The Mosque and the Radicals

While I have always disagreed with the building of the mosque, I have been supportive of the constitutional rights to do so.  I was happy to see that the argument against the mosque no longer included government involvement in stopping it.  Because under no circumstances in this country should the government be involved in the legal building of houses of worship.  Our country was founded for that freedom and it must be protected. 

Iman Rauf's appearance on Larry King Live last night should give every person pause.  This is a well educated man who chooses his words carefully.  As such, even if you are looking at this mosque only as a constitutional issue, his words should make you want to reassess that opinion. 

"If we move from that location the story will be that the radicals have taken over the discourse.  The headlines in the Muslim world will be that Islam is under attack"

"The danger from the radicals in the Muslim to our national security, to the national security of our troops"

"No one's body is at this location."

Basically what this man is saying is that we have to do what the radicals want or else.  I don't think that we do. 

1. No where in the Muslim world do they have religious freedoms for non-Muslims.  So, there opinion of our freedoms are completely irrelevant.
2. Who exactly is it that is driving the headlines?  He and his wife have both made inflammatory statements that will then be beamed across the world.  He is making the headlines. 
3. The vast majority of people didn't get any body back, the murder victims were basically pulverized. 

I am not one to be blindly against Muslims.  I do believe that some of the opposition is based on more than just the location.  There are people that want all Muslims out of this country, that cannot be denied.  But, I don't think that fear is unreasonable.  For those who want don't understand the fear factor here is something that sounds perfectly reasonable to me.

Terrorism experts say about 7% of Muslims have been radicalized.  That seems like a very small percentage until you actually do the math.  There are approximately 1.1 billion Muslims in the world.  That is approximately 7 million radicalized terrorists that are willing to strap bombs on themselves to kill as many innocent people as possible.  We have quite a few states in this country that don't have that many people in them.  That is a legitimate reason to be afraid. 

The fact that the Iman is unwilling to answer some very simple questions should give everyone some pause:

1. How did a man who was a waiter just a few short years ago come up with the money to buy the property? 
2. Does anyone really believe that the radicals will not attack us if we the mosque is built? 
3. Where is the money coming from? 
4. Why does the Iman's book have a different translation in English than in Arabic? 
5. If the Iman understands the sensitivity of the victims families, then why is just move it several blocks? 

If these questions are answered they may find that they will garner more support than just 30% of Americans.