A Monument to Tolerance
Published: August 3, 2010
It has been disturbing to hear and read the vitriol and outright bigotry surrounding the building of a mosque two blocks from the site of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. So it was inspiring when New York City’s Landmarks Preservation Commission voted 9 to 0 on Tuesday to reaffirm one of the basic tenets of democracy: religious tolerance.
Instead of caving in to the angry voices — many but not all of them self-promoting Republican politicians — commissioners paved the way for construction of the mosque and Islamic center. It was not just the right thing to do, it was the only thing to do.
The attacks of Sept. 11 were not a religious event. They were mass murder. The American response, as President Obama and President George W. Bush before him have said many times, was not a war against Islam.
~snip~
Mayor Bloomberg noted in his speech that in the United States and in “the freest city in the world,” the owners of the building have the right to use their property as a house of worship. “The government has no right whatsoever to deny that right,” he said. We agreed with his assessment that the lawsuits being threatened against the mosque should be easily thrown out. The local community board has given the Muslim center approval as well.
more:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/04/opinion/04wed1.html?_r=1&hp
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