Ross Douthat’s thoughts on the NYC mosque/Ground Zero controversy are the most insightful I have heard thus far.
There’s an America where it doesn’t matter what language you speak, what god you worship, or how deep your New World roots run. An America where allegiance to the Constitution trumps ethnic differences, language barriers and religious divides. An America where the newest arrival to our shores is no less American than the ever-so-great granddaughter of the Pilgrims.
But there’s another America as well, one that understands itself as a distinctive culture, rather than just a set of political propositions. This America speaks English, not Spanish or Chinese or Arabic. It looks back to a particular religious heritage: Protestantism originally, and then a Judeo-Christian consensus that accommodated Jews and Catholics as well. It draws its social norms from the mores of the Anglo-Saxon diaspora — and it expects new arrivals to assimilate themselves to these norms, and quickly.
HT: Mike Wittmer
It is a well-written essay. I’m definitely in the first camp, the one that views the mosque/cultural center as an opportunity for America to show it’s strength and beauty and religious tolerance — and though it’s nearly impossible for me to understand the “second America’s” point of view on the subject this did help move me along in understanding…