Professor Marshall Breger, Catholic University of America
Suhail A. Khan, Institute for Global Engagement
The Very Reverend Dr. James A. Kowalski, Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine
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We are here as a single voice that comes from the three Abrahamic faiths, because we are seeing a new slogan ripple from downtown Manhattan across the US. Its timing particularly resonates as some of us have just returned from an unprecedented tour of concentration camps in Europe, where we stood side by side with a delegation of the most influential US Imams and Muslim leadership. Together, those of us who are Jewish and Muslim, came face-to-face with the unambiguous lesson that religious demonization can and does lead to unimaginable violence and horror.
This angry and emotionally-charged debate over the so-called "Ground Zero mosque," (which is not at Ground Zero and is a community center that includes a mosque), is about the perceived threat and rights of a religious minority, Muslim Americans. While many people are legitimately concerned for the sensitive reconstruction of property near Ground Zero, if the controversy was simply the proposed Islamic center in downtown New York, the danger would be contained. Ugly and messy, perhaps, but contained. But throughout the nation a slogan has emerged: No More Mosques. Not just near Ground Zero but in Staten Island, Tennessee, Wisconsin, California...
Read the rest at http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/guestvoices/2010/08/fear_of_islam_violates_our_traditions.html
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