Córdoba House and 9/11/01

As we approach the anniversary of Sept. 11, I wonder what the PCMK community is thinking about the rhetoric surrounding Córdoba House...

Can I add anything to our reflection on this "controversy" or should I take the stance of the interfaith leaders quoted in today's NY Times: "Persons of conscience have taken different positions on the wisdom of the location of this project, even if the legal right to build on the site appears to be unassailable."  They may have been forced to avoid the topic, but I don't have to consult a committee for this blog!

Finally, Feisal Abdul Rauf, the imam and the chairman of the Cordoba Initiative known in the media as "the mosque near Ground Zero," has written an op-ed piece for the Times. I commend it for your consideration!!! And I also recommend that you hear the voice of this wise and gentle Sufi leader in a pre-controversy interview on Radio National Australia with Rachel Kohn of "The Spirit of Things."

The obvious bigotry of the pastor of the tiny church in Florida who plans to burn the Quran this Saturday prompts me to speak up. First, it's a shame that he's getting all this attention. More than half of his own congregation have been smarter and more Christian (if I can use that word) than he, and have walked away from him. Second, while respecting the holiness of the Muslim sacred text, I don't idolize any symbol whether religious or patriotic. If he proceeds with his foolish act, I don't think it constitutes a religious bias crime. But third, the national frenzy over these issues (fueled as it is by media attention) can only be calmed by saner and more compassionate persons' being willing to speak up.

I pray that nothing I say will further hurt any person who was personally wounded by the Sept. 11 attacks.  But I must say I support Córdoba House/Park 51 absolutely. I've been to the mezquita in Córdoba, Spain, and I appreciate beautiful (if ambiguous) legacy of "convivencia" between Muslims, Jews and Christians that persisted for centuries in Moorish Spain. I look forward to the day when Córdoba House will have the same reputation in the financial district that the 92nd St. Y has further uptown. And I encourage any who oppose this project to get to know the people who are sponsoring it.

I invite your comments and questions.

--Jack Lohr, Interim Pastor