Staff editorial: Ground Zero mosque strikes debate

Timothy McVeigh was a radical Christian terrorist.

The masterminds of the 9/11 attacks were radical Muslim terrorists.  

No God-fearing American would ever question the presence of a building affiliated with Christianity within blocks of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building.  And yet there is a veritable uproar over the planned building of the relatively innocuous Cordoba House , an Islamic community center near Ground Zero.  

This fracas can only be attributed to racially-tinged Islamophobia.

Irrational American fear and loathing of “the other” is nothing new — every wave of immigrants to this country has faced discrimination and despicable public attacks. Opposition to the planned Islamic  center at Ground Zero stems from the same repulsive vein of American history our immigrant ancestors faced. Critics argue this is not the case. It is merely the proximity to the site of the World Trade Center that incenses them.

Where some would argue building the Islamic center “down the road” is acceptable, how far is far enough? What about Murfeesboro, Tenn., where the Islamic Center of Murfeesboro is being built in the face of public outcry and intolerance? Or perhaps Temecula, Calif., where protesting has occurred with signs reading “No more mosques in America.”  Where were these protesters to defend the religious honor of those killed by a Christian in the Oklahoma City bombing?  

It is disgusting to see this irrational fear raging in the world of public debate today.

It is disheartening to look to our past and see the acceptance of an idyllic American Christianity being unquestionably revered only blocks from the site where one of its own radical members murdered 168 people and wounded hundreds more.    

It is disconcerting to see self-righteous hypocrisy destroying the benefits of the First Amendment.

E-mail: schammoo@indiana.edu, zammerma@indiana.edu