
<br />As we have also discussed before, to understand means “to stand under,” or to see from another’s perspective. When there is a stirring and controversy, it is a great opportunity to understand what is happening in a culture or nation. This is true in how America was agitated by the proposal to build a mosque near Ground Zero. Nearly everyone seemed to have an opinion on it. Both sides were accusing of the other being extremists and were themselves making extreme accusations, which shows the depth of care people had for this matter. Certainly extremists are likely on both sides of a volatile issue like this, but sometimes an extreme position is the accurate one. Is it true with this one?<br /><br />Those who oppose this planned mosque have been accused of everything from not believing in religious liberty, to being Islamophobic, to being religious bigots. Certainly these are extreme accusations, but are they accurate? Often those who make the most extreme accusations are the ones guilty of extreme intolerance for those whose opinions differ from theirs. Like the charge of racism, Islamophobia is being so overused now that it is fast losing its impact. As has been said about the charge of racism, “Racism is what a liberal calls a conservative when they start losing the argument.” This is not always true because there is still too much racism. However, the charge is overused and is often used just to intimidate or deflect from the real issue, which has lost much of its power. Those who use this charge frivolously lose respect of others, as they should.<br /><br />Of course, it is likely that there are some religious bigots in the opposition of the Ground Zero mosque, but that is surely not the reason why 70 percent of Americans are against this. One of the most costly and deadly deceptions that we are prone to have is judging other people groups after their most extreme elements. When one side starts making extreme accusations, like this, it is likely they are the ones with something indefensible in their position that they want to deflect the emphasis from. That is certainly the case here. <br /><br />The charge of Islamophobia seems to be losing its power to intimidate even faster than the overused charge of racism. This shows that the American people are growing in both discernment and understanding. A phobia is an irrational fear. There are rational fears which are not phobias, and this controversy has caused many to study Islam, and the more they have, the more alarmed they have rightly become. <br /><br />One remarkable factor to consider when we look at the opposition to the Ground Zero mosque is that it came from 70 percent of American people! Such a lopsided opinion on anything is considered virtually impossible. On almost every issue, 30 percent will side with the liberal perspective regardless of the issue, and about the same percentage will side with the conservative perspective, which leaves 40 percent in the middle. This means that with the Ground Zero mosque, virtually the entire middle went in one direction—opposing this mosque. This truly is extraordinary. <br /><br />Even though it seems like neither the government nor the media understands this—those who attacked us on 9/11 were not Christian extremists, or Hindu extremists, or Buddhist extremists; they were all Muslims. Almost all of the terrorist attacks worldwide over the last half century have been done by Muslims and not from proponents of any other religion. The majority of the American people are not stupid. To open a mosque near Ground Zero was understandably salt in the wound. For the developers to set the date for its opening on 9/11 was even more salt in the wound. For them to call it The Cordoba Mosque was like using a fork to stir the salt in the wound. <br /><br />With the media becoming increasingly unreliable and not trusted, Americans have been doing their own research, which is a very healthy and encouraging development. Just a cursory study of what took place at the conquest of Cordoba, Spain by Muslims, with the terrible slaughter or enslavement of Christians and Jews, and where the Muslims were the most vocal about how building mosques over church ruins, or turning churches into mosques, as a declaration of the triumph of Islam—to have the ground zero mosque named for Cordoba was an obvious symbol to Islamists everywhere and could hardly have been a more arrogant poke in the eye of America. That any American political leaders would not understand this is more than remarkable in its dullness. <br /><br />Intolerance can be evil, and it can be right. The intolerance of America toward this mosque at this site is understandable. It’s less understandable why all Americans are not against it except that they do not understand the real issues and symbolism of this mosque. It’s an amazing degree of tolerance that any American would accept mosques anywhere in America when so many Americans have died at the hands of Islamic terrorists, not just at the WTC and the Pentagon, but thousands of others have died all over the world, even in our embassies. For those who are for this Ground Zero mosque to declare Americans intolerant is not only a false charge, but itself is a demonstration of extreme intolerance.<br /><br />It is a serious distortion to call Americans intolerant or Islamophobic because they oppose the mosque at Ground Zero, and there is a good reason why those who make such charges lose their respect in the eyes of Americans. However, as Christians, we must have a resolve to “love our enemies,” but this does not mean we don’t understand those who are in fact our enemies. It is definitely a good thing that this controversy, and the deadly attacks that Americans and others around the world have suffered at the hands of Islamic jihadists, is causing more and more to wake up and seek understanding of those who have been forthright about their desire to destroy us. The sooner we wake up, the fewer lives that will likely be lost. This is a most deadly threat. </span></p>