Howard Dean's Epic FAIL: Former Governor Refuses to Back Down From Opposition to Mosque

Howard Dean has published a statement on Salon.com that forcefully defends his controversial statements regarding the Cordoba House (or so-called "Ground Zero Mosque"). Yesterday, Dean said that the mosque proponents needed to compromise and that they should pick another site. Today, facing heated criticism from progressives, Dean has defended his comments.

Dean claims that he supports religious freedom and says that it is undeniable that the mosque proponents have the right to build near ground zero. Dean, however, argues that they should accept a compromise:

My argument is simple. This Center may be intended as a bridge or a healing gesture but it will not be perceived that way unless a dialogue with a real attempt to understand each other happens. That means the builders have to be willing to go beyond what is their right and be willing to talk about feelings whether the feelings are "justified" or not. No doubt the Republic will survive if this center is built on its current site or not. But I think this is a missed opportunity to try to have an open discussion about why this is a big deal because it is a big deal to a lot of Americans who are not just right wing politicians pushing the hate button again. I think those people need to be heard respectfully whether they are right or whether they are wrong.

Dean also tries to rebut the assertion that his arguments could justify other forms of intolerance, like homophobia and racism:

This has nothing to do with the right to build and unlike same sex marriage or the civil rights movement it is not about equal protection under the law. The rights of the builders are not in dispute. This is about ending the poisonous atmosphere engendered by fear and hate, and in order to do that there has to be genuine listening, hearing and willingness to compromise on both sides.

Epic FAIL
Dean's arguments, to use the vernacular of a younger generation than my own, are an epic FAIL. I do not doubt that Dean agrees that the individuals have a right to build the mosque. Dean also concedes that many individuals oppose the mosque because they are bigots.

Dean's arguments, however, fail to persuade me because he wants a group of seemingly well intentioned religious individuals to capitulate to irrational fears, bigotry, and "emotions" of individuals who oppose the mosque. No tangible evidence or logical argument can link mosque proponents with the 9/11 attackers.

Religious bigotry, however, makes it impossible for many mosque opponents to distinguish Cordoba House proponents from the radical individuals involved in 9/11. Rather than countering this bigotry, Dean argues that Muslims should acquiesce to its existence. This is hardly an emancipatory rhetoric.

Dean also fails in his effort to distinguish this discussion from other civil rights issues. Many bigots have said "I am not a racist, but. . . ." Others have said, "I have nothing against gay people, but. . . ." During the Civil Rights Movement, many liberals (e.g., President John F. Kennedy) claimed to agree that racism and segregation were wrong, but they urged black leaders to accept compromise, modify their demands, wait until society was more understanding, and refrain from protest. Thurgood Marshall famously said that the Negro waited nearly a century for Americans to respect the constitutional guarantee of Equal Protection. Further compromise was unacceptable.

The same twisted logic that Marshall rejected pervades discussions of Islam in this setting. It also serves as the basis for Dean's comments. While many people who oppose the mosque might stop short of explicitly denying that its proponents have the right to do so, this distinction is meaningless. By linking all Muslims with 9/11, the mosque opponents render their professed religious tolerance a nullity. Dean, who once excited progressives with his position on social issues, should be ashamed of his stance towards the mosque.

UPDATE: Howard Dean conducted an interview with Glenn Greenwald on this subject. During the interview, he tried to walk away from his argument that moving the mosque would be a "better idea." Instead he said he simply seeks discussion and compromise. Dean also criticized progressives for being inflexible.

Dean denied Greenwald's assertion that his arguments mirror efforts to get civil rights leaders to curb their activism due to social pressure. I highly recommend that Dean read Dr. Martin Luther King's Letter From A Birmingham Jail. It discusses the issue of delay, compromise, the fear of white moderates, and injustice.

Do Americans Really Believe in Religious Freedom and Equality? (UPDATED)

After President Obama defended the right of the planners of the Cordoba House (the so-called "Ground Zero Mosque") to locate their religious center near the site of the former World Trade Center, he received criticism from progressives and conservatives. Both sides argued that he should comment on the wisdom of the project -- rather than limiting his position to a discussion of religious freedom and equality.

Is Religious Tolerance A "Nonissue"?
Many of Obama's critics cited a Fox News poll, which shows that 61% of Americans believe that the Cordoba House proponents have the "right" to locate the building near Ground Zero. Although the poll shows that more than 1/3 of Americans do not recognize the constitutional rights of the Cordoba House proponents, Obama's critics argue that this poll proves that religious freedom is a nonissue.

