Repeating Our History of Religious Discrimination in the U.S.
The New York Times has a short, but insightful article in
today’s paper that calls Christians — especially Catholics — to
remember their own history of discrimination in the land of so-
called “religious freedom.” The article, “200-Year-Old Echoes in
Muslim Center Uproar,” highlights the similarities between the
religious discrimination experienced by the newly arrived Roman
Catholics in New York during the late 1700s and the Muslim
community of New York today. In 1785 a group of Roman Catholic
New Yorkers wanted to build a house a worship in Manhattan, a
Catholic Church that could serve as the community center,
meeting place and site of worship for that Christian community.
The proposed building was the focus of Protestant anger,
distrust and discrimination. The article’s author, Paul Vitello,
explains: Many New Yorkers were suspicious of the newcomers’
plans to build a house of worship in Manhattan. Some feared the
project was being underwritten b