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3 Reasons the "Ground Zero Mosque" Debate Makes No Sense By:  Gladstone August 20th, 2010 439,991 views I don’t usually write about politics. It’s important, but something I want no part of – kind of like a raw sewage treatment facility. But frankly, I haven’t been this upset in a long time. And it's due to the logic-hating, herd-mentality rhetoric that some have been flinging in opposition to the so-called “Ground Zero Mosque.” For the uninitiated,  there are plans to construct an Islamic community center in lower Manhattan . And, of course, lower Manhattan is where the World Trade Center stood before terrorists destroyed it, thereby murdering 3,000 Americans. I was working in New York City at the time. As was my father. As was my pregnant wife. I remember the day well. And the days that followed. I think most of all, I remember standing on the Staten Island Ferry, coming home with 200 other silent, reverent New Yorkers of every age, race, and religion, as we watched...

From THE NEW YORK TIMES August 17, 2010 Our Mosque Madness By  MAUREEN DOWD WASHINGTON Maybe, for Barack Obama, it depends on what the meaning of the word “is” is. When the president skittered back from his grandiose declaration at an iftar celebration at the White House Friday that Muslims enjoy freedom of religion in America and have the right to build a mosque and community center in Lower Manhattan, he offered a Clintonesque parsing. “I was not commenting, and I will not comment, on the wisdom of making the decision to put a mosque there,” he said the morning after he commented on the wisdom of making a decision to put a mosque there. “I was commenting very specifically on the right people have that dates back to our founding. That’s what our country is about.” Let me be perfectly clear, Mr. Perfectly Unclear President: You cannot take such a stand on a matter of first principle and then take it back the next morning when, lo and behold, Harry Reid goes craven and the Republica...

Reporting from Washington — As top Republicans including House Minority Leader John A. Boehner and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich attack plans for an Islamic community center and mosque near the destroyed World Trade Center site, a larger schism is opening up in the GOP over the inflammatory issue. Some Republicans fear that pressing the issue carries risks, diverting attention from bread-and-butter issues and undercutting the party's efforts to broaden its base — just as it is losing ground among other ethnic minorities such as Latinos. "This is a distraction from a winning game plan," said Grover Norquist, a conservative activist who a decade ago worked with President George W. Bush and his political guru, Karl Rove , to cultivate Muslim American and Latino voters to try to build a more diverse and durable Republican majority. "It is very stupid, when Republicans are poised to win an overwhelming victory in November over Democratic spending, to focus at...

The "Ground Zero Mosque" that we have been and will be hearing so much about is not exactly a mosque, nor is it at Ground Zero. Here's why: you can't see Ground Zero -- the former site of the World Trade Center -- from the future site of the Cordoba House. From 45 Park Place, the former Burlington Coat Factory building that will make way for the Cordoba House, it's two blocks, around a corner, to get to the WTC site. Park Place doesn't lie between the construction site and any mass transit stations, so you would need to go out of your way to have it offend you. If you look up  the walking directions  you'll notice that it takes a couple of minutes to walk the distance (approximately a tenth of a mile) between the two spots. Pretty much two minutes exactly when I took the trip with a shaky video camera. Here's the clip, first sped up to 4X speed then slowed down to 1X Read more.... http://www.huffingtonpost.com/matt-sledge/just-how-far-is-the-groun_...

A friend has nicely worded his thoughts on Obama's approval of mosque near Ground Zero site. Here it is below: Obama and Mayor Bloomberg (who, incidentally, is Jewish) deserve credit for their courageous stance. The mosque debate may be more symbolic than substantive, but symbols are important, they crystallize and shape ideas, and ideas often drive actions in international politics. It is not easy to take such a position in the America of today. Obama will probably pay a political price for it, but these are the sorts of moments that highlight the best aspects of the United States of America. Sarang --------- August 13, 2010 Obama Strongly Backs Islam Center Near 9/11 Site By  SHERYL GAY STOLBERG WASHINGTON —  President Obama  delivered a strong defense on Friday night of a proposed Muslim community center and  mosque near ground zero  in Manhattan, using a White House dinner celebrating Ramadan to proclaim that “as a citizen, and as president, I believ...

Municipal Land-Use Hearing Update - The Daily Show with Jon Stewart - 08/10/2010 - Video Clip | Comedy Central A distrust of Muslims is the one thing that unites America from sea to shining sea. Airdate - 08/10/2010

Transcript of Mayor Bloomberg’s Speech on Ground Zero Mosque Posted by  ReligiousLiberty.TV  on August 3, 2010 ·  View Comments   Delivered August 3, 2010 at Governors Island in New York. “We’ve come here to Governors Island to stand where the earliest settlers first set foot in New Amsterdam, and where the seeds of religious tolerance were first planted. We come here to see the inspiring symbol of liberty that more than 250 years later would greet millions of immigrants in this harbor. And we come here to state as strongly as ever, this is the freest city in the world. That’s what makes New York special and different and strong. “Our doors are open to everyone. Everyone with a dream and a willingness to work hard and play by the rules. New York City was built by immigrants, and it’s sustained by immigrants — by people from more than 100 different countries speaking more than 200 different languages and professing every faith. And whether your parents were born here ...

