Debunking the Ground Zero Mosque

There is a lot of anger out there because a group of Muslims is planning to build a Mosque at Ground Zero. There are a couple of problems with that sentence: There is no Mosque and it is not at Ground Zero. The Cordoba House is a Muslim Cultural center based on the model of the 92nd Street Y. Yes, it will have a prayer room. It will not have minarets.

Even if it were to be a Mosque I would support it. Many on the right, who oppose this building, talk about being for liberty and The Constitution. Yet they are seeking to deny Muslims the liberty to practice their faith which is Constitutionally guaranteed. Individual citizens have every right to express their opinion that this location should not house a building whose religion they perceive as an enemy of America. That is, however, and Un-American viewpoint.

There is perhaps no more fundamental American Value than the freedom of religion. The right talks about us being a Christian nation. They are either lying or misinformed. For evidence, I point you to the Treaty with Tripoli, dated 1797, signed by President Jon Adams. From Wikipedia:

• Art. 11. As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion,—as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquility, of Mussulmen,—and as the said States never entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mahometan nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries

Jon Adams, in addition to being the second President of this nation was both a Founding Father, and a devout Christian. As such, I think he can reasonably be considered an authority on the subject.

Muslims may have perpetrated the September 11th terrorist attacks, but that doesn't make Islam an enemy religion. Terrorism wins when it gets us to change our behavior. Accepting this cultural center is not only the right thing to do Constitutionally, it is also the best way to thumb our noses at the terrorists.