Mirror of Justice

A blog dedicated to the development of Catholic legal theory.
Affiliated with the Program on Church, State & Society at Notre Dame Law School.

Thursday, August 19, 2010

What's the Argument Against the Mosque Location, A Reader Asks

In the comments to my "at" or "near" post of yesterday, a reader asks the following question.  Since it is an important question, I thought I'd pull it from the comments where it might go unnoticed and ask for thoughts in reponse. 

"Both Rick Garnett and John Breen have now claimed that there are arguments against the location of Park51 which have nothing to do with Islamophobia or the--implicit or explicit--questioning of American Muslims' patriotism. I still have not heard what these arguments are. They certaintly are nowhere to be found on major media outlets or political blogs. From the excerpt of Robby George's not-yet-published op-ed, I anticipate one such argument, which is grounded in "considerations of the sensitivies of families of victims of the 9/11 attacks". But I submit that as soon as you begin to explain *why* a certain sensitivity is enjoined upon the builders of Park51 and no one else, you end up in the position of Islamophobia, or at least in the position of imputing collective guilt on all Muslims (who must be more sensitive than everybody else) for the actions of a few religo-political maniacs."

[Upated to open comments, which I inadvertently neglected to do when I first posted.]

https://mirrorofjustice.blogs.com/mirrorofjustice/2010/08/whats-the-argument-against-the-mosque-location-a-reader-asks.html

Stabile, Susan | Permalink

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Once again I posit the idea of a Confederate Memorial, replete with the Stars and Bars, near the African-American Museum in Washington DC. We all know that would never be permitted. It would be...insensitive. Sensitivity IS demanded from everyone BUT Muslims. Even Comedy Central censors itself. Perhaps it is time that Muslims show the sensitivity they demand from others.