A Mosque at Ground Zero, Part 3

Two weeks ago I suggested that the best analogy to building a mosque at Ground Zero was the construction of a Carmelite Nunnery on the grounds of Auschwitz. Link here.

Finding the right analogy matters. It allows us to appreciate and to judge the issues that are really at play in this radical and disquieting proposal. It allows us to rise above the narrow question of whether or not it is legal and address the larger ethical consideration.

If you think it's about whether or not the constitution allows such a construction, that's one thing. If you think it's about whether or not someone should have the right to built a church in a Jewish neighborhood, or vice versa, that's the same issue, rendered more concretely. But if you consider that building a mosque at Ground Zero is like building a nunnery on the grounds of Auschwitz, then you are dealing with a different issue, one that most Americans should be able to grasp.

Ever since I suggested the analogy I have been frankly surprised that no one else had invoked it. Today, however, William McGurn uses it in an excellent column in the Wall Street Journal. He explains, in more detail than I did, the story of the Carmelite nunnery and the role Pope John Paul II played in shutting it down. Thus, I am happy to link his article here.