On NYC Mosque – Guest Blogger Calls for Conservatives to Lead, not Whine

Okay, conservatives, this is a big year.

For the last twenty months or so the Obama administration and the Pelosi/Reid congress have ignored the outspoken preferences of a majority of citizens, enacting legislation and policies that  have most of us counting the days until the November mid-terms.

Many voters who swooned for Obama in 2008 are getting ready to make different choices this year and sleepy citizens who typically don’t pay attention to politics are slowly waking up to the issues and consequences we face as a nation. They are seeing what happens when the long-touted progressive agenda has an unrestrained opportunity to germinate, flower, and bear fruit, and they don’t like it.

Despite the media silence on many big issues in the last couple of years and repeated attempts to obfuscate the obvious, the character of this administration is on display for all to see: the corruption and nepotism, the broken promises, the unsolved economic woes, the bad foreign policy, the arrogance, and a cornucopia of other things that reveal how deeply out of step our policymakers are with the rest of the country and the original intent of our founders for the United States of America. This year’s elections are practically ours for the taking.

So why are we making the so-called Ground Zero Mosque our current defining issue?

Most average Americans are far more concerned about things like joblessness, illegal immigration, out-of-control national debt and government spending, health care reform, the war on terror, so why are we repeating old mistakes by losing sight of the big picture?

Sure, most of us don’t like the idea of the Islamic Cultural Center (henceforth referred to as a mosque for reasons of convenience, if not precision), and our reasons why are very popular talking points: Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf (the chief proponent of the mosque) has espoused some controversial views regarding terrorism and 9/11, it’s too close to the “hallowed ground” of Ground Zero, taxpayer dollars have paid for Rauf to travel internationally, and so forth.

I don’t disagree with the relevance of any of these things. In fact, I think it’s probable that many things about this mosque are intended to be a political statement and even an intentional slap to the face of America.

That said, I have yet to see a single argument that demonstrates a valid legal or constitutional reason for prohibiting the construction of this mosque.

Here’s the salient point: if, as conservatives, we desire the limited government and broader freedoms that our country’s founders intended, we must not go running to the government for solutions to things we dislike.

Let’s review the first amendment to our constitution, shall we?

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Not only is it hypocritical of us to ask the government to intervene in the private affairs of this Muslim group, it sets a dangerous precedent for what the government could then be permitted to do elsewhere. Those warm fuzzies we might feel after the construction of the mosque is blocked would fade pretty quickly when our own churches are prohibited from being built in a certain part of town.

Now, there are certainly options on the table for preventing the mosque from being built on the proposed location, but all of those remain squarely the responsibility of the citizens of New York City and no one else. For example, should NYC residents vote to enact special landmark zoning for a specified area around Ground Zero, that would be entirely their right. Similar zoning practices are in use near other places of historical significance around the country and could be put into place in New York; at this time, however, no such action has been taken.

While the “Ground Zero Mosque” is unpopular at a national level on both sides of the aisle (Senator Harry Reid recently came out in opposition to it!), it is still a divisive issue. In the eyes of individuals who have no problem with the mosque, those who oppose it come across as intolerant, bigoted, fearful, or just plain mean.

In this election year, when success for conservatives — and America — means ensuring a historic overturn of Congress, we need all the help we can get. We need to focus on the issues that unite, not divide. We need to communicate solutions to clear-cut problems like health care and government overspending. We need to be leaders, not whiners.

So even if the mosque offends you, let them build it — or let the people of New York be the ones to stop it. Let’s turn our efforts instead to making sure all Americans are fired up to vote this November and that they’re educated and informed about the real issues at hand.

If we don’t, we may not get another shot at it.

Photo Credit – sfcg.files.wordpress.com