I think it is disrespectful to the circumstances under which 9/11 took place. building a blatant symbol of Islam near the site where islamic followers murdered thousands of americans is out of order. it doesn’t even take rocket science to know it’s innappropriate. there is more to why obama is okaying this than just “wanting to promote unity among religions” and i’m not saying he’s a muslim necessarily, although we really don’t know what he believes. just like bush had ties with the bin laden family, please believe things are never what it seems on the surface. why do people think when it comes to obama that he couldn’t possibly have other agendas and things going on that the american public knows nothing about?

I think they should be able to bulid it there. I feel like you can’t which rights apply to who, and when do they apply. The faith of Islam has never promoted anything to do with 9/11 attacks. Bin Laden and his group are to Islam what the Timothy Mcveigh or whatever his name was to christanity. And I am sure no one with have a beef if they bulit a church near there. Obama says his a christian that should be enough. Besides his faith is between him and his god he doesn’t have to justify to anyone else, secondly his faith has nothing to do with the conversation. Either we are all free to practice our faith or none of us are.

Also I am not sure maybe another statement came out. But I thought he said he defended their right to bulid a mosque there. I don’t think he said they should bulid a mosque there.

I don’t see anything wrong with the Islamic Community center being built near ground zero OR EVEN ON Ground Zero. I think that we as a society have become very prejudge-mental about other religions especially Muslims. Would we object to a YMCA being built there had the 9/11 bombers been Christian? Or a Synagogue being built there if they were Jewish? Or a Kingdom Hall being built there if they had been Jehovah’s Witnesses???? It is not Islam, Hinduism, Judaism, Christianity, or any other religion that is the problem it is religious extremism. The fact is that there are a lot of good people in every religion and they should not be prejudged because of their religious beliefs. The only way I could and would object to it is if they were going to memorialize the men that did it. I say go for it, it will be good for the diversity of the community and perhaps people will be inclined to learn a bit more about Islam and what it really is.

The naivety of Americans is what makes us so vulnerable to terroristic attack. Not to mention the fact that we’re afraid to have a backbone about anything. And if you add the fact that we have gotten so far away from the foundation of America….what do you have? A BIG, HOT, MESS! Welcome to the USA.

How would you feel if the family of someone who murdered your close relative moved in next door to you? Awkward, right? Scary, right? Can you be sure that the family would/would not attempt to harm you? No, there’s no assurance. Wouldn’t the very thought of the association alarm you? At the very least wouldn’t it cause you to be extra cautious? The same applies here. I don’t think that anyone is insinuating that ALL Muslims are extremeist, but the extremeist that attacked the Twin Towers were Muslim, so there is a connection.

I’m so OVER people who have no stance on anything….anything goes. Live how you wanna live. Kill who you wanna kill. Sleep with who you wanna sleep with. Marry who you wanna marry….OVER IT!

Whatever happened to people who stand for something? UGH!

cosign priss. then when crazy stuff happens people are in shock. i’m not gonna be in shock if something crazy happens again. the writing is on the wall.

I agree that Muslims have the RIGHT to build it however I do believe it would be disrespectful. There are a number of factors that most people are unaware about the people behind building the Mosque. It first needs to be clear who in fact is funding the Mosque. It has not been completely validated that the terrorist organizations are not the ones supporting this as a memorial to the “victory” over the American people. If that is the case then that is TOTAL disrespect. Radical Muslims after a victory will build a memorial in the location which they attacked. If that is the case, then no the Mosque should not be built. I personally even if that was not the case and they genuinely just wanted a location, I still believe it would be disrespectful. And if they truly loved America and what it represented, they should not want to do anything to bring about more hatred, confusion and destruction. If that Mosque is built, radical Americans will do everything in their power to destroy it.

Really that theory gulit by association. So when people judge black people by what one black person did to them its okay. Cause I look like that person that robbed you its okay to discriminate against me. I am sure the white people moved away from black people said the same thing. For What happened on 9/11 was tragic, but it happened with the mosque wasn’t there. Its like america forgot ideals that made this country great. The first americans moved here for relgious freedom. But now we want to dictate where people worship. Let some people have they way america would have a big ass fence around it force feeding christianity to everyone.

@Rico – I don’t think it’s a matter of upholding one religion over the other, it’s a matter of decency and respect, like Sheek said. And honestly, if a white woman got gang raped by a crowd of black people, though it isn’t right to generalize, can you blame her for being apprehensive at the site of a group of black people? I can’t. Years ago, my mom got into a car accident where someone hit her in the back. It was a 5 car accident. This was over 10 years ago…til this day she still flenches when she sees a car fastly approaching her in her rear view mirror. Can you blame her? No.

Likewise, nobody is saying that they can’t build the mosque, but the location is suspect. Build the mosque somewhere else and respect the lost lives of those who were victimized during the attacks of 9/11.

