The last time I checked, fellow Americans, my right to pray to my God is written on the same sheet of paper as the Muslim’s right to pray to Allah. I believe he’s wrong, and he believes I’m wrong, but we each have the constitutional right to believe whatever we choose and to worship however we choose. It’s not a majority rule issue, as some seem to be insisting.
If the Muslims want to build a mosque a few blocks from Ground Zero or a few blocks from Mayfield City Hall, the American thing to do is to allow it. Allow them to get a permit, satisfy the building code requirements, comply with basic city ordinances, and build their mosque, if that’s what they decide to do.
So that’s it? We shouldn’t do anything about it? Just zip our mouths and move on?
I didn’t say that. Some folks are forgetting that for right now, at least, we have the right to say we’re right and the Muslims are wrong. We have the right to say that our God is the true God, that Jesus saves, and that lives are made better through devotion to Jesus. We can say that. Out loud. We can put on our church marquees that Islam is a false religion, if we so choose.
We can burn Korans, if we so choose – a hateful, stupid act of defiance that’s not backed up by any scripture that I’m aware of, but one that is nevertheless protected by our Constitution.
One of the things that make America so great, so much better than the countries that the American Muslims have emigrated from, is that we allow a free and open public forum on all types of topics, from religious beliefs to whether or not to raise school taxes on the county level. It’s called the marketplace of ideas, and it works pretty darn well.
People often misunderstand what is meant by protected speech. All the Constitution says is that the government – the government – cannot abridge, suppress or intimidate the exercise of free speech. It doesn’t say that free speech is free of consequences. If you stand up at a county school board meeting and suggest they, say, dismantle the football program and melt the helmets and turn them into food wrap, you will get backlash from fellow citizens, who are exercising their right to free speech. You’ll get booed. You’ll be called an idiot. You’ll be ridiculed.
That’s America. Ain’t it great?
Backlash against the proposed mosque in New York is starting to have an effect on those who want to build it there. Maybe it won’t happen. Not because a heavy-handed government stepped in, but because everyday citizens, like you and me, offered their opinions in the marketplace of ideas. Everyday citizens said, “Look, this isn’t a good idea. Why don’t you build your mosque somewhere else?” And maybe, maybe they will.
Religion freedom takes a slightly different tack than individual freedom of speech, especially when large congregations are involved. At present, established churches and quasi-religious institutions are tax exempt. Donors can claim deductions on their income taxes, and in many cases, that is a substantial amount of money that becomes unavailable to the government. I have this fear, that as churches become more political, where church services become political rallies and churches become known more for their political stance than for the God they claim to serve, that tax exempt status for all churches, not just the offending ones, could be revoked.
The trickle-down could even affect charitable organizations that have nothing to do with religious beliefs.
Now that would be extremism.
