Littman: Stand up to the voices of hate and intolerance

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...May the Children of the Stock of Abraham, who dwell in this land, continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other Inhabitants; while every one shall sit under his own vine and fig tree, and there shall be none to make him afraid.

Letter from President George Washington to the Jews of Newport, R.I., 1790

Our first president must be rolling in his grave at the rhetoric being used in opposition to the Park 51 cultural complex, which recently got the go ahead from the New York City Landmarks Preservation Committee. I refuse to call it by the name that opponents use, because it is not at Ground Zero, and although a mosque will be included in the building, to call it that is to misrepresent the project. If we're going to call Park 51 the "Ground Zero Mosque," we should also refer to the "Ground Zero McDonalds," the "Ground Zero Strip Club," and the "Ground Zero OTB" -- all are equidistant from the former WTC site. The slurs of opponents, perpetuated by the media, have been so misleading on this, that my friend's wife actually thought the mosque was being built on the footprint of the Twin Towers. Not only that, blogs like RedState.com purposely took Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf's statement about the building's proximity to the WTC out of context to try and portray a nefarious motive, when Rauf actually said that building a cultural center to create understanding "where a piece of the wreckage fell sends the opposite statement to what happened on 9/11 ... We want to push back against the extremists." Weren't these same people asking: "Where are all the moderate Muslims?"

I wasn't the biggest fan of former President George W. Bush, but at least under his leadership the GOP paid lip service to the notion that the United States was at war with terrorists groups, not Islam. Now, all pretence has been dropped, as certain Republican candidates (and Liz Cheney) see "fear and loathing" as a winner in the mid-term elections.

Two weeks ago, members of a Christian group, Operation Save America, protested outside the Masjid An-Noor mosque in Bridgeport, shouting: "Jesus hates Muslims" and "Murderers."

What America are they saving, exactly? Because the America I love and want to save, the America I see in grave danger at present, is the one Washington described to the Jews of Newport.

As a Jew, I don't expect to be judged by the actions of Dr. Baruch Goldstein, who in 1994 murdered 29 Palestinians and wounded 150 others as they prayed at the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron. Neither should we judge our Muslim brothers and sisters by the heinous actions of the terrorists who flew the planes on 9/11. As Judith Keane of Wethersfield, who lost her husband Richard on 9/11, wrote so eloquently in a letter to the Hartford Courant: "To punish a group of Americans who live in peace for the acts of a few is wrong. The worst atrocities in history found their base in fear of those who were different. We certainly should be able to learn from those hateful events, and in a country dedicated to diversity and acceptance, include the mosque in the heart of the world's melting pot."

All of the groups who came to this great country of ours experienced prejudice and fear as they worked long hours to live the American Dream and create a better life for their children. It is up to us to raise our voices for what is right -- to tell the world that the Gringriches, the Palins and the Cheneys with their fear mongering, misrepresentations and hate don't speak for us.

A prayer vigil in support of the Muslim communities of Fairfield County, organized by the Interfaith Council of Southwestern Connecticut, will be held this coming Tuesday, August 24th at 6:30 p.m. in Stamford on the grounds of the First Congregational Church, 1Walton Place at Bedford St. Council President the Reverend Kate Heichler said, "The recent actions by a Christian fundamentalist group against the Masjid An-Noor mosque in Bridgeport compel us to take a public stand against religious intolerance and hatred here in Fairfield County, in New York City, and wherever it rears its head." Members of all faiths are welcome.

Sarah Darer Littman, a Greenwich resident, released her third novel -- "Life, After" -- this month.