The Ground Zero Mosque

I watched this last night and found it really disturbing. Well, C4 is never my first choice to watch an unbiased documentary, but then I thought it might have more substance to it than it did. What emerged after an hour of rehashed, old footage was that some Americans feel that no mosque should ever stand within {insert appropriate space here} of Ground Zero and others feel it is within anyone's rights to erect a community centre to serve the community on private property and still others agree with the second group but feel it would be 'nobler' to not erect something to do with Islam so close to where terrorists claiming to be Islam-representatives carried out an attack. So where does that leave the rest of us?

Well I can draw some parallels. I think at this point that my Irish accent does not cause people to immediately think I might be orientated towards the IRA, but some decades ago, particularly in London and other major Irish centres in the UK, this was the case. In the immediate aftermath of a bombing, anyone with an Irish accent in the UK was in danger and considered suspect. This was not always helpful to either the Irish who were contributing to the economy of the UK nor to the police forces trying to find the culprits of the crimes. I hardly need mention the campaigns of the Guildford Four or the Brimingham Six – gross miscarriages of justice, based almost entirely on false evidence and the fact the people in question spoke with an accent. (I am simplifying of course!)

In the same way, currently, the whole Muslim community is being held responsible in the minds of some people for the actions of an atypical group. I think there needs to be a distinct parallel drawn between a Muslim and an Islamist. A Muslim indicates a religious denomination; an Islamist indiactes a political stance. You can be one, both or neither as far as I can understand, although few Islamists would claim to be of other religions. A Muslim is one who follows the teachings of the Prophet Mohammed as far as I can understand it, in the same way as a Catholic tries to follow the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church and its Pope. Or perhaps it would be a better parallel to compare a Muslim to a Christian, in that a Christian is one who tries to follow the teachings of Jesus. There are vast arrays of followers in both groups ranging from extreme right wing, to more moderate leanings.

Some of the views I saw expressed last night were nothing more than the hysteria of a witch-hunt. All Muslims do not support the terrorists who destroyed the Twin Towers. All Muslims do no support Al-Qaeda. All Muslims...well saying 'all Muslims' is the same as saying 'All Americans' or 'all people with blue eyes'. This is not a homogenous group of people – it is a collection of wide-ranging groups, each with their own emphasis, ideology, community and approach to life. In my own experience, I've yet to meet a Muslim who supported the attack on 11^th September 2001. That may be because most people who know me know my views on violence (for the record: the only violence I condone is that if immediate self-defence), but I'd like to think it's because the majority of people out there are peace-loving, affable folk who just want to get on with their lives.

A community centre is a good thing. A place of worship is a good thing. A place where people can come and engage in their local community and participate in community endeavours is a good thing. Where that community centre is placed is normally dependent on where they can afford, where is available, where it is local. It does not normally depend on the decision of an entire nation when the community centre will only serve a tiny percentage of that nation. It does not normally require the endorsement of the president of that nation to allow it to go ahead. A community centre should serve to bring communities together and not drive them apart.

Last night I saw newspaper reports saying the community centre was to be a 'victory mosque'. I have to ask – what was the victory? Victory means something was gained – not that something was lost. And something was lost for Muslims all over the world – trust. Now the sight of a hijab or a burka leads to mistrust; huge debates have reigned over the rights of someone to follow religious teachings versus the security of the nation; laws have been enacted (and endorsed by the population) that could lead to significant loss of individual rights. And very few people have objected! I don't accept that CCTV cameras in all our major towns and cities will help anti-terrorism actions. I don't accept that spying on my neighbours to see if they 'act suspiciously' will help the anti-terrorism groups. Hell, I don't even accept that putting my liquids into a plastic bag at the airport will help anyone detect suspicious liquids.

I can see George Orwell's vision in 1984 coming true all around me. And I don't like it.

So let's make a stand. Let's stand up for a religious group's right to plan a community centre in whatever space they can find. Let's stand up for recognising that just because a small group of people act in a certain way, everyone who shares a particular characteristic with them will also act the same way, or at least condone the actions. I'm fairly certain one or more of the bombers had brown eyes and brown hair – my baby brother has brown eyes and brown hair – is he a terrorist by default?

Let's think about things, instead of accepting whatever rhetoric is thrown at us by sensationalist media. Let's use the brains God gave us (and if you don't believe in God, the brains evolution gave us) and think. It doesn't take much effort, but reason things out. Sift through the information given to you, assess the source of the information, see if you think this source is reliable or not. If it's not – then question the conclusion it leads you to. Question everything in fact.

A community centre might be used as a recruiting ground for terrorists, but I can think of no better way to encourage that development than by victimising those who seek to use it as it was originally envisioned: a community centre, to support and help the community it serves.