Mosque Near Ground ZeroThe reaction to the proposal to build a mosque close to Ground Zero in New York, reminds me of an incident some years ago. The American Nazi party was having a convention in one of our big northern cities and applied for a permit to hold a parade, complete with swastikas and other Nazi regalia. They wanted to parade through the streets of a small community, inhabited mostly by elderly Jewish people, many of whom were Holocaust survivors. The question of whether or not the Nazis would be allowed to parade in that community eventually wound up in court. The judge ruled he could find no legal reason to refuse their permit. Seemingly, there was nothing for the unfortunate residents to do but endure this terrible reminder of their time of agony. So, on the day scheduled for the parade, the Nazis began their march down the street. The Jewish people retreated to the shelter of their homes. But, between the marching Nazis and the anguished survivors, there was a solid line of Christians, from all over American, lined up shoulder to shoulder between the two, singing hymns so that neither the sight, nor the sound of the Nazis could reach their would be victims. Surely, if the Christians of American pray hard enough, and think hard enough, someone can come up with an equivalent response to the Muslim's building of their mosque in what many people feel is an unsuitable place. Anne McKay Garris
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