You've seen it as well as I have. There is a lot of comment associated with the World Trade Center mosque regarding the historic tradition of building mosques to commemorate Islamic conquests and victories.
It has been done, of course. For that matter Christians have done similar things, building churches and cathedrals to commemorate significant events. But the question is whether it is traditional or not. Is it basic to the construction of a major mosque? Is there a consistent pattern. Is a major mosque a symbol of conquest?
Here's some evidence to the contrary. These are the twenty largest in the world. They are indeed global and logically enough each has been built where you would find a significant Muslim population to support them. I could find little to indicate conquest in most of them:
Twenty Largest Mosques Around the World
None of that changes the question regarding WTC and that particular mosque. But maybe it suggests that some of the innuendo and hyperbole attached to the current issue is not very significant nor is it based in fact.
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Over the last 48 hours the proposed Islamic center and mosque near Ground Zero has become a radioactive political issue. But there is an ameliorative effect from the energetic public discussion. For one thing, more evidence of the true plan to use this center for propaganda purposes has emerged. Greater attention has also been focused on the shoddy treatment that NYC and the New York - New Jersey MTA are dishing out to St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church. That parish, destroyed on Sept. 11 and denied permission to rebuild, had been located at Liberty Street since 1922. St. Nicholas is the only group that is having its right to pray interfered with by Gotham’s politburos. So Mayor Bloomburg merely threw more gasoline on an already roaring fire.
As more and more Democrats abandon the inept Messiah after his tirade on Friday, it appears likely that the proposed center will not be built where originally planned. For example, most − if not all − NYC construction unions won’t work there. Yet despite the hostile intent of the Islamic proponents, not one critic wants to deny Muslins another mosque in Manhattan. Even most House Democrats recognize that this is a land use issue concerning the immediate vicinity of Ground Zero, and nothing more.
So the USA, after liberating Muslims in Iraq and elsewhere (and at a cost of roughly a trillion dollars, and thousands of America lives), remains committed to religious freedom, including Muslims. No need to suspend anyone’s Constitutional rights. Raz will be pleased, but I suspect that he will still have a boatload of topics for his fall semester students.
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