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In case you missed it, Rabbi Lustig was on the The Diane Rehm Show on Monday morning with his partners in the Abrahamic Roundtable, Professor Akbar Ahmed and Bishop John Chane. They discussed the controversy over the planned Muslim community center in Lower Manhattan—widely described as the "Ground Zero Mosque." They also spoke more generally about the attitude toward Islam in the United States.
You can listen to the whole show here. The program begins with Rabbi Lustig, Bishop Chane, and Professor Ahmed. After a political discussion, they return at the 27:30 mark.
In his remarks Rabbi Lustig mentions several prominent leaders of Reform Judaism who have expressed support for the mosque/community center project. See this editorial in the Washington Post by Rabbi David Ellenson, president of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, and Rabbi Robert Levine, senior rabbi of Congregation Rodeph Sholom in Manhattan. Rabbi Eric Yoffie, president of the Union for Reform Judiasm, and Rabbi David Saperstein, director of the Religious Action Center here in Washinton, released a joint statement. Rabbi Lustig also responds to a question about the ADL, which has taken a stand against the project.
For Discussion: What are your thoughts about this controversy? What are your reactions to the radio program or the articles? What do you think are the most important factors we should consider when addressing this issue?
(Reminder: To post a comment, click the "comments" link below this post. Let's make this a [respectful] discussion!)
I thought the discussion was well thought out and very well done. That said, I am still conflicted about the appropriateness of building the Mosque at that site. Perhaps I need to hear more.
ReplyDeleteThe uneasiness within the American population regarding Islam in general and perhaps the "mosque" issue in particular is the visceral understanding that Islam is a continuum which INCLUDES government. Unlike Judaism and Christianity, Islam has yet to undergo a "secularization" or modernization which will allow the adherents to draw a line between God and Caesar. Moslems are part of the great, universal "Umma." This religious concept is further parsed in the beliefs of Dar al Islaam and Dar al Harb-harbor of peace and harbor of war. "We" ( Muslims ) are in the former whereas everyone else is in the latter. The "battle" thus is ongoing and forever until the forces of the Dar al Islaam are totally victorious. Developments such as peace treaties and alliances with those outside the umma are tactical defeats acceptable in the short run as long as the eye is kept on the true prize--the total world umma. Returning to the issue of the mosque, Islam has historically memorialized its "victories" with tangible signs such as the great mosque on the Temple mount and the transition of Hagia Sophia into the great mosque in Istanbul. Whether or not this was the intention of the husband and wife team who are publicly out in front on the mosque issue those who have studied Islamic history may perhaps be forgiven if they read such symbolism into the proposed project. Notwithstanding the Constitutional guarantees under which well meaning people are advocating for "religious freedom" relative to the mosque issue, I would submit that American Muslims have an even greater issue to settle: Their ultimate role in the secular society which is what America is supposedly about and whether it is even possible for them, under the current "rules" of Islam to consider themselves one of the many religious groupings finding a haven in a secular America which allows and encourages the private practice of religion, or are they primarily members of the worldwide umma and only secondarily Americans with conflicting loyalties.
ReplyDeleteI was vacationing out of town, and heard the program over the internet.I felt proud to belong to WHC, and have Rabbi Lustig as our Rabbi..His remarks were what needed to be said to help calm the waters..
ReplyDeleteI believe that all Americans can agree that in the United States, all people have the constitutional right and freedom to practice their religion wherever and however they choose. We do not have to prove this to anyone, here or abroad. I do however believe that Moslems that demand their Mosque and Community Center be built at 51 Park Place, in the shadow of the hole in the ground in lower Manhattan, are not moderate or good Moslems. "Reformed" or moderate Moslems have rightly expressed their disapproval of this project based on human sensitivity -- NOT religious rights. For obvious reasons, good Moslems don't want to see this project, that is already so divisive, located in this area. Simply stated, it is insensitive and disrespectful to demand against all public outcry, to build this project next to Ground zero.
ReplyDeleteI support the proposed Islamic center near Ground Zero.
ReplyDelete1. In an op-ed in The New York Times (Sept. 7, 2010), Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, who heads the organization sponsoring the proposed center, stated that the center will include “separate prayer spaces for Muslims, Christians, Jews and men and women of other faiths” and “a multifaith memorial dedicated to victims of the Sept. 11 attacks.”
On September 14, 2010, Rabbi Eric Yoffie, President of the URJ, stated: “While I do not know [Imam Rauf] personally, he has worked with our Commission on Interreligious Affairs and with the RAC. * * * He is a Sufi and a moderate by any definition.” (http://blogs.rj.org/reform.)
2. In their August 6 statement (cited in the WHC blog), Rabbis David Ellenson and Robert Levine acknowledge the “visceral pain expressed by some who lost loved ones in [the 9/11] attacks.” But the two rabbis conclude that “this sentiment does not provide sufficient grounds to prevent the building of this [Islamic] Center.” The two rabbis also state: “To refuse to allow this project to go forward would suggest that all Muslims are terrorists or covert supporters of terrorism.”
According to Rabbi Yoffie, the “most troubling aspect of this crisis” is that “Most of what we’ve witnessed . . . has nothing whatever to do with location-specific issues related to [Ground Zero]. Most of what we’ve witnesses is an orgy of hatred against Muslims.” Rabbi Yoffie emphasized that it is “not the case” that “everyone uncomfortable about the mosque is a bigot.” Still, according to Rabbi Yoffie, “when we listen to the public debate, it is too often true that the voices of bigotry are setting the tone.”
3. In the September 20, 2010 issue of The New Yorker, Lawrence Wright wrote (p. 48): “The best ally in the struggle against violent Islam is moderate Islam. The unfounded attacks on the backers of Park51 [the proposed Islamic center] and others . . . give substance to the Al Qaeda argument that the U.S. is waging a war against Islam, rather than against the terrorists’ misshapen effigy of that religion.”