The Place of Religion in 9/11 Commemorations

by Richard L. Rubenstein (September 2011)

Former New York State Governor David Patterson seems to have gotten the point somewhat earlier than the Mayor. Initially supportive of the mosque project, he subsequently urged its developers to choose an alternative site further away from Ground Zero and even offered state property on which to build it. The Muslim leadership refused the offer. They were determined to build near the Ground Zero site.

Far too many Muslim imams worldwide have called for the destruction of Israel, its people, and in many cases, all Jews, for me to join with any Muslims in commemorating a massively destructive act that many Muslims see as a sanctified act of jihad. I fully understand that many American Muslims do not share such views, but I do not have any reliable way of knowing when assurances of fellowship and toleration are truthful and when they are examples of taqiyya, religiously sanctioned acts of dissimulation and deception.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703545604575407673221908474.html.

http://www.fas.org/irp/world/para/docs/980223-fatwa.htm

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/gwbush911islamispeace.htm.

[v] Remarks by President George W. Bush, Dwight David Eisenhower Executive Office Building, Washington, DC, October 11, 2002, http://afghanland.com/islam/quotes.html.

To comment on this essay, please click here.

here.

If you have enjoyed this article and want to read more by Richard L. Rubenstein, please click here.