We've all heard of the phrase - "A teachable moment". Mostly President Obama uses this phrase. He used it when the Harvard Professor was arrested by the Cambridge Police last year. He said that the police acted "stupidly" and THIS was a teachable moment for all of us. The teaching had to do with racists cops I guess. Or maybe it was self-righteous college professors who don't act appropriately when the police ask them simple questions. There have been other "teachable moments" since then and I have a feeling that we're going to be instructed in a lot of teachable moments over the next two years. The latest teachable moment has to do with the New York Mosque slated to be built two blocks from the World Trade Center site. I've heard all about how the Muslim community has the 'right' to build a mosque there. Clearly, they do. But as Jeff Goldblum suggested in 1993's "Jurasic Park" - "you were so obsessed with the fact that you COULD do it, no one asked if you SHOULD do it". I find that logic works well here too. New York City currently has over 100 Mosques. No one pickets them, throw dog duty at them or flies commercial aircraft into them. They have been part of the New York landscape for quite some time. Contrary to what President Obama or others think, the fact that they exist in our cities is NOT a sign of religious tolerance. Mainly because Americans of other faiths don't find it necessary to 'tolerate' Muslims any more than we 'tolerate' hay fever or baseball's infield fly rule. The fact is they exist. And Americans of all backgrounds don't even think about religious temples of others faiths on a daily basis. Unlike most Muslim countries, religious freedom in America is absolute. The liberals tried to make this a first amendment issue, as if Americans are trying to deny Muslims a place of prayer. Nice try, but this is about sensitivity. If the builders of this mosque seek better relations with non-Muslim Americans, I can think of no better way to do so than by showing sensitivity to 911 victims families and build the mosque elsewhere. The island of Manhattan is about 40 square miles. I would think that somewhere in this Gotham a suitable site could be found. And considering how expensive lower Manhattan real estate is, they could save a boatload of cash too. Speaking of money, soon to be "ex-Speaker of the House", Nancy Pelosi wants an investigation into who is financing the opposition the the Mosque. Really? Well, Nancy I haven't given any money to any opposition group (yet) but I would think long & hard about demonizing the 73% of Americans who are opposed to the Mosque at Ground Zero. Although it may be a good idea to find out who is financing the project. There appears to be less-than-honest openness into the financing of the Mosque. In Muslim history, they've often built Mosques at the sites of historical military victories. I don't know if that is the intention here. But I have to wonder why a Mosque is being built in New Yorks most expensive location, which just happens to be a Tiger Woods T-shot away from Ground Zero - especially when you consider there are no nearby residential neighborhoods that would support a Mosque. I'm just sayin'.