And honestly, some people need to be forced fed some sort of belief system because people today have no morals and boundaries. It’s annoying!

I think it’s all going according to plan… hard to really pin point how I feel. I believe the decision has already been made, we (America) are led to believe our opinion really counts. They already had plans for that space when the towers fell. Maybe plans were even made before. Only time will tell, and in time they will tell on themselves. In some cases they already have… I’m just sayin… p.s. This was purposefully ambiguous,lol.

Disrespectful. Do I believe all Muslims are terrorists and killers? Of course not.

I think there are so many layers to this. I find it interesting that this is even going on. I wonder who is behind it and exactly who is funding it. It’s so in your face.

I’m with Suzanne…this isn’t rocket science. I just believe it’s very distasteful given the circumstances and I think that while yes, they have the right to do it, that does not mean they should.

I actually feel what Rico is saying, however let’s use an example here. Let’s say that there was an all black school where the KKK(keeping in mind they use the Bible to back up their twisted beliefs, so in essence it’s the same twisted mentality of those who were involved in 9/11) came in and bombed the school. Then, some years down the road they wanna build a building not far from where the school was to hold meetings with rebel flags hanging all over the place, etc. Now do they have a right to? Yes. Is it disrespectful and tasteless? Yes.

Honestly to me there is no difference in telling someone they can’t do something than it is telling them where they can do it. You sound no different to me than the angry mob of white people in the black person’s yard with pitchforks and touches. After white women is murdered and I am sure they said them to themselves we don’t like black people we just don’t want them in my neighborhood. You can’t pick and choose whose rights you trample on even if you feel justified. If we do then the terriost have won. I know every one of the abrahamic relgion has persecuted or been persecuted against in history. Fear shouldn’t override someone’s right. I hear you on your mom being scared of fast moving cars but Islam wasn’t driving the plan that crashed the towers. Only fools with a misguided view of Islam did.

I comprehend what you’re saying Rico, I just disagree. Freedom without boundaries is wreckless. As a grown, adult man you have the freedom to do a lot of things, but that doesn’t mean it should be lawful and that all the things you “want” to do are tasteful and won’t offend. I think that’s where America has lost it’s way. If everyone in the world did what they were “free” to do, this world would be in greater chaos than it already is.

There is a difference in saying that you have the “right” to do something and then saying, but you can’t do it in this place because it’s distasteful and disrespectful. You have the “right” to cuss your mom out, but you wouldn’t because it’s in poor taste and disrespectful. I’m sure you don’t teach your daughter that she can do anything she wants to do whenever she wants to do it. Or maybe you do. I’d like to beleive that you tell her about her liberties and also give her boundaries that in the end will protect her. Is it out of fear? I doubt it. It’s probably done out of the wisdom of knowing that the abuse of liberties can take her to a negative destination.

That’s all we’re saying here. Sure, we have liberties. But the abuse of those liberties will open the doors of America wide for others (and the American people) to abuse!

TO ALL – HAVE A STANDARD ALREADY! STOP BEING SO INDIFFERENT THAT YOUR EXISTENCE ON THE PLANET HAS NO PURPOSE!

I hear you Toya, but I disagree as well. I just feel like if we tell this religious group where to bulid their mosque simply cause some don’t like it. Cause to think they are bulding the mosque there to try and help bring in Bin Laden’s people is misguided and foolish. So I am courious to know what is a safe non dis-respectful distance. Does it have to be further out than the strip club that two blocks away from ground zero. I know we aren’t going to agree. But I thank you.

Again, I don’t think that anyone is saying that Bil Laden is gonna set up shop in the mosque. What we’re saying is that it is higly disrespectful and insensitive to build the mosque in such a close proximity to where many lost their lives due to terroristic attacks.

Strip clubs are irrelevant.

Kudos Rico I agree 100%

@Rico – i think this is much larger than “dont build the mosque here because we dont like you”. I’ve never been there but I doubt there is a U.S. embasy in Nagasaki or Heroshima, likewise, you probably wont find a Buddhist temple in Pearl Harbor. I have plenty of Muslims friends and like most religions, I find Islam fascinating. Understanding by the very virtue of our constitution the Muslim community has the “right” to install a mosque near ground zero, and for some, including Obama, it ends there. But for lack of a better term, it is in poor taste for them to want to. Obama’s position on this issue has all but sealed his fate as NOT being a two term president – but I dont htink he gives a shit. If this is allowed to occur i think the government agencies (FBI, CIA, DHS whoever) tasked with such a thing should keep a very close eye on the money and if even so much as one cent of the funding comes from anything even remotely related to Al Queda, Taliban, Hamas etc. then it should be shut down. and I dont feel that we should have to explain to anyone why! I wonder if anyone who supports this actually lost a loved one on 9/11.

CTO – Very, very, very well put!