Two weeks ago, twin explosions laid waste to the iconic, twin minarets at the al-Askari mosque in Samarra, Iraq, 65 miles north of Baghdad. The mosque is one of the holiest Shiite sites on the planet.

Last year, a bomb ravaged the central golden dome of the mosque early in the morning, severely damaging it.

Al-Askari was built in 944, around the tombs of the 10th and 11th Shia Imams. The Imam is the rightful successor to Mohammed, according to Shiite doctrine. The 10th Imam died in 868, and the 11th Imam died in 874.

The Shiite people believe the 12th and final Imam disappeared into a tunnel underneath al-Askari in 878, and most Shiites believe the twelfth Imam, or Hidden Imam, will return one day to bring justice.

Al-Askari is so historically and religiously important, even the Sunni people of Samarra respect and revere the site.

Officials suspect al-Qaida is responsible for the most recent round of destruction, but at this point, the culprit is insignificant. Individual players merely sustain the endless tirade of vacillating cultural annihilation.

In two separate instances, gunmen retaliated against the devastation at Samarra by bombing two Sunni mosques in Baghdad. Passion and desperation breed irrational acts, and in a war situation, the focus often can shift from strategic maneuvers to impassioned attacks on what the other side values most.

I don't expect the volley of bombings to end there, for they didn't start with al-Askari. Since Sept. 11, 2001, mosques have been targets of destruction in Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel and India. It is likely that most or all are the result of inextricable religious tension.

Domestically, anti-Muslim hate crimes rose 1,700 percent after Sept. 11 within the U.S., according to a Human Rights Watch report. In the first week after Sept. 11, the media reported 104 separate incidents against Muslim mosques and places of worship. Of the 104 reported incidents, 22 involved property damage from vandalism, arson or gun shots, according to the report.

Again, this was only in the first week after Sept. 11. Worshippers stayed away from the attacked mosques for weeks afterward, fearing additional violence. Arab churches, Sikh houses of worship and Hindu temples also were the victims of senseless retaliatory vandalism, according to the report.

Apparently, some people's hate and cultural misunderstanding were so strong they couldn't even take the time to determine which religion they intended to lash out against.

Mosque bombings are absolutely inexcusable in a country like the U.S. that claims to allow religious freedom of choice. Many people came to this country to experience the luxury of practicing their own unique religion, and when we undermine that basic human right because of cultural intolerance, we're destroying one of the core values of an entire nation.

Attacks on holy sites - and Islamic holy sites specifically - are not new occurrences or even novel ideas. But repetition shouldn't excuse the action or breed normality in the U.S. or abroad. Whether religion is important to you in your personal life, it's still a powerful institution that shapes the everyday lives of billions of people.

Large, powerful, cross-continent religions like Judaism, Islam and Christianity aren't solely about belief systems - they encompass huge portions of the culture, history and art of entire countries, regions and civilizations.

I'm not devoutly religious for personal reasons, but I still cannot condone the senseless destruction of such priceless historical artifacts that people, to this day, still look to as symbols of the belief system they so genuinely follow. Many of the most well-known places on Earth were created by humans who have religion to thank for their inspiration.

And while the places of worship attacked and vandalized within the U.S. weren't as historically significant as al-Askari, the fact that they even occurred sets a despicable precedent of racism and intolerance right here in our own country.

If we can't even control our ignorance and fear of the unknown in the U.S., how can we expect anyone to assuage centuries of political and religious aberration abroad?