The mosque being built at ground zero?

[byesadness]

Built a cafe, a disco house, a casino or anything but not mosque, please! It's stupid!

[Thumpalumpacus]

If they own the land, and it's zoned for religious use, our opinions are irrelevant.

[KebertX]

It's a stupid idea, as stupid as anything I've ever heard. That's some pretty expensive real estate and what a ridiculous waste it would be to build a religious building, any religious building, in that area.

The point should be to bring commerce back, to construct buildings where people can go to get jobs and make money, office buildings and shops and restaurants and places for people to live, to rejuvenate that part of Manhattan, to really make it live again. And I also think that a state-of-the-art hospital dedicated to the memory of all who lost their lives on 9/11 should be first on the list of things that need to be built there.

But, come on. A mosque?

It's not being built AT Ground Zero, just a block away.  It's not a big deal.  At all.

[Newtonyd]

While in general I don't agree with the building of any new religious buildings, this is one of the few that might have actual real world value when built. It's a gesture of forgiveness and acceptance, especially of the moderate muslims likely to go there. Paint me yellow and feather me if this makes me an appeasing coward, but this sounds like one of the most sensible things I've seen this country do over 9/11.

It's far better than some of the more expected responses, like naming the area something of a 'holy land' and making it off limits to Islamic ventures.

[karadan]

Ok, there seems to be conflicting info about this all over the web. Initially i was led to believe the mosque was going to be built 'on ground zero', ie, directly next to the new Freedom tower.. Other sources then cite it is a couple of blocks away.

Does anyone have a map of where it will actually be? There's already mosques in New York which i obviously have no issue with. My feelings on this topic are entirely dependant on the actual position of the mosque.

If i've accidentally bought into atheist quote-mined propaganda, then i feel very foolish.

[Recusant]

(Map linked from Cordoba Initiative site.)

The atheist interwebz may have picked up on it, but I'm inclined to put the source of the "outrage" at such founts of wisdom as Fox News and Rush Limbaugh.

[karadan]

Ok, here i stand, thoroughly ashamed.. I should have read more about it before creating this thread.

I hereby impose upon myself my first ever warning for being a knee-jerk jerk

Thanks for the map Recusant.

[Davin]

Ok, here i stand, thoroughly ashamed.. I should have read more about it before creating this thread.

I hereby impose upon myself my first ever warning for being a knee-jerk jerk

Thanks for the map Recusant.

Sometimes discussing things is how one reaches a conclusion or how one betters their premises to ensure the conclusion or adjust the conclusion.

Your first post was asking for everyone's opinion and didn't seem that knee jerk.

I didn't care to begin with, now that I know that it's going to be a few blocks away, I don't see how anyone could be too upset about it.

[Tank]

Supposing they had a display criticising the destruction of the WTC and condemning terrorist acts in the name of Islam. Would one feel less pissed off by it?

[Thumpalumpacus]

To be honest, if they put up their mosque directly across the street, so long as they own the land, and followed the pertinent laws and zoning regulations, they've every right to do so.

[Tank]

To be honest, if they put up their mosque directly across the street, so long as they own the land, and followed the pertinent laws and zoning regulations, they've every right to do so.

Agreed. But having a 'right' to do something may not mean it's the 'right' thing to do. In this case I would have thought that the value of the land they are building on would be pretty high. They could sell the land and build more mosque square feet in places where Muslims would actually use it? I can't think that there would be a huge demand for a Mosque in down town New York on a Friday? I may be wrong but it does seem a poor use of resources.

[Cecilie]

I don't see the need for building a mosque (or a church for that matter) anywhere at all. Think of all the better things those money could be used for.

[Tank]

I don't see the need for building a mosque (or a church for that matter) anywhere at all. Think of all the better things those money could be used for.

You and I both see the same thing. I'd sell off most of the Vatican treasures over a 25 year period, leaving enough behind to keep it a good tourist attraction and spending the proceeds on science education around the world.

[Cecilie]

I don't see the need for building a mosque (or a church for that matter) anywhere at all. Think of all the better things those money could be used for.

You and I both see the same thing. I'd sell off most of the Vatican treasures over a 25 year period, leaving enough behind to keep it a good tourist attraction and spending the proceeds on science education around the world.

...And new roads in Norway of course.  

[Thumpalumpacus]

To be honest, if they put up their mosque directly across the street, so long as they own the land, and followed the pertinent laws and zoning regulations, they've every right to do so.

Agreed. But having a 'right' to do something may not mean it's the 'right' thing to do. In this case I would have thought that the value of the land they are building on would be pretty high. They could sell the land and build more mosque square feet in places where Muslims would actually use it? I can't think that there would be a huge demand for a Mosque in down town New York on a Friday? I may be wrong but it does seem a poor use of resources.

While I agree with virtually all of this post, the demand for a mosque in Manhattan may well be present.  After all, how many hundreds of thousands of people work in Manhattan?  And how many are Muslim?

Your efficiency argument is to-the-point, however.