was un-American, insensitive and dangerous (who knows where the money is coming from, who knows what they’ll plan in there).  

Even members of my extended family said things like, ‘every terrorist I can think of is a Muslim,’ and clearly echoing Newt Gingrich, ‘Saudi Arabia won’t let us build churches, why should we let “them” build a mosque.’   I could try and reason with them until I was blue in the face (stop listening to Newt Gingrich and Glenn Beck, not all Muslims are terrorists, we don’t really want to emulate Saudi Arabia, don’t forget the 1^st Amendment, freedom of religion, etc), but to no avail.

For my relatives – and apparently for most Americans – building a mosque near the perimeter of Ground Zero was almost like building a terrorist command center.  Just for the record, I’m against building a terrorist command center near Groud Zero or anywhere in the country for that matter.   

Even the President seemed a little shaky in his response to the mosque debate.  I was dismayed to read that about 70% of Americans were against the building of this mosque.  I wondered when anyone with a voice would ever speak with wisdom on the topic. 

Finally, there was Mayor Bloomberg. 

At the annual Ramadan Iftar dinner at Gracie Mansion, Mayor Bloomberg spoke directly and eloquently to the issue of the mosque:

"… if we say that a mosque and community center should not be built near the perimeter of the World Trade Center site, we would compromise our commitment to fighting terror with freedom. We would undercut the values and principles that so many heroes died protecting…. Islam did not attack the World Trade Center – Al-Qaeda did. To implicate all of Islam for the actions of a few who twisted a great religion is unfair and un-American. Today we are not at war with Islam – we are at war with Al-Qaeda and other extremists who hate freedom….. This is a test of our commitment to American values. We must have the courage of our convictions. We must do what is right, not what is easy. And we must put our faith in the freedoms that have sustained our great country for more than 200 years” (emphasis added).

Thank you Mr. Mayor!  Compromising the liberties of Muslim Americans, their right to practice religion in New York - or in any state - because of our underlying fear of the unknown is wrong.  The internment of Japanese Americans was likewise wrong spurned by a fear that spiraled out of control – in that case it was the fear that Japanese Americans might have divided loyalties to the US.  Clearly, it isn’t always easy to think through the fear, but history has taught us that’s when it’s most important to abide by our country's guiding values and principles.... and take a little less liberty with the proper use of prepositions.