1. It's not even a Mosque
2. It's not even at Ground Zero
3. There is already an Islamic Community Center 4 blocks away, this would be 2 blocks away from one corner of the giant hole. + There's over 100 Mosques already in NYC.
4. This is closer to an Islamic YMCA/Chef school than anything, with a swimming pool, basketball court, auditorium, culinary center and yes a prayer room.
5. There is already a strip club and a sex toy shop 2 blocks from the "sacred" ground zero. Plus liquor stores and a peep show.
6. There are Christian churches in Hiroshima & Nagasaki
7. Timothy McVeigh was raised as a Christian ... why not ban all Churches in Oklahoma City then?
8. Even Tehran, Iran allows for Synagogues to be built, and in fact has 4 of them!
9. WTC # 2 actually had a Muslim prayer room in it, and Muslims died on 9/11 in the towers as well
10. The Pentagon (also attacked on 9/11) has had in Mosque within its walls since 9/11 - for Muslims who work in the Pentagon.
1. & 4. Is it a Mosque? Yes, according to the definition on Wikipedia. This also notes that "Modern mosques have a variety of amenities available to their congregants. As Mosques are supposed to appeal to the community, they may also have additional facilities, from health clinics to libraries to gymnasiums, to serve the community."
2. Is it at Ground Zero? While it is not part of the World Trade Center complex, the current building was struck by landing gear from one of the hijacked airlines. To me, that qualifies as part of Ground Zero.
3., 9. & 10. The existence of these other Mosques and prayer rooms shows that the dispute is over the symbolism of this particular building and not a reaction against Islam in general.
5. & 7. The WTC was not attacked by militant strippers or drinkers. McVeigh was an anti-government agnostic. None of this is relevant.
6. The United States did not bomb Japan to advance Christianity. We did it to end a war that they started.
8. And there are thousands of Mosques in the US with over 100 in New York City. This is irrelevant.
Some other commentators pointed out that there are Shinto shrines within sight of Pearl Harbor. This is close to a parallel to the Mosque but there are significant differences. Shinto is a loosely-defined set of religious practices. After trade with Japan was forcibly re-opened, Japan adopted Shinto as the state religion and used it to promote nationalism. Emperor worship was added to Shinto during this period meaning that the Emperor could do no wrong.
Japan's part in World War II was not about establishing Shinto as the dominant religion. It was about establishing Japan as the dominant country in the Pacific. Shinto was only a part of that.
As part of Japan's surrender, emperor-worship was abandoned and the Emperor was no longer considered divine. The Shinto of today has reverted to the peaceful version that existed prior to the mid-19th century. It has little to do with the version practiced in the 1940s.
If Islam had gone through a similar conversion then there would be few objections to the Mosque. That has not happened. The leader of the group building the Mosque has been reluctant to distance himself from his violent co-religionists. One of the big fears is that the leaders of the extremist sects of Islam will claim the Mosque as a sign of victory over the US. This will cause irreparable harm to America's image abroad and could easily lead to further loss of life.
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