I first arrived in Denver’s Civic Center Park expecting to see hordes of anarchists and protesters. Instead, I was confronted with…

…this huge mosque made of translucent fabric.

It was put together by a group called “Pictures of You,” which is (according to its flier) part of The Manjushri Project.

The mosque is composed of photographic portraits of Iranians which can be viewed from either side. For some reason, a preponderance of the portraits depicted attractive young Iranian women. I wonder why.

“Pictures of You” handed out fliers with a quote by the Sufi poet Rumi, whom they said was their inspiration. The lines in Rumi’s poem are addressed to “you,” and the Manjushri Project folks want us to believe that “you” means the reader, but of course Rumi was actually addressing God. But in this “it’s all about me!” modern world we inhabit, the marketing team (correctly) calculated that Americans would think Rumi was addressing them personally.

The purpose of the exhibit was “transparently” to arouse sympathy for the Iranian people and discourage any US military action aimed at stopping the Iranian government from getting a nuclear bomb. Or so it seemed to me.

And it’s a great bonus to have an excuse to plop a big mosque in the center of Denver, temporary though it might be.