Bloomberg, the mayor of new york city, has stood firmly in support of the mosque and islamic center being built in close proximity to ground zero in spite of some harsh objection to it from some. Bloomberg is a very successful ex-businessman who is worth billions, and is, of course, jewish.  "Whatever you may think of the proposed mosque and community center, lost in the heat of the debate has been a basic question: Should government attempt to deny private citizens the right to build a house of worship on private property based on their particular religion?" Bloomberg asked. "That may happen in other countries, but we should never allow it to happen here. This nation was founded on the principle that the government must never choose between religions, or favor one over another." The video can be found here http://www.aolnews.com/surge-desk/article/mayor-bloombergs-ground-zero-mosque-speech-video/19579997

This was taken from the video portion of The New York Times as part of the Opinion section http://video.nytimes.com/video/2010/08/04/opinion/1247468571224/bloggingheads-islamic-triumphalism.html?ref=global-home Joshua Cohen, left, of Stanford University and James Pinkerton of Fox News debate the mosque near ground zero.

When the debates over mosques or no mosques at Ground Zero (which btw is two blocks away from Ground Zero so not technically Ground Zero) becomes so out fo hand, and is raised as an "issue" at all, there is no surprise that a society begins to harbor more hatred than acceptance... http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2010/07/28/a-poignant-way-to-mark-911/ Florida Church planning to burn Qurans on 9/11 Posted in The Foreign Desk By Tom Mendelsohn Florida Church planning to burn Qurans on 9/11 --> A Florida church is planning to burn a stack of Qurans on 11th September this year, in a tasteful effort to commemorate the ninth anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Centre. The Dove World Outreach Center, a non-denominational church in Gainesville, is charmingly trying to rebrand 9/11 as International Burn A Koran Day. If you’re interested, there’s a Facebook group for it. The info tab has a succinct little mission statement, which you may find illuminative: Mission: To brin...

Following is a buzz re: the mosque discussion...I have copied this off from Aman Shareef: Newt Gingrich is telling Saudi Arabia and their bigoted leaders: "If you do not rise to our level, we will fall to yours." Here's another article about the mosque/community center in lower Manhattan. I pointed argument backed by quotes, about how many Republican leaders still believe that this is the time of the crusades where civilizations were defined by religion rather than national identity and ideals: http://www.slate.com/id/2262495/ The Republican campaign against a Ground Zero mosque. - By William Saletan - Slate Magazine The latest plot against America, we're told, is smoldering in the ashes of 9/11. A Muslim organization wants to build a " community center," including a mosque, two blocks from the site of the fallen ...

In an effort to follow the discussion on the mosque being built near Ground Zero, I am copying the following post that I received via email today and am collecting feedback and comments on these. Feel free to leave your comments. Broadway and the Mosque By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN There are several reasons why I don’t object to a mosque being built near the World Trade Center site, but the key reason is my affection for Broadway show tunes. Let me explain. A couple weeks ago, President Obama and his wife held “A Broadway Celebration: In Performance at the White House,” a concert in the East Room by some of Broadway’s biggest names, singing some of Broadway’s most famous hits. Because my wife is on the board of the public TV station that organized the evening, WETA, I got to attend, but all I could think of was: I wish the whole country were here. It wasn’t just the great performances of Audra McDonald, Nathan Lane, Idina Menzel, Elaine Stritch, Karen Olivo, Tonya Pinkins, Brian d’Arcy James,...

My Friend's Note Guess it's about time I acknowledge this... Share Yesterday at 2:45pm ...since I've received a few questions about my feelings on this issue. Here's a link to a note written by the one and only Sarah Palin, where she writes about how wrong it is that a mosque even be THOUGHT about in the same city as Ground Zero. As a victim of 9/11, I want to speak out against these sentiments. I personally don't have any problem even conceiving the thought of erecting a mosque near Ground Zero. The unfortunate truth is that 9/11 was a crime committed by EXTREMISTS who happened to be associated with Islam (which is actually a quite interesting religion, for those who know little or nothing about it). Islam does not mean terrorism, and it continues to sadden me that many (not all) Americans and September 11th victims alike seem to associate it with such a disgusting act. If the extremists were Christians, or from a world which we could sympathize with more,...