Yesterday, the Anti-Defamation League announced their opposition to the Muslim community center to be built in lower Manhattan. The structure which opponents have labeled the “ground-zero mosque” in reality is not at ground-zero of the 9/11 horrors, nor is it exclusively a mosque, but it has become a rallying cry for bigots and opportunists who seek to turn fear and hatred into political power.
In their statement the ADL assured everyone that they “…regard freedom of religion as a cornerstone of the American democracy, and that freedom must include the right of all Americans – Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and other faiths – to build community centers and houses of worship.” Shortly after this statement, however, they suggest that that “cornerstone of democracy” shouldn’t apply when it upsets some people:
The controversy which has emerged regarding the building of an Islamic Center at this location is counterproductive to the healing process. Therefore, under these unique circumstances, we believe the City of New York would be better served if an alternative location could be found.
But then to show that they are not really caving into religious bigotry the ADL proceeds by invoking an all too familiar stereotype:
In recommending that a different location be found for the Islamic Center, we are mindful that some legitimate questions have been raised about who is providing the funding to build it, and what connections, if any, its leaders might have with groups whose ideologies stand in contradiction to our shared values.
The suggestion that the Cordoba House, the name of the community center project, is being funded by terrorists is without basis and serves to try to justify bigotry and fear. It is perhaps the most offensive element in the ADL’s missive because it attempts to justify their irrational bigotry by plucking the strings of terrorism and the hateful notion that all Muslims are somehow connected to global terrorists.
If there was a single group which would be keenly aware of religious hatred and what may result from it, one would think it would be the Anti-Defamation League. The ebbs and flows of religious bigotry in this country have a long and sorted history: from the brutalization of the Quakers to anti-Catholic violence — which my own family encountered with the Klan — to the persecution of the Mormons and to the rampant anti-Semitism of the 20th century our nation has often seen minority groups of faith persecuted and made scapegoats for the ill of their times. Time, however, has a tendency to move religious hatred around. The transitive property of bigotry almost ensures that the evils ascribed to one faith will be assigned to another in the future. After all, it wasn’t that long ago that bigots spoke of an international cabal of Jews trying to destroy western civilization and working out of local synagogues. The ADL should be keenly aware and very sensitive to this history, and yet they seem to happy to join in with the bigots and haters who claim Islam is a devil religion, or a cult, (pejoratives used in the past to describe Judaism), or with those who simply wish to fan religious enmity to gain power. By lying down with angry bigots and hucksters of hatred the Anti-Defamation League has sullied itself for years to come. For to take any future claims from the ADL of religious intolerance would be akin to giving weight to charges of racism from David Duke. To quote the great bard, “Men’s evil manners live in brass; their virtues We write in water”.
