Friday, September 3, 2010

Nine Years Later, it Still Hurts

I was going to post these thoughts on 9/11, but I'd rather get them out now while they're fresh in my mind.

Like a festering sore, the rubble and debris that once made up the tallest buildings in the world still sits and rots, even nine years after the terrorist attack that brought the buildings down. One wonders how the families feel, seeing that monstrous black mark day in and day out, especially with Imam Rauf and the Left wrapping themselves up in freedom of religion so that the ones who committed the attacks can build what will essentially be a monument to that attack, when what should go there is a memorial to the three thousand people we lost that day. It burns my biscuits to know that despite all their talk of "sensitivity" people who are for this mosque aren't considering the families of those that were killed that day.

Have we already forgotten? We as a nation promised "we will never forget" on that horrible, horrible day 9 years ago. Yet it seems that far too many already have forgotten that pledge, regarding it as so many empty words. There are those on the right, I'm sure, who have done this, but I don't know of any thus far. All I hear about his how anyone who opposes this mosque at Ground Zero is a racist Islamophobe. Well, then I'm proud to BE an Islamophobe if thinking a certain way that happens to disagree with those in power is what makes me one. I only wish more moderate Muslims had the courage to stand with the families and publicly decry the terrible acts that were done that day. Yet that won't happen any time soon, I'm sure, because the ones who are in charge, though they be little more than glorified murderers and bullies, hold all the cards. Those in power keep that power through use of force, and fear is a powerful motivator against those who have not yet overcome it.

Yet those in power on THIS side of the ocean seem to be succumbing to that fear as well. Just as Britain gave in to fear in the 1930s under Neville Chamberlain, our own president now seems to be mirroring his appeasement strategy by trying to talk his way out of a situation that can't be talked out of, with people who not only refuse to talk, but refuse to listen as well. Cries of racism, though they now be no more powerful than Shakespeare's "paper bullets of the brain", abound if anyone dares speak the truth about the so-called "moderate" who travels to Islamic countries on our dime to spread the word of Mohammad. Cries of "Freedom of Religion" abound now as well, as the left uses the very constitution they have ignored for years to justify pouring salt in this still sensitive wound. And now the narrative includes a completely new word, "Islamophobia" to describe those that oppose this mosque as irrationally fearful of Muslims. It's not irrational to be afraid of a people whose sole purpose on the planet is to spread the teachings of Muslim across the world.

I have no problem with God in the public square. I'm a Catholic, for crying out loud. Why would I have a problem with people openly declaring their faith if I seek the same right and privilege to do so myself? I don't, is the answer to that question. If someone wants to build a mosque, who am I to judge them?

Now, that said, if someone wants to build a mosque solely for the purpose of disrespecting the lives of innocent people, I have a huge problem. We wouldn't advocate such an act if Christians perpetrated such, would we? I didn't think so.

I, thankfully, did not lose anyone close to me on that fateful day nine years ago, yet it still feels as though I have. Much the way Kennedy felt that "Ich bin ein Berliner" back in the days of the Berlin Wall, I felt that I was every bit as much a part of the Big Apple as anyone else was that day. I know what it's like to lose someone you love, though admittedly not to murder or violence. It is a pain that never goes away, and this pain will never go away for anyone who truly feels for the families that were devastated that day.

That said, I'm going to now stop expressing my views on the mosque, as I believe I have made them quite clear here in this post. I had intended for this to be a tribute post, but apparently my thoughts ran away with me. Perhaps I can think of something with less invective on the actual day.

Continuing to Fight the Good Fight.

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