I'm A Mormon, and I Say Build It.

The question has been raised by numerous figures in the national media: Why aren't Mormons standing up for the Park51 project?  

Well I'm standing up for it and I say build it.  Not only will building the Cordoba House be an affirmation of America's diversity, it will embrace it.  It will show to al-Qaeda that we are above their violent rhetoric and hateful dogma.  It will prove to the world that we are not at war with Islam.  Building the Cordoba House will say to the rest of America, "We are moving forward as stronger, better people and we refuse to look back."

Mormon's should know the pain of religious intolerance.  We were forced out of three states (Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois) and an extermination order was even issued by Missouri Governor Boggs.  Why should we stand idly by and let Muslims be bullied?  Why should we participate in the persecution of a religious minority, being victims ourselves?  The answer is that we should not tolerate nor condone the hate-speech being employed against Muslim-Americans; just as we should not tolerate nor employ any kind of hate-speech.  

Mormons, who are commonly misrepresented in the media, should know better than to believe the lies flowing from the conservative contingent that attempt to smear all Muslims as "radicals" and "dangerous."  Mormons were considered "radical" and "dangerous," too.

I am deeply ashamed by Mormons in the media and political realm who oppose Park51.  Glenn Beck, whose rhetoric is already manipulative and repellent as it is, is probably the leading pundit in fanning the flames of anti-Muslim sentiment.  Former Governor Mitt Romney is a hypocrite for condemning the initiative, especially considering that he is the one who in 2008 tried to make the case that religion should not be a political issue.  And last but not least is Democratic Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid, who caved when given the chance to defend Muslim-Americans' right to worship freely.  

As I have watched the drama unfold, I cannot help but think that Islam is now to America what Jews were to Nazi Germany.  They are being made a scapegoat for Americans' own intolerance. Americans are either being willfully ignorant, allowing ourselves to be devilishly manipulated, or we are just expressing our inherent prejudices.  

To not support Park51 is not only a blatant denial of American values, it is a betrayal of one of Mormonism's core values.  In the Articles of Faith, it is declared that "We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may."

I'm a Mormon, and I say build it.