Wednesday, August 18, 2010

NYC Mosque: Exercise rights or do the right thing?

There is little question in my (albeit inexperienced) mind about whether or not the Muslims seeking to build a mosque, cultural center, or whatever you want to call it, have a right to do so. Bill McGurn asks if it is the right thing to do and refers to how John Paul II counseled a group of carmelites facing a similar dilema in Poland.

The full article on WSJ is HERE.

"So what did Pope John Paul II do? He waited, and he counseled. And when he saw that the nuns were not budging—and that their presence was doing more harm than good—he asked the Carmelites to move. He acknowledged that his letter would probably be a trial to each of the sisters, but asked them to accept it while continuing to pursue their mission in that same city at another convent that had been built for them... By asking the nuns to withdraw, he didn't concede them either. What he did was recognize that having the right to do something doesn't mean it's the right thing to do."

A real question for those wanting to build: As a matter of prudence, is moving forward with your plans best? Of course, it is hard to look in the face of what may be unjust objections and appear to concede. But those unjust objections, being a reality, may make the mosque a bad idea and unnecessarily fuel the anger being directed toward Islam in general. Reality does not always direct us to do what we can do just because we can do it, other factors are at play.

As for me, I don't have a concrete view one way or the other.

1 comment:

clairity said...

That's a great perspective ... and example.