Ground Zero Mosque Nonsense.

I missed my Saturday post because I was busy watching Doctor Who, so I feel like I should post tonight. BEFORE I watch Doctor Who. :D

One thing I did actually want to talk about: the whole Ground Zero Mosque Extravaganza.

AMERICA. DUDES. WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM? Do you not remember that whole freedom-of-religion thing that is in your beloved Bill of Rights? Would you not be all up in arms if someone wanted to stop YOU from building YOUR churches? This whole issue is just beyond ridiculous.

Let's get something straight right now. RIGHT NOW. Are you listening, America? I'll put it in simple terms you can all understand, so pay attention:

MUSLIM =/= TERRORIST. ALL MUSLIMS ARE NOT TERRORISTS. ALL TERRORISTS ARE NOT MUSLIM. Anyone remember that Unabomber guy, Ted Kaczynski? American citizen, freakin' genius - terrorist. The Oklahoma City bomber dude, Timothy McVeigh? American citizen, Army vet, raised Catholic - terrorist. His partner, Terry Nichols, was a Michigan farm boy, football player, veteran - and terrorist. Oh, and this awesome guy: Eric Robert Rudolph, the Olympic Park Bomber (killed two and injured over 150 people in a series of Southern bombings between 1996 and 1998), a Southern boy, Catholic, a veteran, far-right affiliations - and a terrorist. All of these people were born and raised on American soil and all of them killed Americans on American soil. Some of them were even in the military, fighting for their country. Most of them were Christian. NONE OF THEM ARE MUSLIMS, ALL OF THEM ARE TERRORISTS.

There. Now that's out of the way. It really irks me that a lot of people seem to think that ALL or MOST terrorists are Muslim. But what irks me even more is the anti-mosque movement. Terrorism aside - because this isn't about terrorism, it's about religion - people don't want the Muslims putting up mosques at all. I could understand, maybe, not wanting a mosque at the site of an alleged Islamic terrorist attack, but it makes complete sense for a city with a large Islamic population to build a mosque, just like it makes sense for a place with a lot of Jewish people to have a temple. No one pitches fits when Jews put up temples, or when different Christian sects build their churches. But the second an Islamic community decides they want somewhere to worship, too, they get attacked, protested against, even BOMBED.

Now, I don't think that Muslims in NYC having a sense of community, a place to feel closer to their god, and a place where they can feel safe and be themselves is in any way a threat to the US, but most Americans seem to feel that it is. How completely unfair is that? I mean, imagine for a second - here you are, in this glorious country founded on freedom, which indeed preaches "freedom of religion" as one of its citizens' most important rights, and all you want to do is pray to and worship your god. But you're not allowed. Your ways and traditions are mocked, feared, maybe you're not even allowed to perform them in public places. Your church is vandalized, people stand outside yelling insults and threats for hours, maybe it's even bombed. Maybe your family members are killed in a bombing. You're blamed for something you had nothing to do with, just because of the color of your skin, the style of your clothes, and the religion you follow. You're punished and blamed for these things, and the whole country is against you, even if you're American-born. And there's nothing you can do, because any retaliation or protest will be construed as terrorism and you'll be arrested or shot or possibly deported. You have no friends in school or work because people are afraid of you. Imagine being a little Islamic kid, friendless and shunned at school, mourning the loss of a family member from a mosque bombing, and now you're not even allowed the comfort of your religion and religious community.

We don't assume every German person is a Nazi. We don't assume every Chinese person is a Communist. We don't assume every English person wants to take over the world. We are so worried about being politically correct, about not making racist-sounding statements, about not offending anyone in any way... and then we do stuff like this. Why is this okay? Why is it even an issue in this country?

People can be so freaking cruel to each other, and I just don't understand it. I just can't understand why we do these things to ourselves. Did you ever stop to think that maybe being so intolerant of Muslims may cause MORE terrorist attacks? Did you ever think that by allowing them to build their Ground Zero mosque, it could be an opportunity to forgive and forget, to maybe lessen the tension between all of us? The actual terrorists are the crazy, hardcore religious people, in ALL religions. But there are an awful lot of Muslims in our country who are perfectly nice people, perfectly sane and normal and peaceful people, and by refusing to let them worship, by grouping them all together and labelling them "TERRORISTS," we are alienating our own citizens. How is that American?

