Wednesday, August 18, 2010

its 8 am on my day off and I am a little pissed

Okay I have been avoiding this subject until I have felt like I had a better grip on my opinion.

And this post is a little more serious minded. Last night felt a little Andy Rooney-ish.

Every person on television is up in arms about the building of a mosque. Not just the one in new york a full two blocks from ground zero. No this argument goes on all over these great united states. And I have had it up to my fucking eyeballs with hearing about it.

Lets examine the issues shall we? On one hand we have religious freedom in this country and should treat that with respect and the courtesy it deserves. People own a piece of land and wanna make a place to practice a religion they have every right to do so no matter where that piece of land is. It could be right next door to ground zero and they still have that right. From a purely capitalist viewpoint they pay for the space then they can do whatever they want to with it within the letter of the law. And since Islam is not illegal in this country it is perfectly logical that people who practice it might wanna build a fucking mosque.

The other issue against all of these places disguises itself as respect for the fallen and their families. that somehow hollowed ground zero is itself a spiritual place. That would be sullied by the existence of its arch enemy, Islam. But dont' let them fool you it is only hatred and fear. that prevents them from celebrating the first amendment and pulls them to act on baser instincts.

However I have yet to see a story where a church is about to be built near where an abortion clinic was bombed so maybe there is more tolerance than I expect in the world.

And yet you give the people complete religious freedom and that is what you get: zealots who make excuses for killing people. It isn't just Islamic people. Christians Have killed and Jews have killed too. So stop pretending your hands aren't bloody too.

Look I understand that this may be an issue to some but 9/11 was 9 years ago and I realize a nations tragedy can never be forgotten. But it certainly can be gotten over. I know a lot of people lost loved ones and felt scared and hurt by the actions of radical extremist thinking. And yes I know I am using trivial words to describe a tremendous loss. But that is exactly what it was, a loss. And those can be overcome.

Its not that I'm just tired of hearing about it. It's that we cannot move on as a society until we heal from it. And you cannot wait for some bullshit excuse like, when they get bin Laden you will be over it. You gotta do your own healing. That's right folks I am up to my fucking eyeballs with this subject because people can't get over an almost decade old tragedy. Let me tell you something I have lost friends and family and I know what tragedy means. This nation will get over it.

But not if you keep using it as a tool to invoke fear or excuse stupidity.

The wound doesn't heal if you keep ripping out the stitches.

I know that my viewpoint here is viewed as incredibly controversial. but lets break it down to a more manageable size.

Every person victimized by that tragedy lost someone they love and I am willing to bet a lot of them have moved on through therapy, through support, and through the love and respect that we as a country gave them...except we cant get health care to those heroes who risked their lives to make that tragedy a little less worse than it already was.

So what should we argue about? That we are little fucking children scared of a religion we don't understand and want to avoid looking at a symbol of that unknown that frightens us.

Or should we argue that our political system looked at the people we rely on to come to our rescue, no matter the cost to them personally, and told them we don't give two shits if you are sick and suffering. Go fuck yourselves.

I think its a pretty easy choice.

With deep and abiding affection,
Gabriel

No comments:

Post a Comment