Much Ado About a Manhattan Mosque

If you live in New York City, you are no doubt aware that there are plans to put up an Islamic cultural center two blocks from the former World Trade Center, where three thousand people died one September morning.  And yes, that includes a mosque.

Americans would like to believe that they live in the most religiously tolerant nation on the planet.  As long as it's their own religion, that is.  So the protests against the center aren't all that surprising.

What is surprising is the way this so-called 'local' story has been taken over by President Barack Obama, Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich and other outsiders on the left and right.  Then again, with cable news and the Internet, it probably shouldn't be.

Obama, for his part, has said that he supports the right of Muslims to have such a center.  But he didn't necessarily endorse the planned location.  (We can just hear some of you saying:  Well, of course Obama's for that damn mosque.  Hell, he's a Muslim and he shouldn't be the President anyway.)

Palin, Gingrich and their ilk believe it would be tramping on the memories of those who died on that day,  If they had their way, Muslims would be treated the same way the Japanese in World War II and Native Americans  in the Old West were. They also don't want the center for the same reason why you don't see a Walmart or McDonalds near a Civil War battlefield.  Because it's sacred ground.

Well, let's see.  Two blocks from the proposed center is a glorified construction site AKA Ground Zero.  Nearly a decade after the twin towers fell, officials still haven't decided what should be built in its place.  An office tower?  A memorial?  Condos?  Can you imagine what would happen if the center-with-a-mosque happened to be built there instead of two blocks away?

Granted, the nation is still under the threat of another terrorist attack.  That's why unnecessary wars are being fought, and the military still claims to be looking for Osama bin Laden.  It's why everybody and his grandmother gets searched at the airport, while wannabe martyrs who drive cars and wear shoes nearly go undetected.  This may sound simplistic, but it's still true:  Not every Muslim is a terrorist, and not every terrorist is a Muslim.

Ultimately, it's up to the city of New York to determine whether the Islamic cultural center goes up or not.  Whatever decision they make should and will be the right one, we trust.  As for the rest of us, we need to recognize that not everybody prays to the same God as you do, so why deny others the right to pray to theirs?