By Andrea Ordonez, Columnist
As the ninth anniversary of September 11th draws closer, the proposal for an Islamic cultural center near Ground Zero continues to bring about heated debate regarding First Amendment rights.
A recent poll done by The New York Times last week noted that two-thirds of New York City residents would like the planned community center and mosque moved farther away from its intended location. For months now, I have been quiet about my personal views on the Islamic cultural center and mosque. Evident opposition toward it appears rarely accepted on college campuses, especially Hofstra, which has a close proximity to the cosmopolitan and commonly considered liberal New York City. However, after reading about this current poll, I decided it was time to present the side of those opposing the building of the proposed Islamic center and mosque.
The right to freely practice any religion continually appears as a viable argument for those in support of the proposed 13-story complex in Lower Manhattan. This freedom, along with the freedom of speech I am currently exercising, was instituted to avoid tyranny and the overall oppression of inalienable rights. Still, it is undeniable that Americans, as with all human beings, have personal biases. These biases sometimes come from cultural, social, and religious influences. Because of these predispositions, we as a country have the tendency to choose to preserve the rights of one group over another.
This leaning towards one group can be seen in this ongoing debate about the proposed Islamic center and mosque. A prioritization continues to exist favoring the rights a religious group should have in America over the rights of families and those around the country severely affected by 9/11. But should there be a prioritization in the first place? Of course not, however, with this proposal in mind, it seems completely unavoidable.
Another accusation almost always presented is that those opposing the building have misconceptions about Muslims in America and the Islamic religion altogether. While this may be true for some in the opposition, it is by no means applicable to me particularly, and probably not pertinent to a majority of those against the proposed center and mosque. Several of my close friends and my family’s friends are Muslim. Through a high school photojournalism project on world religions, I have a great understanding and firm acceptance of their cultural and religious practices.
Am I a little hesitant about this proposed house of worship and community center? Just about as hesitant as a lot of people would be about a white supremacist group wanting to build a meeting place near a 1960s civil rights memorial or a “religious” group, like the one run by Fred Phelps, deciding to build a church next to a war veterans’ hospital or at the murder site of Matthew Shepard.
In no way am I saying that American Muslims are like the “oppressive” groups mentioned, but in each hypothetical situation, arguable each set, racist or not, sexist or not, has the same First Amendment rights. Who then can say that one group’s rights should trump another?
I applaud the fact that this proposal has led to many interfaith talks and citizens fervently practicing their freedoms of speech and assembly. However, this issue is not clear-cut. To avoid the gray area of prioritization, I find it best to follow through with building the center and mosque, just not in the currently proposed location.
