The map helps considerably – the proposed mosque is not on ground zero but a block or two away. Anyone who has been to NYC knows that the difference a block makes is remarkable – to a neighborhood, to safety, to commerce.
Ground Zero, as it is called, is empty space. It is not hallowed ground. It should have been built upon long ago. An empty lot is an empty lot. What occurred there was appalling – and it was ten years ago.
One of the most important, basic tenets of our society is Freedom of Religion. That can be, and has been, used as a tool in unscrupulous hands. But the fact of it remains… whether the religion is popular or not. It’s one of our ‘protections’ and needs to be guarded in this time when so many of our rights are compromised by self-promoting groups.