Midweek Musings
Rev. Michael Duda
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How quickly we forget.
How easy it is to fall into old patterns.
Remember the days following Sept. 11? In our collective grief and shock we were, for a time, uniquely caring and compassionate toward one another.
I remember driving to work and noticing motorists being more courteous — a remarkable experience here in Massachusetts — and people, even strangers, just being kinder and gentler.
I was beginning a new job as chaplain at Endicott College. I saw students, faculty and administration reaching out to one another, and I distinctly recall how the college and the community reached out to international students, especially Muslim students.
I know it was short-lived, but it is particularly disheartening, nine years later, to see the cacophony of controversy over the so-called "Ground Zero Mosque."
It is not a mosque, nor is it at Ground Zero.The plans call for an Islamic community center complete with a gym, pool, and a prayer room two blocks north of Ground Zero in a typical Lower Manhattan neighborhood that includes shops, restaurants, churches, and office buildings.
In the nine years since the tragedy it has been impossible to come to any kind of agreement on a suitable memorial for the victims, yet, almost instantly, many are prepared to fight against a Muslim community center being built near this haloed ground. I doubt there would be much of a debate if it were another Christian church or a Jewish synagogue, but for that third branch of Abraham's descendants, it is unacceptable.
Grief includes many feelings, often amorphous — anger, denial, depression and guilt can sometimes be irrational and overwhelming.
It is always important to respect the feelings of the victim's families, but it appears that they are either divided in their response or silent on the issue, not to mention the fact that there are Muslim families who lost loved ones innocently working in the twin towers on that terrible day.
What is truly disrespectful and disturbing is the degree of divisiveness coming from politicians, who are using — or rather abusing — feelings of grief and loss to fuel the flames of a fight ignited by the false assumption that anyone who follows the Islamic faith is responsible for, or somehow supportive of, the fundamentalist fanatics who carried out that terrorist attack nine years ago this Saturday.
Meanwhile, not to be outdone by the politicians, the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Fla., has called upon all "true Christians" to remember Sept. 11 by burning a copy of the Quran.
It's already been reported that Muslims in other parts of the world have heard of this "new Christian crusade" to destroy the Quran. As a Christian cleric I hope that they know that not all Christians are like these fringe fanatics. I pray that they can tell the difference between genuine faith and radical fundamentalism. After all, it only takes a little common sense to recognize the difference - right?
A wise U.S. president addressed this issue saying, "It is now no more that toleration is spoken of, as if it were by the indulgence of one class of people, that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights. For, happily, the government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens, in giving it on all occasions their effectual support."
It was not President Obama who spoke those words, but George Washington, as Hendrik Hertzberg deftly pointed out in an Aug. 16 column of the New Yorker.
Freedom of religion is not only a core value of all credible faith traditions but part of the fabric of democracy.
As we approach this anniversary we would do well to heed Washington's wise words and truly honor those who lost their lives on 9/11.
The Rev. Michael J. Duda lives in Rockport and is senior pastor of the First Church in Wenham.