And as far as Obama's reaction goes, I'm a little upset with him for "flip-flopping," although nearly all the articles I've read cite him as supportive, so I guess the flip-flopping is behind him. I can understand that this would be a difficult thing for him to speak decisively on, also. Salon.com has this to say:

President Obama delivered a strong defense on Friday night of a proposed Muslim community center and mosque near ground zero in Manhattan, using a White House dinner celebrating Ramadan to proclaim that "as a citizen, and as president, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as anyone else in this country" . . . .

"I understand the emotions that this issue engenders. Ground zero is, indeed, hallowed ground," the president said in remarks prepared for the annual White House iftar, the sunset meal breaking the day’s fast.

But, he continued: "This is America, and our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakable. The principle that people of all faiths are welcome in this country, and will not be treated differently by their government, is essential to who we are."

As Salon.com states, this is awesome because there's nothing he can gain politically from his support of this, but there is substantial risk politically. He's speaking not with himself and his job in mind, but with our country and our rights in mind. And that's what a president should do. You go, Obama. Four for you. <3

Also, as a side note: all you people who are all like "It's insensitive to the people who lost family members and stuff in 9/11," just shut up right now. If they were building any other building there you would not have an issue, so just shut up.

The went on a lot longer than I thought, and I got a little rambly, so I guess I'm pretty angry about it. But I just think it's insane, and a horrible thing to do. WHY CAN'T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG, PEOPLE.



Some articles about this issue and terrorism in general:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrorism
http://socialistworker.org/2010/08/30/challenge-to-islamophobia

John Green's video about Islam - very helpful in understanding the actual religion:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jQ67cdzDyI

*deep breath*

I want to talk about religion today. Specifically Christianity, but all others as well. It's been on my mind a lot this past week, and I would just like to have a general discussion of what I believe, what I don't believe, and how I feel. Feel free to comment about how I'm wrong, what you think I'm right about, how YOU feel, etc.

First of all, I am not a religious person. I don't KNOW what's out there - I don't know if there's a God, or many gods, or a giant tree, or a life as a hedgehog waiting for me when I die. I don't know, but I am not necessarily writing any of these off either. My eyes are open to signs, I'm open to proof in any direction, but as of yet, I haven't seen any.

I have a few major issues with Christianity specifically, and with organized religion as an idea. My issues with Christianity pretty much lie with God - Jesus was a cool guy, he said nice things and did what he could to make things better. God, on the other hand, is kind of a jerk. He's a little like an abusive boyfriend: you can't hang out with any other guys 'cause he's so jealous, he takes credit for the good things that happen but blame the bad stuff on you, and he tells you what to do and if you don't do it, you're screwed. I have issues with worshipping (shut up wiggly red line, I WANT TWO P'S IN THAT WORD) someone who does that kind of stuff. My biggest issue is the "you go to Heaven only if you believe in God" clause. I'm a pretty decent person - am I destined to burn in Hell JUST because I don't blindly believe in God? I don't think that's fair.

I feel like religion used to be a private, personal thing - you had this relationship with God, you prayed and went to church and had that community, and you lived your life in accordance with the Bible (or whatever it is you followed). Nowadays it's shoved in everyone's faces, forced to the foreground. I don't want your beliefs shouted at me as I walk down the street. I don't want to be forced to talk to someone about Jesus every time I step outside my house. That's what you believe, and that's awesome. I don't care. But you don't see me knocking on your door at 7 AM asking if I can tell you why God doesn't exist. I don't force pamphlets into your hands outside the mall detailing why you need to stop believing in Jesus or you'll be abducted by aliens. So you keep your beliefs in your house and your church, I'll keep my non-beliefs to myself, and we'll all be happy.

