Following on Sarah Palin tweet that "peace loving Muslims" should "refudiate" plans to build a moderate mosque and cultural outreach center in lower Manhattan (not actually on the ground zero site, or even across the street, or frankly even viewable from ground zero) because of course Muslims = terrorists, perennial presidential wannabe Newt Gingrich has also voiced his opposition to this, and apparently all, mosques:
There should be no mosque near Ground Zero in New York so long as there are no churches or synagogues in Saudi Arabia. The time for double standards that allow Islamists to behave aggressively toward us while they demand our weakness and submission is over.
The reason that there are no churches or synagogues in Saudi Arabia is that Saudi Arabia is an Islamic absolute monarchy with no religious freedom. Gingrich here makes the serious logical error that the proper reaction to Saudi illiberality is illiberality of our own.
Gingrich's critical mistake, which is shared by Palin and many others, is his belief that the US is philosophically opposed to Islam, and not repression. To oppose Islam is to oppose millions of our own citizens and hundreds of millions of peace-loving people worldwide, many of whom have no problem with the U.S. It is also to turn our backs on the religious liberty that is a bedrock value of this country.
Thirty years ago, Gingrich's hero Ronald Reagan knew that the best way to fight the repression and illiberality of Soviet Russia was to highlight freedom and liberty in the United States, echoing the same strategy employed by FDR when fighting Nazi repression. It is time for Gingrinch, Palin and co. to realize that the best way to fight the lack of liberty elsewhere is to champion it here.
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