(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Rep. Allen West has chosen an interesting way to commemorate the 10-year anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. He hosted a press conference at which most of the participants slammed Islam and screened a virulently anti-Muslim documentary, titled Sacrificed Survivors: The Untold Story of the Ground Zero Mega-Mosque. Produced in association with the Christian Action Network, the film focuses on a proposed Islamic cultural center that was to be built a few blocks from Ground Zero. Opponents say the entire area is sacred ground and in essence a massive grave.
The event featured individuals who for the decade have struggled to overcome the inexplicable loss of loved ones who were killed on that fateful day. Only those who have experienced such a tragedy can truly share their pain, and it is good for them to have forums in which to express it. Some even acknowledged that there are no legal or constitutional reasons to prohibit what they’ve dubbed a “morally wrong mega-mosque,” but other sentiments shared were alarming and verging on jingoism.
One speaker declared that Islam is not even a religion–and West agreed. According to the Florida lawmaker, it’s a “theocratic political construct ideology” in desperate need of reform. He also said that he fears Americans have not learned anything from the attacks and are unwilling to confront the threat of Islamic extremists both here and abroad, because it is politically incorrect.
“I am not sitting up here condemning people who call themselves Muslims. Now is the time we have to challenge this ideology,” West said. “If we are to peacefully coexist they have to come into the 21st century and push aside a lot of these seventh-century ideas they still hold.”
This week is supposed to be about healing, but such vitriol is far from soothing. And it begs the question: What would Harriet Tubman think?