(Photo: ABC News)Yesterday I posted about the clash over the Ground Zero mosque. Well here's another perspective from Akbar S. Ahmed a former Pakistani ambassador for the UK. My previous post was largely my non-American, non-Muslim understanding of the American Muslim v.s. American non-Muslim position. Ahmed has opened up yet another corner of the debate to non-American Muslims.
I don't think I've mentioned this before, but I was a communication major as an an undergrad and I live for this kind of rich, complicated dialogue with multiple conflicting voices. I live for it because I firmly believe that a multiplicity of voices offers a multiplicity of solutions. Not surprisingly, I think that the best part of this article comes at the end when Ahmed gives his entirely new suggestion for the solution to the problem. He suggests that the property be sold and proceeds be donated to the victims of flooding in Pakistan.
I'll bet the house that this will never happen. This controversy has grown beyond the bricks and mortar of a building and taken on its new meaning and symbolism. This is not a real estate dispute. This a clash of religion and culture. Selling the building would be the equivalent of dispelling these two weighty principles that it has come to symbolize. Definitely not gonna happen, but still good food for thought.
Read the entire article here.
No comments:
Post a Comment