Prior to 9/11/01 the term ground zero was a generic term, primarily military, which referred to any point on the earth’s surface beneath which a designated explosion took place. It was first used, according to Wikipedia, to refer to the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Since 2001, however, the term has become synonymous with that area of lower Manhattan where the Twin Towers stood before being attacked and destroyed. I have to admit that I could not have identified that area before 2001, but people who looked at the skyline of The City with any regularity find themselves disoriented by the absence of the two huge buildings which defined that place on the urban map. Now I have joined them in missing the landmarks, but it is more of an acquired experience than one which was natural.
My family’s connection to the 9/11 tragedy is upfront and personal, however, so there is a lot of emotion tied to the location. I walked the smoke-filled grounds of the disaster site while they were just beginning to pick through the rubble to search for bodies. Some of those who died in the rubble turned out to be children or spouses of friends. My emotions about the location are not neutral.
However, let me be clear. I know the site and the parameters of the site. It doesn’t go on forever. A location several blocks from the construction site is not ground zero. It may be lower Manhattan, and it may be referred to as neighboring ground zero. But it is not ground zero. We have no right to extend those parameters to serve a quasi-political purpose. To do so is to replicate the speeches of a current political candidate who referred to having served in Vietnam. He was in the military at the time of the Vietnam conflict, but he was not on the ground in Vietnam. There is a difference which veterans and others agree upon. And there is a difference in the appropriation of the term ground zero when the property being described is two and a half blocks away.
This emotional discussion about the location of an Islamic mosque on a piece of property two and a half blocks away from Ground Zero is highly-charged and laced with elements of racism which make it difficult to talk about without becoming agitated. President Obama, speaking to an Islamic audience during the month of Ramadan, attempted to define a position he holds on the issue without slipping into that emotional argument. He defined the legal … constitutionally legal … issues surrounding the matter. He was perfectly clear and made no reference to his personal feelings about the situation.
I’m sure the President has personal feelings about the matter. I do also. But it isn’t his place to reveal those emotions. It serves no good purpose at this point in the highly-charged debate. And, as some commentators have noted, to do so would be a violation of the rule of separation of Church and State.
- It really doesn’t matter what the President feels about the locating of the mosque in Lower Manhattan.
- It does matter what he thinks about the legality of the action.
In this mid-term election season there are those who delight in twisting details to make the President look bad. It gives credibility to candidates who don’t have a lot to offer other than criticism of the current President and his administration. It is embarrassing to have members of his own party distancing themselves from him over this issue. It is a time when his experience as a constitutional attorney and former constitutional professor are pertinent and important. Their behavior is despicable.
Maybe the idea of building the mosque so close to Ground Zero (and even calling the site Ground Zero in their quest for funds) is inappropriate. That should be noted. But the idea that “the government” should restrict the building of the mosque on the selected site is a dangerous step to be taken.
This is another moment when there is “more heat than light” being generated. It is a time to step back, take a deep breath, and let the truth emerge instead of politically-convenient hyperbole.
Photo Credit: bhpaddock.com
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It has JUST NOW been reported that there were 2, count ‘em 2, Mosques in the Twin Towers! One on the 17th floor of the South tower and a makeshift one in the 79th floor stair-well of the North tower for workers of Windows on the World. You want the World Trade Center back the way it was? Allow a Muslim Cultural Center to be built two blocks away. Can we please move on?!