Brain Lemon

It’s official – the mosque debate has gone too far, gotten too ugly, caused far too much anger.  People who would otherwise be civil to each other have said nasty things.  I myself have been guilty of this, as have several friends.

I think it’s time for all of us to step back for a minute and come to some realizations.  Most importantly, it has become clear that the ideological gulf between conservatives and libertarians is nearly uncrossable.  The two sides just don’t get each other.  To a conservative, the mosque is clearly offensive and worth protesting.  To a libertarian, this outrage is puzzling and, to many, troubling.  Many on “my side” have in frustration come to the conclusion that it must be due to anti-Muslim feelings.  But this cannot be the case, as far too many otherwise good people oppose the mosque.

My feelings on the subject are simple – it comes down to a matter of rights and tolerance.  While the majority of conservatives are not protesting the rights issue, they are clearly making a judgment that the mosque is “not welcome” in the Ground Zero area.  The reasons for this are many, but it basically comes down to seeing the mosque as an affront to those who died on 9/11.  I don’t agree with this take, but that’s how they feel.  And it has much more to do with the still-raw emotions of 9/11 than it does with a categorical dislike of all Muslims.

I understand these emotions.  But I believe we need to take a step back, if we possibly can.  We need to direct our anger at the subhuman monsters that did 9/11, and those that supported it.  The builders of the “Ground Zero Mosque” have no relation to this.  While we rightfully balk at the imam’s refusal to condemn Hamas, and his statements suggesting America is partly to blame for 9/11, we can’t let ourselves have a double standard when it comes to free speech.  He has the right to those views, and we can’t demand more of Muslims that we would of other Americans.  For example, there are many Americans who say we share some part of the blame for 9/11, including conservative icon Glenn Beck, as pointed out by the Daily Show.  And yet we don’t demand they recant it or risk being protested.

All of this is to say my feelings on the subject are pretty set, and so are those of conservatives.  None of us is going to budge, and every argument is going to end up with one side calling the other insensitive or intolerant.  Neither is true, of course.  Conservatives by and large don’t hate Muslims and libertarians are for the most part decent people.  We just can’t see eye to eye on this subject.  So I think it’s time to move on and focus on what we DO agree on – opposing Big Government and supporting the freedom agenda.  Oh, and kicking Democrat butt in November!