Peace X Peace Community Members
Worldwide

“Respect is a two way street, not something you can just move to another location.”

It’s difficult to turn on the news or listen to the radio without hearing some reference to, or full-fledged debate about, the so-called “Ground Zero Mosque” in New York City. Talk-show commentators offer sound bites on religious freedom, Islam, and/or terrorism (depending on where you’re tuned in to) while street protesters shout about “hallowed ground.”

What is rarely heard amidst the uproar are nuanced responses, marked by respect, compassion and a desire for reconciliation.  That’s not because such a response doesn’t exist;  it simply doesn’t get airtime. We want to change that.

Members of the Peace X Peace Community have been participating in an online discussion about the proposed community center near Ground Zero. Here is some of what has been said:

Nesima Aberra, Arizona

“Park51 may have a Muslim prayer hall, but the center as a whole is open to everyone and by rejecting the project and its location we are saying, ‘Thanks but no thanks we don’t accept your invitation.’ Respect is a two way street, not something you can just move to another location.” Nesima Aberra, Arizona

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“Construction of a mosque on a ground that was destroyed and was hit by Muslim terrorists, can be interpreted as a provocation, or  it can be interpreted as a desire for reconciliation. . .

Irit Hakim-Keller, Israel

. . . Tolerance is an important value. It is very easy to be tolerant toward someone or something nice, but it is very difficult to be tolerant toward those who hurt us, or those considered to be our enemy, or to whom we have reason to suspect their motives. I hope the American nation will be wise enough to take the right move. For me, a Israeli peacemaker, the right (and not easy) move is to let them build the mosque.” Irit Hakim-Keller, Israel

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Mary Ellen Latela

“I believe that the “mosque” issue has become a symbol of deep distrust for anything we don’t understand. Those who are the most vocal express their lack of knowledge about Islam and further about most World Religions. As an interfaith minister and a college instructor of World Religions, I hear from many students that they have never thought very much about any other tradition than their own. . . It’s sad but true that people have been fighting “in the name of God” for a long, long time. Karen Armstrong, author of The Battle for God and other timely works, notes that there have been wars, pogroms, inquisitions, based on the notion that WE are following the one and only Way and everyone else is wrong/damned/hopeless. At the root is lack of trust … as if it’s US and THEM. What if we were to realize that at some deep level, there IS NO “religious other”? Peace requires courage, patience, understanding, and the ability to see real people, bunches of huddled strangers.” Mary Ellen Latela, Missouri

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Andrea Webb

“The more intolerant we become of other faiths the more we unintentionally force them to cleave tighter to their own group as we won’t allow them into ours. Then we wonder why extremism is born. We live in a Global environment, the United States is a place that was born out of necessity of people in the past trying to escape religious intolerance, yet now we have become an intolerant nation.” Andrea Webb, Florida

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Dawn, Ohio

“Since the settlement of the New World, people have been coming to America for religious freedom. Now we are speaking of Muslims here like they are an “OTHER” in our society, but in reality they are also Americans. You cannot fault an entire religion for the acts of a radical few. Muslims don’t oppose the flag. Why would we fly the flag in protest? They are Americans just like us. Terrorists are responsible for the towers destruction. Many Muslims were born and raised here just like you and I. They want to build a house of worship. It’s not a memorial to 911. These protests are insulting to the average hard working Muslim American. They mean no disrespect to the 911 families.” Dawn, Ohio

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Karry Crossland

“We need to stop! How are we ever going to come together in PEACE if we continue with prejudice?

Here is one of my favorite quotes from Jimi Hendrix: ‘When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace.’” Karry Crossland, California

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If you are interested in joining this discussion or others like it, check out the Peace X Peace Community! As we like to say, peace doesn’t just happen and it isn’t simply what’s there when there is no war. Peace is built. And we think that every well-intentioned person has something important to contribute to the process of building peace.