Gingrich: Muslim "triumphalism", slandering Obama, forgetting the past

When I lived in India forty years ago I often found myself reacting with habitual anger as I passed houses decorated with swastikas the way we use stars on festive occasions.  The swastika is an ancient Aryan symbol appropriated by European criminals - as the Islamic crescent and star is claimed by al-Qaida for its own "jihad".   Right-wing activists like  Human Events columnist Robert Spencer's blog Jihad Watch agree with al Qaida thus identifying all of Islam with the crimes of a few.   Newt Gingrich, the former House Speaker and history teacher, spoke in similar vein about the proposed mosque/Islamic Center in lower Manhattan and the President's admirable comments on religious freedom at the White House's traditional Ramadan dinner.  
According to news accounts of Gingrich's remarks:

"There is nothing surprising in the president's continued pandering to radical Islam," he said. "What he said last night is untrue and inaccurate. The fact is this is not about religious liberty."

Mr. Gingrich said the proposed mosque would be a symbol of Muslim "triumphalism" and that building the mosque near the site of the Sept. 11 attacks "would be like putting a Nazi sign next to the Holocaust Museum."

"It's profoundly and terribly wrong," he said.

Speaking of triumphalism - at the center of the seal of Fordham University, where I teach, are a cross and the letters IHS.   They are the first letters of the Latin maxim In Hoc Signo Vinces "in this sign you will conquer".  The vision of soldiers advancing behind the cross came to Constantine in a dream before the Battle of Milvian Bridge in 312 A.D.  Constantine triumphed in that civil war among rival Roman emperors.  Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire - thanks to the power of the sword.


Symbols are powerful in deed and in memory.  The crescent  and star, the star of David, and the Christian cross have each been wielded for deplorable  purposes.  A bit of humility is in order particularly for Christians.  We might reflect, for example,  on the expulsion of the Moors from Spain, or the Crusades.