In 1630, John Winthrop sailed across the Atlantic Ocean seeking sacred ground. Hounded in England, the Puritans would be free to worship as they wished in the New World. A footnote in someone else’s story over there, they would author their own destiny here. But Winthrop didn’t expect the soil here to contain special sacraments. The blessing was in what they would build.
I’ve thought about Winthrop a lot, in light of the controversies ranging from Cordoba House to the movement to ban Sharia. I’ve thought about the discussion about Ground Zero being sacred ground.
I believe Ground Zero is sacred. I believe every inch of America is sacred. I believe, in an era where more and more people are convinced that different faiths are fated to fight, America is nothing short of a mercy upon all the worlds. And I believe that even though the headlines these days scream “Muslim,” the heart of the matter is really about America.
America ushered in a very new idea — a place where people from the four corners of the earth gather to build a nation — a nation that allows its citizens to participate in its progress, to play a part in its possibility.
Tags: America's sacred ground, Cordoba Center, eboo patel, fourth of july, Sharia
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