Utah, with its Mormon heritage, should be the most sensitive of any state to the fundamental constitutional right to the freedom of religion. In the early days of the Mormon Church, many members were persecuted for practicing polygamy and the United Order (an early form of communal living where church members gave all their earthly possessions to the church and in return received what they needed to live as determined by the church). Many Missourians at the time were quick to judge this upstart religion for what seemed to be extreme practices even by today's standards. Nevertheless, no church should be interfered with as long as their practiced beliefs are not in direct conflict with state and federal law.
With this in mind, I find it curious how many local members of the St. George community are against the building of a Muslim Mosque blocks away from ground zero. Their arguments range from, "it simply can't happen and should never be allowed " to "while legally it could be built, its in very poor taste and in this one situation it should not be allowed." This is a direct quote from a colleague of mine and a Philpot supporter in the St. George. Amazingly, it wasn't ten minutes later that he said he was a strict constitutionalists when it came to taxation and the federal government and went on to say that the Obama administration is imposing socialism on the nation. If I'm not mistaken, the United Order is the ultimate form of socialism.
Surprisingly, as an evil, UN-American, pin headed liberal, I too am a strict Constitutionalists. But here is where I differ. One cannot make exceptions to the Constitution of the United States on a case by case basis or, simply put, we would be governed by mob rule. The very essence of the constitution is not protect only the rights of the majority, but to protect the often UN-represented rights of the minority. All of which brings us back to the subject of the Muslim faith and their right, to build their place of worship, anywhere that any other church or place of worship could be built in America.
I certainly understand the sentiment that many Americans hold in opposing the Mosque but I also believe we are an intelligent nation and we are more than capable of seeing through the pundits and their selfish agendas. The pundits play on our natural fears and are all to eager to have us believe that the Muslim faith is based on terrorism and is propagated by Satin himself.
(A quick side note: one day in speaking with a follower of the Mormon faith, I referred to Satin as a "women" just to get a reaction, his replay was, "Satin can't be a women, they're not smart enough")
Having been raised Mormon, I can recall many beliefs and scriptures that my father held true and fast to. Beliefs that modern Mormons distance themselves from or completely deny as having ever been a part of Mormon teachings. The Mormon Church, as practiced by Fundamentalists, is a prime example. The Fundamentalists primarily living in Colorado City and Hilldale are strict followers of Joseph Smiths original teachings and hold the belief that "the church" was led astray by recent false prophets outlawing the practice of plural marriage.
With this in mind, I believe modern day Mormons don't want to be judged by the actions of the Short Creekers (the unfair nickname we gave to the polygamists when I was a kid) and in fairness, nor do the fundamentalists want to be judged by the actions of the Mormon Church headquartered in Salt Lake City. Even further, many Christians take offense to Mormons considering themselves Christian, but I can assure all, that Mormons do believe in Jesus Christ. The lesson to be learned, is none of us want to be defined or judged by the most extreme actions of those within or closely associated to groups or religions we belong to.
This brings us full circle to the argument of insensitivity relative to the construction of a mosque so close to ground zero. While simplistic, the basis of this sentiment is understandable. One can easily look back to a time when the Mormon Church was proposing the construction of a temple in Washington D.C. There were many protest surrounding the building of this temple by many groups, especially by many blacks living in the neighborhoods closest to the proposed temple site. The protests were based on the long held Mormon belief that black weren't worthy to hold the priesthood. A belief that was not abandoned until the mid 1970's. Based on the sentiment behind these protests, women should protest the building of any Christian, Muslim or Jewish places of worship, as for the most part, women are banded from holding the priesthood or positions of ultimate leadership in all these faiths. Incidentally, the Mormon Church did complete the Washington D.C. temple.
Despite our individual views, there is no place for a "onetime" exception to the Constitution and the freedom of religion held within. Fighting for the rights of those with whom we disagree and for causes that don't benefit us directly is the very foundations that makes us a great nation. The founding fathers were wise, but not ultimately so, as they did nothing to address the simple civil rights of blacks, women, and dare say it "gays!" It's our civic duty as flag waving, constitutionalists to protect all Americans Civil Rights. Especially when we may disagree with the very premise of their beliefs, or may be uncomfortable with our stereotyping of their racial makeup and yes, to have never doubted our straightness when deer hunting and spending as much time as is humanly possible with our manly buddies!
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