Freedom: Most loved, but hard to explain

One of the most wanted and loved things in life is freedom.  People that want it or desire some part of it, they will do almost anything to get it.  Yet, those that have it, tend to abuse it and squander it.

This country was founded on freedoms.  One of the biggest freedoms was religion.  In fact, in school growing up were we taught that the pilgrims came here because they were being persecuted in Europe for their religion.  They wanted to come to a new place so they could worship as they felt God had instructed them to worship.  No less then others, just different.

Here we are over 200 years later, and we still have issues with our freedoms.  Not the least of which is religion.  Religion gets mixed up with other freedoms and distorts the views of many people.

Today, we Muslims tend to be getting the brunt of the backlash.  And freedom of religion is coming to the fore once again.  The Mosjid (Mosque) that has been under harsh scrutiny in New York has become the spark in a house with a gas leak.  It has become this mainly because the media has distorted so many facts about the building and what it is.

The building has been used for a Mosjid for years.  The 60 or so people that were Muslims that were killed when those towers exploded likely prayed there.  What they are planning with that site is a community center.  A 13 story community center with ONE FLOOR being used as a Mosjid.  One out of 13.  And somehow, when the building permit to rebuild the crumbling building and to make it something better came up for review, the focus became the one floor with the Mosjid.  Not the factor that they were making a community center in a location that has historically been a Muslim community.  (That was the turn of the last century as reported in the New York Times about a month ago.)

So for those who said that no Mosque should be built where the ashes from the explosion touched, they just might want to pull out their vacuum and remove the ashes of those Muslims from Ground Zero first.  Because that is Islamic Holy Ground now.  Opps.  Did someone forget to mention that???

And as for the burning of the Qu'rans....

Well that gets difficult.  The on-again and off-again burning by the pastor in Florida was a mess.  I couldn't understand the why of that until the pastor said that he wanted the Mosjid in New York moved.  First, how does a Mosque in New York remotely effect him?  Second, the only thing that would be acheived by burning the Qu'rans is ticking off every Muslim -- not only the ones here in the US, but also all around the world.

To us, the Qu'ran is not just a book, it is the word of Allah given to Mohammed (PBUH), who was illiterate, and put into written form.  The Qu'ran is not just a book to us, or a symbol, or a picture of what we should be like, it is all of that and more.  So, it's like burning the cross, the Bible, a picture of Jesus, and any other Christian symbol you could think of all at the same time.  I almost feel like an Imam should hold a Bible burning in protest of the Qu'rans that were burned in Tennessee.  (A burning held in protest of a Mosjid that was being built/is now being re-built after being burned to the ground.)

Seriously, I'm not trying to be inflammatory, but that is the closest thing we have to what those people were doing.  My main point is that they are trying to make hallowed ground and a "Muslim Free Zone" where it is physically and historically impossible.  More importantly, it is against the First Amendment of the Constitution.  What???   I must be wrong.  No, I'm not.  I even printed out a copy of the written text to review that beautiful, glorious piece of parchment.

People site the First Amendment for freedom of speech.  Well, it does cover that too.  But I really truly believe that says sooo much about what the Founding Fathers thought was important by the order that they listed the freedoms in that First Amendment.

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

Did I mention that this is the first item on "The Bill of Rights"????

Have a lovely day...