According to Obama's critics, he had taken a safe and cowardly position (yet again). Sarah Palin, via Facebook, demanded that Obama state what he believed "should" occur. Ben Smith of Politico described the rights question as a "trivial" point.

The assumption of these commentators is plain: Americans widely support religious freedom and equality, but they split on the wisdom of the Cordoba House. The rhetoric of opponents of the religious center, however, reveals that many of them actually do not support religious freedom.

People Do Not Like To Reveal Bias in Polls
Critics who cite polling data which purport to show that Cordoba House opponents support religious freedom surprisingly view the polls uncritically. A wealth of analysis establishes that people feel uncomfortable revealing their personal biases and bigotry in polls. Accordingly, when pollsters ask respondents whether they generally support "equality" or whether they oppose "discrimination," overwhelmingly, the respondents favor equal treatment. Yet, when pollsters ask them more specific questions related to equality, the numbers change.

For example, polls show that a large majority of Americans do not believe that sexual orientation alone should justify discrimination. Nevertheless, many of these same respondents disagree with same-sex marriage or believe that gays and lesbians should not teach children.

There is nothing unique about religion that would preclude a similar pattern in polls related to religious tolerance. Indeed, a new Time Magazine survey suggests that on specific questions regarding religious tolerance and Muslims, many Americans support unequal treatment.

Here are some results from the survey:

Twenty-eight percent of voters do not believe Muslims should be eligible to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court. Nearly one third of the country thinks adherents of Islam should be barred from running for President — slightly higher than the 24% who mistakenly believe that the current occupant of the Oval Office is himself a Muslim. . . .

And while more Americans are open to the idea of having a mosque built in their neighborhoods than near Ground Zero, it's still not an overwhelming majority; 55% of respondents say they would favor the construction of an Islamic community center and mosque two blocks from their own homes, and an equal number say they believe most Muslims are "Patriotic Americans."

The poll results belie the assumption that Americans consistently support religious freedom and equality. Instead, significant numbers of Americans harbor biases against Muslims (including a growing number who wrongfully believe Obama himself is a Muslim).

Cordoba House Opponents Stereotype Muslims As Terrorists
Cordoba House opponents also contradict their own message of religious tolerance by stereotyping Muslims as terrorists -- and in particular, the 9/11 attackers. According to the Time Magazine survey, 70% of Americans believe that building the Cordoba House near Ground Zero "would be an insult to the victims of the attacks on the World Trade Center."

There is absolutely no evidence that links planners of the Cordoba House with the World Trade Center or terrorism. Indeed, the proponents say that they want to construct the center as a gesture of goodwill.

Nonetheless, large numbers of Americans believe that the mere presence of a center dedicated to Islam would constitute further harm to the victims of 9/11. Only a prejudicial view that associates Muslims with terrorism could explain this belief. Many people who claim that they support the rights of the Cordoba House planners, but who feel that the project should not go forward, likely harbor biases against Muslims.

Final Take
Critical readers should not take general polling data on religious tolerance at face value. Instead, they should analyze the public's views on specific questions related to tolerance. Emerging polling data suggest that while large numbers of Americans claim to support religious freedom, they also hold stereotypical views of Muslims.

President Obama entered this political thicket by expressing support for religious freedom and equality. Yet, liberals and conservatives criticized his approach as moderate and evasive. They also treated religious freedom as a nonissue. Both sides need to reevaluate their arguments.

When liberals dismiss religious freedom as an irrelevant issue, they trivialize the manifestation of anti-Muslim bigotry, which they claim to oppose. When conservatives, moderates and liberals associate a Muslim community center with the harm of 9/11, they betray their own stated commitment to religious tolerance.

UPDATE: The Time Magazine and Fox News polls both confirm that around 1/3 of Americans seemingly would deny many rights to Muslims. The same amount profess religious tolerance and have no problem with the Cordoba House. Another one third profess religious tolerance but disagree with the Cordoba House. Progressives have accepted at face value the religious tolerance of the latter group. Uncritical acceptance of this group's professed religious tolerance is a foolhardy way to approach to the issue.

UPDATE II: A new poll by The Economist provides even stronger evidence of anti-Muslim sentiment among Americans.