A BOGEYMAN SYNDROME

THE CENTURION CHRONICLE Special Issue – Aug 2010

A BOGEYMAN SYNDROME (and, please, check under our beds too!)

The proposed Muslim cultural center and mosque project in New York City, several blocks away from – Ground Zero - , is causing a firestorm of hysterical protest in reaction to it. A hysteria unwarranted by the facts of the matter, and one which not only reflects poorly on us as Americans; but also, highlights our collective sense of mistrust and fear, and insecurities about Islam itself. All of which must have the militant and radical elements of it chortling with glee, more convinced than ever that they can ultimately overcome us….with terror tactics.

So, whatever happened to the home of the brave, folks? Was our national psyche so traumatized by those 9/11 events the mere mention of Islam, in any context, turns our guts into jello, and unleashes a raging bogeyman syndrome, convinced that Islamic terrorists are lurking behind every bush (and perhaps even under our beds too)? If that’s the case, then our country is in worse shape than we realize, and all those screaming-mimis in the media, on talk-radio, in the blogosphere, and on the streets….prove it.

In many ways our reaction to 9/11 much resembles what happened to us at the time of another traumatic event called….Pearl Harbor. With identical hysteria, we stampeded ourselves into arbitrarily rounding up every Japanese-American in sight on the West Coast, and forcibly dumped them all into nothing less than concentration camps (but, without ovens).

This time around, we stampeded ourselves into enacting the Patriot Act, created an overlord security apparatus named – Homeland Security – (an unfortunate choice of labeling since the literal German translation for that is Geheim Stadt Polizei, the ill-famed acronym for which is …GES-TA-PO), and declaring that anything Islamic is, at best, satanic. We then followed all that up by militarily storming right into the solar plexus of the world of Islam, like a wounded raging lion, shredding and mangling everything in sight….ostensibly to teach it a lesson….Don’t tread on me, buster, or I’ll fang you! All of which slacked our thirst for revenge, gave our enemies pause and marginal food for thought, but otherwise did little to really drive that lesson home to them….even after ten years of trying to do so.

Thus, without any signs of clear-cut results and accomplishment, the entire episode has simply imbedded a massive dose of mistrust about it in our hearts and minds. Perhaps it’s time we asked ourselves if that’s not what’s driving such an extreme reaction to an otherwise banal property development issue?

One of the more obvious factors involved here is the failure of our present national leadership to adopt a balanced position towards Islam. The main perception being its apparent apologetic and appeasing posture towards it, and, favoritism besides, since it took office. We have nothing to apologize for, and appeasement, never works. Worse yet, displaying public favoritism towards Islam, to the exclusion of traditional Christian ceremonials at the White House, was an insensitive gaucherie which most of our people has resented.

The other factor fostering mistrust and suspicion is Islam itself. Of all religions conceived by humans it is the least accommodating and most intolerant of other faiths (to be fair, many others have the same problem). However, Islam is somewhat unique in that respect because it is inherently dedicated to achieving an ultimate absolute theocracy, and secularism such as ours is anathema to it. That is the crux of its conflict with us. Unfortunately, too many of its clerics aggravate that conflict by emphasizing that difference between us in mostly pejorative terms, making us the problem, rather than condemning the radical elements of their faith who undertake atrocious acts of terror. We have yet to hear of any of its clerics openly and publicly declare to their co-religionists, from their pulpits at Friday prayers in their mosques, that such acts are not only criminal, but defame Islam besides. Nor do we hear them condemning the ongoing slaughter of other Moslems, by Moslems, with similar terrorist acts. Thus by their silence they condone them.

Is it any wonder then there is such mistrust and suspicion here about Islam?

It all boils down to this, in this context and situation, the onus for changing such mistrust and suspicion lies with the clerics of Islam….not with America.

As for those who vehemently oppose this project as an unwarranted intrusion upon sacred ground, it is understandable, but one must ask….if this is such sacred ground why is all that heavy construction being done on it? If it were truly “sacred” the only thing we would see there today would be a truly magnificent memorial park….and nothing else….much as we see in that distant field in Pennsylvania.

But this is New York City, folks, and prime real estate secular value takes precedence and priority over sacred sensibilities.

CENTURION