Mosques, 9/11, charitable feelings

You cannot cross any significant traffic intersection of Dhaka city without someone standing with a perforated money receipt book, collecting donation for a mosque. It has become ubiquitous, they are now present in front of highway toll booths as well. Some are polite, some are obnoxious, some are silent and just wave the book at you uttering the name of the mosque. Most of them are older men with beard and alkhallah, they look the part. Recently, I'm coming across children with the garb and gear, and they are more insistent on the fund-raising.

People give, understandably. It must be good business, because now they are everywhere. Usually my response is that of silent indifference, I don't engage, and don't get worked up over it either. I treat it as an essential part of Dhaka living, like the power cuts, occasional garbage pileup and feriwalas. It gives the city character, a sign of the spirit of entrepreneurship, if you will.

I'm reminded of this after reading about the 9/11 mosque, and the response it is generating in New York and other places, particularly in the blogosphere. People take it as a sign of betrayal, and yell epithets of all kinds.

Here's my take. It's not on top of WTC, it was planned before 9/11, and it's not even shaped like a mosque, it's like a baroque architecture. And it's not funded by any known terrorist group. For what it's worth, it will actually increase tolerance and acceptance among groups feeling marginalized and left out of the mainstream.

But, in effect, money talks. If you want your own church, synagogue, kingdom hall, etc. Just send a bunch of people out on the streets and collect enough funds. Build any darn structure you want. It *is* called Land of the Free.