If You Build It They Will Come?

Why are so many Americans upset about the building of a mosque in Lower Manhattan, next to the site of the old World Trade Center? This mosque is supposed to be a cultural center and a symbol of the peace-loving nature of the Islamic religion, and nothing more. But is it?

The group proposing the building of this mosque is led by an Imam who refuses to describe Hamas as a terrorist organization. This alone should raise the ire of New York's heavy Jewish population. Hamas is an organization which wreaks terror on the population of Israel on a daily basis.

This same Imam has claimed that American foreign policy made America an accomplice to 9/11. He has a right to this view, and even a right to express it, despite the fact that most Americans would disagree vehemently with him, but does this make him a credible sponsor of a project advertised as bridging the gap between religions? Hardly.

There are questions about the source of funding for this project. Somehow, the U.S. State Department has now managed to 'sponsor' this Imam and pay for his expenses to travel to the Middle East in order to raise funds for the project. Is this insane, or is it not? If American Islamists want to build a mosque, they should raise the money from within their American community, as do the Catholics, Protestants, Jews and Mormons. Maybe there just aren't enough profitable 7/11 convenience stores to do this.

Governor Patterson of New York has proposed an alternative whereby the mosque could be built elsewhere, on state property. Wouldn't this violate the Constitution, which require separation of church and state? Next, they'll be telling us that it will be built with federal stimulus money, because it is shovel-ready.

All of the above arguments notwithstanding, the real issue around this mosque is that it is being built by Islamists on ground which was desecrated by radical Islamists, and that very few Islamists have ever condemned their actions, not right after it happened, and not since. It strikes at the heart of decency, and shows little understanding for the suffering of the victims of 9/11 and their families and friends, and is an affront to the sensibilities of all Americans.

Our current President, Barrack Hussein Obama has now chosen to come out in support of this mosque. I'm not surprised, are you? At almost every opportunity, Obama has chosen to criticize or apologize for America and what it stands for. So I'm not surprised that he has supported the right of a minority religion (in America) to erect a monument to their faith on ground which was desecrated by members of their faith. Obama's support for this project is divisive, but then he himself is divisive, more so than any American president in history. Ask yourself, are race relations better or worse now than they were before he took office?

Back to the issue of the mosque. The one advantage I can see to builing it there is that it may make terrorists think twice before bombing Lower Manhattan again. It would be less costly than installing a missile defense system around New York.