I'm not bashing anyone's beliefs, by the way. I respect everyone's equally: if I'm in a Christian household, I bow my head for grace; if I'm invited to Passover, I observe all of their traditions; if I were ever around Buddhists or Hindus, I would do my best not to offend them, too. Just because I don't believe doesn't mean I don't respect that you do. But if I respect your belief, I feel it's only fair that you respect my disbelief. Just don't try to convert me and we'll be fine.

Okay, so my issue with organized religion as a whole is this - it seems as though religion has become less and less about God and faith and compassion (which is really what all religions are about, being a good person and loving your God/s), and more and more about who is right. Who cares who's right? If you're a Jew and you think you're the ones who believe the right thing, why does it MATTER if I'm a Hindu and believe the wrong thing? Why does it MATTER, if you're Christian and I'm Buddhist, if I'm not going to Heaven? Why does it MATTER if Heaven doesn't exist, and all the atheists are right? Who really cares? Believe what you believe, do what you think is right, and let everyone else do their own thing. You're not going to force anyone into truly being a Christian, or a Jew, or a Buddhist, or WHATEVER, so just go about your own business. Love God or Allah or Krishna however you want, but LEAVE EVERYONE ELSE ALONE. Stop killing people over whose God is real. Stop attacking people for believing something you don't. I mean, we don't attack people for believing that French is a better language than Spanish, do we? We don't start wars over whether red is a better color than blue. No one has to die over anyone's opinion on Crocs, so why is religion different? If I'm allowed to hate Spanish, love red, and burn a pile of Crocs on my front lawn without a war breaking out, why am I not allowed to be an atheist without starting something? (... for the record, I want to speak both French and Spanish, like both red and blue, and DETEST Crocs. :D)

I just don't understand. I don't understand how some people can call themselves "Christian" while rejecting everything that Jesus Christ taught. I don't understand why these people get to go to Heaven while I'm not good enough. I don't understand why no one can see that all religions are exactly the same at the core - do good things, be a nice person, love your fellow man. And I know that a lot of the religion thing is the relationship with God, which is great and wonderful and I sometimes wish I had that, but that shouldn't be between anyone but you and God. Don't drag me into it hoping to convert me, don't use it to try to prove someone of a different faith "wrong," don't talk about it unasked or without some real reason. Your relationship with God should be private, while the benefits of that relationship should be public - your heart, your soul, your love, your kindness. These are the things we need more of, not arguments over whose God could kick whose God's omnipotent butt.

While we're at it - atheists, QUIT BEING JERKS. There is no reason for you to bash people for believing something YOU don't, either. I know, they started it by preaching to you, but SERIOUSLY. Just quietly don't believe in God, and if someone's offending you by all means speak up, but other than that, just LET IT GO. There's no need to offend people or just generally be mean. Like I said above, you keep your beliefs to yourself, we'll KEEP OUR NON-BELIEFS TO OURSELVES, and everyone will be happy, yeah? YEAH?! (I'm serious. It's just as pointless for an atheist to try to convince a Christian that God doesn't exist as it is the other way around.)

Okay. So this is my religion post. I might have more to say about it sometime, but aside from comments I'm hoping to leave it alone for a while. I don't like to talk about religion. I never want to offend people, but I don't want to be converted. I just don't. I don't want to believe in the Christian version of God, because I don't agree with what he teaches and I can't see any proof that he exists. The minute that changes, I'll let you know.

You want to know what I believe in? The majesty of nature. The mind-blowingness of science. Love of all kinds. The kind of magic that lives in nighttime car rides while blasting the Smiths with the windows down. Family and friends. Connecting to strangers in ways you never expected and creating amazing friendships. Music, how it can touch thousands of people in the same way, and yet differently. Evolution. Saving our planet. Helping people in need. Perhaps some force that helps and guides us, but how we ultimately have a choice. Dumbledore and Harry Potter. People, sometimes, though it's difficult when I watch the news. No day but today - I believe that there is only this, and we need to make it the best we can and improve it for the generations to follow. I don't care what happens after I die as long as I have made my life meaningful, touched someone else's life in a positive way, and hopefully made the world a little bit better for everyone else to live in.