ADL, Newt and Palin

Since the last post got me thinking about my religion, I also want to share a thought on the ADL and its opposition to the so-called Ground Zero mosque. I sometimes struggle with the idea of Islam as a peaceful religion while so many of its adherents carry out violence in its name. But building a community center that contains a mosque and is meant to reach out to the area is a noble goal, and I'm ashamed that the ADL, Newt Gingrich and Sarah Palin are all on the same side. I read a lot of political blogs, and many of those of the right-wing variety make it sound like our country is under an onslaught; Shariah, Halal, prayer rooms. "The Constitution is not a suicide pact", they proclaim. We shouldn't have to extend the rights we enjoy to those who wish to destroy us, goes the line of thought. But many of these right-wingers (I refuse to call them Conservatives) are too simple or afraid of change to understand that Islam is not the enemy. A recent post on Redstate mused that churches aren't permitted or are heavily limited in Saudi Arabia, so we shouldn't permit this mosque to be constructed. Yep, that argument was made by a writer for a blog which may as well have the mission statement "America Perfect, Rest of World Bad". In fact, that might make a good Republican slogan. It's simple, direct, and good for the semi-illiterate.