The Pot Calling the Kettle Black

Iman Rauf, the Iman at the center of the so-called Ground Zero Mosque controversy continued his harmful rhetoric this morning. Speaking before the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), he lamented over the use of, in his words, “deliberate misinformation and harmful stereotypes” in the argument over the building of the mosque within a short distance of Ground Zero in Manhattan. There is an old saying that this is simply a case of the pot calling the kettle black. I believe it truly applies here.

If misinformation and harmful stereotypes are being used, and they are, it seems to me that most, if not all, of this usage is by the Imam and his supporters. I have not heard any critic of the building of the mosque near Ground Zero say that the Imam and his supporters do not have the right to build there. Quite the contrary, critics go out of their way to state that they do have that right. Their argument is that it is the wrong thing to do, given the seriousness and semi-sanctity of the site of the former World Trade Center.

The Imam and his supporters continually state that the critics are trying to deny them their constitutional right to build a worship center. No one has made any attempt to do so. Misinformation is the word used, but lie is actually more accurate. The Imam and his supporters are lying when they use this smoke screen to disguise their true intent.

The use of harmful stereotypes again is coming from the Imam and his supporters. The 60-70% of the American people who oppose the placement of the mosque at the Ground Zero location are not radicals. They are very much mainstream Americans. They appreciate the constitutional right to build in the disputed location and support it. Their objection is the wisdom of building there. The Imam seems to be utilizing one of the primary tools of today’s Democrat party. The Democrat party has mastered the use of name-calling to deflect criticism of President Obama and his supporters, and now the Imam and supporters are doing the very same thing. It seems that as soon as one offers criticism of these people the critics are labeled as radicals.

The Imam’s veiled threat of violence, if the mosque location changes, is certainly no way to build bridges. So far, the Imam’s actions and rhetoric are destroying any bridges that have already been built between Muslims and other Americans. Based on Imam Rauf’s mention of violence if the mosque location is changed, it seems to me that the radicals are on his side, not the side of the critics. I have not heard of any threats of violence from any of the critics if the mosque is built near Ground Zero. The pot is indeed calling the kettle black.