Posted on 08/22/2005 5:40:26 AM PDT by OESY
...The Twin Towers attack killed more than 2,800 innocents, including 343 New York City firefighters. But let us not forget that the day also brought the largest rescue operation of its kind, as the lives of 25,000 others were saved....
Proponents of the performing arts center at Ground Zero have sought to stifle the discussion of this issue by saying this is a matter of free speech and the placement of their proposed theaters at the World Trade Center site is fitting. We believe that public cultural art, dance, music and theater institutions are needed, but not on this sacred, hallowed ground. We support the International Freedom Center, just not on hallowed ground.
In the coming weeks, solicitations will be made of millions of Americans, asking them to pitch in and contribute to build this $500 million World Trade Center Memorial Complex — all in the names of the victims.
Many of the most significant individuals in American business, politics and culture have gallantly lent their names to this cause, because it truly is the patriotic thing to do — but few have been told the real agenda.
Unfortunately, the memorial proposal that started out as pure, true and virtuous has been hijacked by a few with an agenda that has nothing to do with truly memorializing the events of 9/11.
An online petition named "Take Back the Memorial" has already gathered over 40,000 signatures, including more than 2,000 family members of 9/11 victims. This speaks volumes.
New York City firefighters have long supported an appropriate, living, public memorial for the World Trade Center site and have been happy to lend our name and support — until now. We view this as hallowed ground and what is now planned is not sacred and not appropriate....
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Tell arts they have no soundness,
But vary by esteeming;
Tell schools they want profoundness,
And stand too much on seeming:
If arts and schools reply,
Give arts and schools the lie.*
--Sir Walter Raleigh, The Lie
*I.e. declaim them as liars.
Inevitably, this has become contentious. Everyone has a message they want to send.
I'm not a NYer, so I have no real vote on this.
As an outsider, I'd prefer that they stick a finger in the eye of the attackers by restoring it as a center of finance and commerce.
A small granite or marble memorial out front will suffice for remembrance.
Better to have plants and water -- gardens. They are nature's art, God's art, with some help from humans. There are not too many ugly gardens because people start out with God's "paintbrushes."
I thought this was put to bed, i.e. no "multi-cultural/anti-american" crap at the site?
Another insult to America's heritage at Freedom Center
How International Freedom Center risks fostering anti-U.S. sentiment
By DOUGLAS FEIDEN DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Artistic renderings of planned International Freedom Center.
A global network of human rights museums is urging the International Freedom Center to downplay America in its exhibits and programs at Ground Zero, the Daily News has learned. The outrageous request is the latest controversy to torment the Freedom Center, whose leaders have tried to dispel the perception that it would be a home for America bashers.
"Don't feature America first," the IFC has been advised by the consortium of 14 "museums of conscience" that quietly has been consulting with the Freedom Center for the past two years over plans for the hallowed site. "Think internationally, where America is one of the many nations of the world."
Those words rang hollow with some 9/11 family members.
http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/339258p-289735c.html
International Coalition of Historic Site Museums of Conscience.
http://www.sitesofconscience.org/eng/
I don't think they should be associated with that group AT ALL!
Located in nine countries on five continents, the coalition museums chronicle apartheid in South Africa, slavery in Senegal, torture in Argentina, racism in the South and internment of Japanese-Americans in California, along with other historical horrors.
---snip---
Coalition members gathered for their annual conference at a Holocaust site in the Czech Republic in July 2004 - and assailed the United States for "reasserting its power in an arrogant way," the conference report shows.
Among its suggestions for the place where the United States was attacked and nearly 3,000 innocents massacred: "The Freedom Center must signal its openness to contrary ideas."
Philip Kunhardt, the Freedom Center's editorial director, was in attendance at a session called Bringing Conscience to Ground Zero and was given this advice:
n "Help distinguish between American people and the U.S. government in exhibits ..."
n "Use reports from human rights organizations to examine contemporary abuse of rights."
n "Involve the United Nations, UNESCO and other international bodies."
n "Use the museum as a venue for international meetings, where all views are welcomed and considered."
At the conference, the coalition also leveled barbs at the IFC: "The Freedom Center is a caricature of the typical American response to everything [telling every story from an American viewpoint]."
Members of the coalition also expressed these concerns:
n "It seems that whatever Americans want, Americans get!" the conference report states. "Is the definition of the 'struggle for freedom' simply defined by the victors, or also by those engaged in ongoing struggles? Will Americans really create a balanced vision of freedom?"
n "The WTC was attacked because it was a symbol of power and influence. In building the Freedom Tower, the U.S. reasserts its power in an arrogant way: Does this mean the U.S. will not only build the biggest building, but also define freedom for the world?"
n "Many nonsecular Muslims may be very skeptical about the intent of this museum (e.g. the average Bangladeshi condemns the Sept. 11 attacks, yet at the same time feels his/her human rights have been violated by the U.S.)."
--snip---
They want to put a strip club at ground zero!!!
Oh wait a sec. For a moment I thought it said Art's Performing Center and had flashbacks to my bad old days in Milwaukee
i like the idea of a garden of eden type thing. simple. tasteful. but the people here will mess it up. btw, i'm not religious, but think this would be appropriate.
Well, it's the wrong place for the arts as we know them.
Once upon a time, it might have been a good place - when the "arts" did not consist of men wearing breasts, Crucifixes bathed in urine, and a continuous stream of obscenities.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.