In Theory

A Muslim organization in New York City is building a community center in Lower Manhattan, which will be a kind of Islamic version of the local YMCA. The center will be a block from the old World Trade Center site. The people behind this project say this is their way of fighting back against Islamic extremism.

“We feel that we really can communicate a different ideology of Islam than the one that extremists have been communicating over the years,” Daisy Kahn, one of the center’s supporters, told National Public Radio. “So for us, it’s taking back the agenda away from the extremists who have defined it for the global Muslim community.”

Given that nearly 3,000 people were killed so close by through an act of terror carried out by Muslim extremists, do you see this project as a positive step for peace and inter-faith dialogue, or do you see this an affront to the memory of those who perished on 9/11?

There is no such thing as an Islamic American. Islam is a religion just like Christianity or Judaism. We do not say Judaic American or Christian American, but just Americans because we are all Americans. As such the Muslims do enjoy the freedom. This New York organization should be applauded for its efforts in giving back to the larger community by bringing a better understanding of Islam and Muslims as it needs to be understood and portrayed. It is not the question of taking back the agenda of those elements that are trying their best to define who we are. We do know who we are. As American Muslims we are tolerant, moderate, respectful of other religions and value for all human life that is sacred. The only agenda is peace, love and justice.

Community centers like the one in Lower Manhattan and others around the country will only help promote the core values of moderation, foster dialogue and community building in a very troubled world. We need more love and not fear and hate.

M. Fareed Farukhi

Member, Islamic Society of Orange County

Chair of the Education Council for New Horizon Schools at the Islamic Center of Southern California, Los Angeles

The statement by a representative of the organization behind the Islamic community center is very meaningful: “...it’s taking back the agenda ... from the extremists who have defined [Islam] for the global Muslim community.”

I interact daily with Muslims who love America and who would fight for the freedoms they enjoy in this great country. To build something that will act as a response and provide an example of moderate Islam to any visitors should be welcome. To denigrate any attempt on the part of the Islamic community to improve their image will only cause additional estrangement.

In addition, a place where young people can exercise and interact in a positive environment is an important contribution to the area. Let’s hope that this will be followed by many additional efforts on behalf of Americans who are Muslims to give back to the country in which they live.

Tom Thorkelson

Director of Interfaith Relations, Orange County Council

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

The Holocaust was a failure of Christendom. At worst, church leaders and laity enthusiastically endorsed and were actively complicit in the rise of Nazism; at best, they silently acquiesced to its murderous agenda. When it was proposed that a Carmelite convent be cloistered in a former poison gas storage facility at Auschwitz, and that a 23-foot cross be erected, Jews considered it an affront to the memory of those exterminated there.

Despite the nuns’ good intentions, the association of Christian anti-Semitism and of Christians who perpetrated the genocide rendered it impossible to tolerate a church presence at the preeminent symbol of Jewish martyrdom.

So, too, I would think it offensive for a Muslim presence to be established near the site where Muslims killed thousands of Americans. I wonder if the victims would advocate building a Muslim community center a few feet from where they leaped to their deaths?

Rabbi Mark S. Miller

Temple Bat Yahm

Newport Beach

Jesus said let the children play basketball. OK, he really said let the children come to me. He also said that unless we start treating children better and even become more childlike ourselves, we are not likely to see the inside of God’s playground. So I think God would be honored by the play of children on the basketball court — no matter who builds it. Playgrounds and gyms — even churches and mosques — are not perfect. There are fights. But if we can build playgrounds and play games together maybe we can stay off the battlefield.

On a more outrageous note, I think we should build a school, a gym, a hospital, a playground, a concert hall, or a house of worship in honor of each person who was killed by terrorists. Wouldn’t this be a great way to defeat terrorism? See you at the playground. Jesus will meet us there.

Pastor Mark Wiley

Mesa Verde United Methodist Church

This is definitely a positive step for interfaith relations! The fact that some might view this as an affront demonstrates the dire need for inter-faith dialogue.

While the perpetrators of 9/11 may have been Muslim and also terrorists, Muslims are not all terrorists! To assume that an Islamic community center is somehow disrespectful to the observation of 9/11 is to discriminate against an entire religion. This will promote a more positive view of Islam and exhibit to any who doubt what an ethical, generous and community-centered religion Islam is. Good for them for confronting a negative stereotype!

The Rev. Sarah Halverson

Fairview Community Church

Costa Mesa

I don’t believe the tragedy in New York was caused by Muslim extremists; rather I believe it was caused by political extremists who happened to be Muslims. All acts of extremism are political in nature, and it is unfair to blame religions for extremist behavior.

It’s easy to exploit the differences between religions and create the kind of doubt that feeds people’s fears. It takes a wise mind to stop blaming others and be responsible for creating peace. Jesus had that mind, and so did the Buddha. But not all Buddhists, Christians, Jews and Hindus are willing to forgive. It takes one moment and the world can change. That is what I am waiting for: a life free of expectation and full of joy, peace and love.

Jim Turrell

Center for Spiritual Living