The NYC Mosque debate.

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

I just don't get the political fallout.  I'm seeing now that Obama is taking crap for this.  What is he supposed to do, forbid the building of the mosque?  He's not king...you can't just do whatever you want to private entities.

You don't understand the politics of hate, scapegoating, & wedge issues?  

[Dave Gray]

You don't understand the politics of hate, scapegoating, & wedge issues?  

For the fringe, sure, but I think that the general population of the country should be smart enough to realize what's what on something like this.  It's really a non-issue in the most literal sense.  Government just doesn't have the power to allow certain churches to be built and not others.  I am disappointed in people, I guess.

[StL FinFan]

The media whips everyone in to a frenzy. Most people only read the headlines and believe what the media tells them to believe and feel how the media tells them to feel.  Very few people seem to think for themselves anymore.

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

For the fringe, sure, but I think that the general population of the country should be smart enough to realize what's what on something like this.  It's really a non-issue in the most literal sense.  Government just doesn't have the power to allow certain churches to be built and not others.  I am disappointed in people, I guess.

Bush Sr. made his opposition to the S. Ct. ruling that  flag burning is freedom of speech a major campaign theme.  

Bush Jr. got a lot of mileage out of his opposing two people of the same gender getting married.  

There is a guy who is running his governor campaign on getting rid of drivers license tests in Spanish.

All non-issues.  All pretty effective at creating division.  

[Spider-Dan]

Here's my problem with the issue:

What, exactly, do you want done?

All of the right-wingers seem to acknowledge that legally, the government can't prohibit the building of a mosque, for constitutional reasons.  So if the government can't get involved, who are they expecting to take action on this matter?

I've heard the argument that the zone should be declared a national monument, but that's a bad idea on two fronts:

1) It just kicks the can down the road... what's to happen the next time someone wants to build a mosque nearby?  Are we going to declare all of Manhattan a national monument?  How's that going to affect every other type of property transaction in the area?

2) It is a pretty flimsy and transparent cover story... at the end of the day, declaring national monument status any time someone wants to build a house of worship (in a specific area) for a particular faith amounts to persecution of religion; the gov't has essentially decreed that Islam is no longer welcome in this specific area, which is clearly unconstitutional.  I don't see how it could stand up to a challenge in court.

[TonyB0D]

this is just a retarded issue.....shows you how nuts the right wingers are

the biggest shame here is that ground zero is STILL a disaster ten years later!!

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

The other problem is the building is vacant.  Has been for almost 10 years.  When it was proposed to be a landmark (for architectural purposes) it was a functioning building.  Now it is no longer a functioning building (it was hit by plane parts).  The cost of restoring it is not viable, it needs to be torn down and replaced with something else. 

[Phishfan]

its a cultural center.

With a mosque inside of it.

[Fau Teixeira]

i think this is a pretty big non-issue .. the government has no basis to disallow a church to be placed in a vacant building near the WTC

[Dave Gray]

The more I hear about this, the less of a deal it sounds like.

You can't see ground zero from the mosque site.  You can't see the mosque from the ground zero site.
The mosque is 2 blocks away from the site.  There is already  block 4 blocks away.

I think that a lot of this is people just playing politics.  I've got better crap to worry about.

[StL FinFan]

People are only reading headlines that say a mosque is being built at ground zero and having knee jerk reactions.  Plenty of peaceful, hardworking Muslims died in the attacks also.  The protesters do not inspire confidence in the American people for me.