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| Have some tea and relax. |
In 1880 William R. Grace, a Catholic, was running for mayor of New York City. Protestant clergy across the city were warning that if Grace became mayor, New York would be controlled by the Vatican and democracy would perish. Sound familiar? Just turn on the radio or television and you will hear similar ideas about Islam. I love our great country, but it is time we become more secure in our identity and not be so threatened by other cultures and religions. Vive l'Etats Unis.
I would have posted a comment earlier, but I had to register for an account that Blogspot would accept.
ReplyDeleteI fully agree that there are a lot of similarities between the debate about the proposed Park51 Islamic Center and Nineteenth Century anti-Catholicism in America. This is interesting to me because it wasn't really until the 1950's that the Protestant Establishment in many communities began to accept Catholics unreservedly.
The other thing of interest to me in this debate is that the current political establishment largely supports the Islamic Center's plans. Most of the civic institutions in Manhattan appear to support the proposal, and the opposition seems to come from outside the community.