National Review vs The Mosque

Jeffrey Goldberg and countless others have cited the peaceful and constructive Muslim faith and organization of Feisal Abdul Rauf. He may be surprised to find that National Review regards him thus:

He presents himself as a peacemaking Islamic Gandhi, but he is in fact an apologist for the terrorist outfit Hamas, which he refuses even to identify as a terrorist organization... The fact that an apologist for terrorists and an associate of terrorist-allied organizations is proceeding with this provocation is indecent.

They repeat the lie that only Americans were killed on 9/11, and ignore the Muslims who were murdered on that day and indeed the Muslims who bear the brunt of Islamist terrorism worldwide. They make no mention of freedom of religion. And they propose a boycott:

No contractor, construction company, or building-trades union that accepts a dime of the Cordoba Initiative’s money should be given a free passnobody who sells them so much as a nail, or a hammer to drive it in with. This is an occasion for boycotts and vigorous protests and, above all, for bringing down a well-deserved shower of shame upon those involved with this project, and on those politicians who have meekly gone along with it. It is an indecent proposal and an intentional provocation.

I am actually heartsick about this. That the official right is now engaged in exactly the kind of thing that empowers Islamism, alienates moderate Muslims and betrays core American values is a deep sign of the cultural and moral rot we face. Dorothy Rabinowitz asserts that there is no need to restate America's commitment to religious liberty, while arguing that, in this case, it doesn't stand. Her case - in which "demagoguery" is now the work of those defending American values and in which "piety" means resisting bigotry - is a study in how the right came to embrace torture, a dictatorial presidency and now, restrictions on minority religions rather than the inheritance of the West.

They are the unwitting allies of the Jihadists; and they want a war with an entire religion. It may even win an election or two, I suppose. Hey, the gays are getting mainstream.