Sunday musings.

The recent news about the mosque and Islamic cultural centre being built two blocks down from Ground Zero in Lower Manhattan is, no doubt, old news to almost everyone. This past week, I had a chance to discuss it with some of my older students, who were torn on the issue. One student was quite firm in the belief that, since America has freedom of religion, the mosque should absolutely be allowed to be built. The other was not quite so sure - do they have to construct the mosque so close to Ground Zero? Had they even considered the feelings of the families of those who lost their relatives in the attacks? Of course Al-Qaeda and Islam are not equatable by a long shot but, my student pointed out, no matter how many times we say that, they still remain tied together in the minds of the people. Surely there must be another site, perhaps further away, where the centre and the mosque can be built.

Let me be clear: I myself think that the whole issue is ridiculous and of course they should be allowed to build the mosque wherever they please - the double-standard, Islamophobic reactions to the whole affair are staggering and extremely disappointing. However, my student brought up something that he thought was similar about Japan: the Yasukuni shrine in Tokyo.