Plant Peace at Ground Zero

We, the undersigned, wish to resurrect a sense of peace to this country, rather then a sense of war. We propose that instead of building the Freedom Tower at Ground Zero, we make the area into an organic garden. We should honor the place where so many people fell at the hands of religious zealots not by putting up another soulless building but by having a peaceful place where people can come for fresh food and for silent meditation and contemplation: a place of love not a place of power. The state-of-the-art multi-level organic garden would be inside a biosphere so it can produce food throughout the year. It would be both a work of art and a model sustainable garden. There would be a Farmer’s Market on the bottom level, and some of the food the garden grows can also be sent to homeless shelters around the city. Along with providing jobs and food, this garden will be more beautiful than any metal tower could be.

We should go back to having the most important places in a city be its spiritual centers, not its large banks and corporations. In Central Park there is a memorial to John Lennon that is very peaceful and simple and beautiful. It’s a wonderful place to be and people get a good feeling while there. We need a place like this in lower Manhattan, not another corporate headquarters.

It is time to stop striving to be the tallest and the richest and the best. The Freedom Tower is to be the biggest building in the world, surpassing the current record holder by over 100 feet, inflating the ego of our country instead of honoring those who died with a garden of peace. We as a nation need to be more humble and close to the ground. All spiritual traditions recognize that without humility, there is no peace.

We want to tend a garden of love rather than to erect another symbol of power. By having a garden instead of the Freedom Tower, we may have a tree instead of a mushroom cloud.