In the years since 2001, September 11th has been a day of somber rememberance and reflection, free of politics. Not this year. Even though there will still be the official ceremonies at Ground Zero lead by Vice President Biden, the Pentagon lead by President Obama, and Shanksville lead by first lady Michelle Obama and former first lady Laura Bush, there is much political turmoil and controversey about religious freedom. This is because there has been a proposed plan for a mosque to be built two blocks north of Ground Zero in New York. Terry Jones, a non-denomination pastor of a small church in Florida, is even threatening to burn the Quaran on Saturday. He says he will not go through with it if he is able to meet with leaders in New York and convince them to not build the mosque near Ground Zero. In response to his threats, at least 11 people were injured in Afghanistan over protests of Jones' plan. In Indonesia, cleric Rsuli Hasbi told his many worshippers on Sunday that even if Jones' doesn't burn the Quran he has "hurt the heart of the Muslim world." Following the events at Ground Zero this year, there will be rallies in protest of the mosque and for it, at a park southeast of the trade center site. Not only is the general public divided on the issue, but so are those who lost loved ones in 9/11. Some say that a mosque being built so close to Ground Zero is "a grevious offense to the sensitivity of 9/11 families." Others say it's just adding more hate and fear to the issue and the past, and that people have a right to free speech and religion. The strained relationship between the Muslim world and the Christain United States is not one that is going to go away anytime soon either. Former 9/11 Comission chairman Lee Hamilton says that this relationship "is one of the really great foreign policies challenges of the next decades." Police in New York are also preparing for the rally, even though they don't expect any major problems. September 11th this year will be one that people around the world will pay attention to, and watch to see what happens.
September 11th, 2001 is definitely a day that no one who was old enough to absorb and understand news will ever forget. That is something everyone can agree on. And now nine years later, the memories and hurt are more prominent than ever. What happened that day was absolutely awful, but so is what is going on this year, I believe. Here we are, fighting about where to build a mosque, filled with hate for a religion and culture that is different than ours, when we should be remembering and honoring those who died. I understand why people are angry at Muslims and the idea that they would want to build a mosque next to a place where thousands died, killed by people of that religion, but a pastor planning to burn the Quran is not okay, and only fuels the fire of hate between the religions. Everyone was terrified of what went on during 9/11, and it's easy to hate all Muslims because we fear them. But we must stop and think about the facts. The people who caused 9/11 were radical Muslims. It's an extremely small percentage of Muslims that are this type, so to think that everyone who believes in Islam wants to kill us is simply not true at all. The mosque would not be built right ontop of Ground Zero, and it would be used as a place of worship, not a place to plot to kill more Americans. The United States has always prided itself on the fact that we have freedom of speech and religion. If we tell a certain group of people that they can't worship where or how they want, we are not following this. Yes, we may not agree with their beliefs, but denying them rights and burning their holy books only makes tensions worse. We do not want Muslims to hate us. Islam is one of the fastest growing religions in the world, and we have to accept that we are going to live on the same planet with them, and therefore we need to figure out a way to get along so that we don't kill each other. And if you put yourself in their shoes, how would it feel to be a Christain living in an Islamic country and you wanted to have a church built so that you could worship your faith, and you were denied? I don't think you would be too happy. As Martin Luther King Jr once said, "Darkness cannot drive out darkness;only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39097839/ns/us_news-911_nine_years_later/
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