New York "Mosque"

Much is being discussed around the "politics" of the New York Mosque. I find a lot of the rhetoric disgusting and totally UN-American.

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

This is directly from the First Amendment of the United States. A quote I heard a few days ago that I found extremely appropriate was, "The entire point of the United States is so that a group of Progressive Muslim es can build a place of worship anywhere they feel like."

One of the most important things to remember is that the institution of Islam did not attack us on September 11. A group of radicals from Saudi Arabia did. Just like the institution of Christianity did not bomb abortion clinics or kill abortion doctors. Radical religious nut cases did. So under the right winger logic, should we also ban building churches next to abortion clinics? We can't be blaming entire groups of people for the actions of their fringe groups.
We are not at war with Islam. We are at war with al-Quaida. Of course, if al-Queida wanted to build a recruiting center next to Ground Zero, legally this could never happen and of course the New York Planning Community would never approve something so ridiculous.

When we stop being American, stop celebrating the very fabric of what makes America, America - then indeed the terrorists do win. Building this center at Ground Zero demonstrates to the world how great this country is, that we are better than hate. We live in a country where we celebrate diversity and religious tolerance. The Terrorists wanted this war between the religions. Continuing this xenophobic rhetoric and politics is exactly what they wanted.

Let's also put this into perspective. The New York "Mosque" isn't even a "Mosque." It is an Islamic Community Center, being planned by a group of Progressive Muslims who want to build a bridge and reject Extremism.

The Islamic Center, which is called Cordoba House, was unanimously approved by the New York Planning Committe and is supported by Mayor Bloomgerg.
The Right Wingers claim to be about small government and free market principles. If they truely believe in this, then they should simply but out of this altogether and let the "private sector" self-regulate. If people truely don't support Cordoba House, then it will eventually close down. This is not a national issue. This should not be used as a political spin for Midterm Elections.

Cordoba House isn't even at Ground Zero. It is several blocks away - and anyone that knows NYC knows that a NYC block is pretty big. So then this also brings up another question entirely. How close is too close? If Cordoba House is just "to close" then what exactly would be an appropriate distance for Muslims to worship at?
There is another actual Mosque four blocks away from Ground Zero that has existed peaceully for years - shall we close that one down too?

The Tea Party needs to figure out their message. They don't believe in the Civil Rights Act of '64. They believe that the "Free Market" should decide whether or not it's appropriate for a Restaurant owner to decide if they want to serve black people or not, but at the same time, they don't believe in the Free Market deciding whether or not Muslims should enjoy their First Amendment privelages of Freedom of Religion.

Lastly, and most importantly, this is an issue for New York City, so how bout we all shut up about this already and let the people of New York decide for themselves whether or not this land dispute should go through. Oh wait, they already did.