A Mosque in Manhattan
2010-08-09 - by
When an email floated in out of the blue saying a fellow named Oz Sultan wanted to build a Mosque a block from where the Twin Towers used to be I thought it had to be a joke – but darned if it wasn’t true.
The next thing I knew New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg was telling Manhattanites they had to let Mr. Sultan build his mosque (next to the clearest proof on earth of Muslim fanaticism) or they’d be betraying sacred American values because they’d be treating Muslims different from Protestants.
Now in a way Bloomberg’s homily about American values sure sounded reasonable and logical but if you think about it in a way the Mayor’s gotten himself into a pretty strange state of mind – because there is at least one big factual difference between Muslims and Protestants. Protestants didn’t blow up the World Trade Center.
Anyhow the Mayor’s now a paragon of enlightenment to the ACLU and no one’s going to be calling him close-minded or biased or bigoted because he’s brimming with modern virtue compared to the backward Protestants or Jews who figured it made common sense to politely tell Oz Sultan, Hold on. Let’s talk this over. Your Muslim folks don’t allow churches or synagogues in Mecca or Medina but we’re broadminded enough to overlook that – you’re welcome to pray to Allah all you want here in Manhattan but, let’s face it, it’s just plain bad manners for you to build your mosque at Ground Zero – so how about you pick another spot.
A Mosque in Manhattan
2010-08-09/
When an email floated in out of the blue saying a fellow named Oz Sultan wanted to build a Mosque a block from where the Twin Towers used to be I thought it had to be a joke – but darned if it wasn’t true.
The next thing I knew New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg was telling Manhattanites they had to let Mr. Sultan build his mosque (next to the clearest proof on earth of Muslim fanaticism) or they’d be betraying sacred American values because they’d be treating Muslims different from Protestants.
Now in a way Bloomberg’s homily about American values sure sounded reasonable and logical but if you think about it in a way the Mayor’s gotten himself into a pretty strange state of mind – because there is at least one big factual difference between Muslims and Protestants. Protestants didn’t blow up the World Trade Center.
Anyhow the Mayor’s now a paragon of enlightenment to the ACLU and no one’s going to be calling him close-minded or biased or bigoted because he’s brimming with modern virtue compared to the backward Protestants or Jews who figured it made common sense to politely tell Oz Sultan, Hold on. Let’s talk this over. Your Muslim folks don’t allow churches or synagogues in Mecca or Medina but we’re broadminded enough to overlook that – you’re welcome to pray to Allah all you want here in Manhattan but, let’s face it, it’s just plain bad manners for you to build your mosque at Ground Zero – so how about you pick another spot.