In his book “Not Even Wrong,” Peter Woit points out that a student”s answer can be so incomplete that it is not even wrong.
I believe Mary Becker fits this category with her column, “A Mosque Grows in New York.” A writer must get her numbers right, her facts straight and do a modicum of research before committing ink to paper.
Instead of 15,000 children losing a parent at the Twin Towers , the number of orphans is actually 1,300. Logic should show that each person who died did not have five children.
The Ground Zero mosque is actually two blocks north of where the Twin Towers stood and will not be visible from the Twin Towers area. It will have one large prayer room but the rest of the building will be devoted to classrooms, an auditorium, galleries, a restaurant, a swimming pool and gym, and a memorial to the victims of 9/11.
Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf is a Columbia graduate and has been an imam for nearly 30 years.
In his book he states that Americans must outgrow the unbecoming arrogance that leads us to assert that America somehow owns a monopoly on goodness and truth, a belief that leads some to view the world as but a stage, on which to play out the great historical drama: the United States of America versus the powers of evil. Feisal has denounced the Sept. 11 attacks and was recruited by the F.B.I. to give sensitivity training to their agents and cops. He and his wife run a nonprofit organization where their mission is cultural and religious harmony through interfaith collaboration, youth and women”s empowerment and arts and cultural exchange, seeking common good to create just and peaceful societies.
Pretty shadowy figures. We are not looking at Islamist Triumphalism, which is out to destroy our civilization as Newt Gingrich sees it.
Mary Becker appeals to the hurt feeling of the people affected by Sept. 11, but in reality the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, Michael Bloomberg and President Obama all support the mosque. This is one more example of the Republicans finding ways to enforce their party”s discipline and conservative orthodoxy.
As George Washington wrote in 1790: the United States gives bigotry no sanction, persecution no assistance and requires only that those who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens, in giving it on all occasions their effectual support.
Greg Blinn
Kelseyville
