Building Envy?

With all the debate over the so-called Ground Zero Mosque (which is neither wholly a mosque nor located at Ground Zero, but that's media coverage for you), it is easy to summarize the opposition as being Islamophobes or overly sensitive, or some other tactic that generally claims they are discriminating against Muslims.

For New Yorkers however, I have a feeling this is not simply about a Mosque too close to the WTC. I can't help but believe that the Cordoba project would be much less of a problem if it was being built in the shadow of a proudly rebuilt World Trade Center, instead of going up ahead of it.

The national media only updates the rest of us Americans on the Ground Zero project's stumbles every so often, but for New Yorkers the continued presence of an empty hole in the ground is a constant reminder that the powers of their city have, after a long 9 years, failed to fulfill their promise immediately following the attacks: we will rebuild. New York knows that this project, suffering everything from design arguments and contractor crises, is an abject embarrassment to the city at large. The lack of a monument and a standing,functional replacement for the original WTC must, understandably, make it that much harder for a city so badly harmed to heal.

As such, it comes as no surprise that a majority of New Yorkers, when asked if they oppose a Ground Zero Mosque, respond negatively. Why should a religious building that reminds them of the attacks be built before their great icon? I believe that for these people, subconsciously this is not about sensitivity or a paranoid fear of Muslims: it is about the failure to truly rebuild after the attacks, and the hurt that lingers because of it.

So for the New Yorkers asking these questions, I understand. At the same time, however, I still come out on the side of the Cordoba House because I believe in defending the free, legal exercise of religion as people see fit. However, I also come out on the side of New Yorkers, who deserve better treatment for their wounds after 9 years of waiting.