The Hill headline says ‘Rep. West to screen controversial film on ‘Ground Zero mosque.’ Controversial?’ Not especially controversial was the Death of a President (the assassination of G. W. Bush), Fahrenheit 9/11, anti-Iraq war movies Green Zone, John Cusack’s War, Inc., and Redacted. Sacrificed Survivors: The Untold Story of the Ground Zero Mosque is a 45-minute documentary featuring interviews with family and friends of those who died on 9/11/01. Controversial?
9/11 Hijackers
How many with the same mindset as those seen above will go worship and gaze out the top floor windows of the Ground Zero mosque, praying to Allah for the same success?
The interviews, according to CAN’s [Christian Action Network] website, delve into the feelings they experienced last summer when a group proposed building an Islamic center blocks away from where the World Trade Center towers once stood.
Efforts to build the Islamic center, which was set to include a swimming pool and a mosque among other amenities, were the focus of nearly every news agency last summer and brought a slew of politically charged arguments from members of Congress.
The plans for the Ground Zero Mosque, which quickly morphed into a ‘Community Center,’ brought the surviving families into another agonizing, heart-rending fight to never forget who killed 2,753 in New York City and another 7 when the Tower was bombed by Muslims in 1993, with many injured. Islamic Terrorists killed 184 at the Pentagon on 9/11/01. Islamic terrorists killed 40 as American heroes took United Airlines Flight 93, bound for Washington, D.C. on that fateful day, down to their deaths in a field in Pennsylvania.
I was also struck by how everyone seemed to know each other—even though many had never met before. Their common experience had created an extended family of people who immediately identified with one another even though they never even saw each other prior. I helped put together the event and had talked to mostly everyone there, but I was the outsider…We have freedom of religion in this country. If they own the land and have satisfied zoning, they can build, but the Islamic fight to put this mosque just steps from the World Trade Center in spite of pleas to move it elsewhere out of respect for victims, confirms what we already know about Islam – no heart, no respect for anything Western.
The film began and the room went deaf as the images of 9/11 were shown. It clearly struck an emotional chord with the audience, as they applauded at several points as strong remarks against Park51 were made. When clips of Imam Rauf defending his plans were shown, sighs of displeasure were audible, as were the tears. The most moving part of the film was the final montage of photos in honor of Christine Hassan and the other children who perished on 9/11.
West will air the film on Capitol Hill on September 8, 2011 at the Rayburn House Office Building, and if he doesn’t get a big crowd of lawmakers to honor this effort and pay tribute to those lost, I’ll be talking about it. If I knew how to make book, I’d get a pot going on the side.
