What really caused the controversy

By now everyone knows there is a controversy surrounding the building of a mosque near ground zero, but has anyone wondered why?  And I mean the real reason why, not what can be heard from the media. 

What we hear on the surface is anchors and politicians arguing whether or not it is sensitive to build a mosque two blocks away from ground zero, whether Muslims should have that right, and what the American people think about it.  But it has not been as clean as it sounds.  The media has been corrupting information through the use of buzz words, such as “ground zero mosque”, creating the mental picture of a mosque planted right on top of where the World Trade Center towers once stood, which is completely false.  Politicians on their part are abusing the publicity of the building of the mosque to demagogue the issue, armed with the timing of the 9^th anniversary of 9/11.

 Both entities are playing with fire.  They are facilitating the division of the nation, and creating a hostile environment between faiths.  They are putting their own interests before the interests of the nation.   The media wants more rating, while politicians see this as an opportunity for free campaigning for the upcoming elections and future political ambitions.  

It is sad that a lot of news channels are merely functioning as the venue for all this turmoil.  What is even worse is that some, such as Fox news, allow unfounded statements to circle around their channel without challenging them, as if silently agreeing.  They also give room to illogical politicians who make absurd statements, as in the case of former House Speaker Newt Ginrich.  He dared compare Muslims to Nazis.  He didn’t say radical Muslims who are terrorists, he generalized and compared the entire Muslim population to Nazis.  How sick.  Furthermore, Sean Hannity stated that the Imam wanted to make America sharia law compliant, emphasizing the radical aspects and interpretations of the system.  He denies the public the right to know that sharia law is agreed upon by all Muslims, but that its requirements are interpreted differently according to denominations, such as moderate , liberals, etc.   He has his own personal agenda of supporting the ideology he believes in.

Politicians could show more intelligence and make logical and respectful opinions.  The media could stop allowing this issue to be a manifestation of the mean world syndrome, where it has become a consensus that Americans blame Islam for 9/11 and that’s why the mosque is so controversial.  But the public can also do its part.  We as citizens should learn to question our sources and listen to different point of views.  People should be aware that if we only stick to our traditional sources, chances are we merely confirming what we already believe, and won’t usually get all sides of the story.

To conclude, I would like to go back to the question at the top:  What is really the cause of the controversy?  The answer is in each and every paragraph.  The media and politicians are in a vicious circle of mutualism where the media uses politicians on their interviews for ratings, and politicians use the media for campaigning.  If neither had seen in the building of the mosque, because of the timing of the 9/11 anniversary, a potential resource, the issue might not have been but a zoning issue.  After all, it is primarily a community center with a mosque, there are other mosques near the area, and overall there is not an appreciable symbolic meaning.  Has anyone considered that perhaps the Muslim community, after being so discriminated in the post 9/11 years, is simply trying to restore their dignity? This could explain why they refuse to move their community center to another location.  It is true that the families of the 9/11 victims have been tremendously hurt, but it is also true that numerous Muslims across the country have been mistreated for something they did not do, or support.