Surgiac : "They wouldn't want a church, temple, or any other non-Muslim religious building near something they're sensitive to so why should there be something that has a mosque in it near a place we're sensitive to?"

It's not that they wouldn't want.... they wouldn't LET us do it. EVER.

That's why I'm sick and tired of this PC (politically correct) crap. We wouldn't want to offend anyone by saying no. Boo freakin hoo. People who claim to be muslims flew planes into 2 buildings and killed thousands of people. You don't to build a mosque that overlooks that location thank you very much.

I think it's extremely insensitive to consider building a mosque in that area, but there is also such little construction space in Manhattan that destroyed areas are almost the only available space. The fundamentalist Muslims who bombed the towers have as little to do with regular Muslims as fundamentalist Mormons (who are basically a polygamist cult) have to do with regular Mormons. The Muslims who want to build the mosque probably see themselves as distinct and separate from those that bombed the towers, and only the ignorance and paranoia of the American public stereotype them and file them into the same group. I'm not saying I support the construction of a mosque in that location. I think it's an insensitive and inappropriate thing to do, especially with the hive minded American populace. They should really consider another location for their mosque. The bus into New Jersey from the Port Authority station near Times Square is only 20-30 minutes. Build it somewhere else, Secaucus has a lot of space.

Throughout Islamic history, the placement of mosques has been to symbolize their conquest and superiority over non-Muslims:

Some 2,000 mosques in India were built on the sites of Hindu temples to express conquest over the disbelievers. The Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock was built on the site of Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem to assert Islam's superiority over Judaism. The Hagia Sophia Cathedral in Constantinople was converted into a mosque to assert the superiority of Islam over Christianity.

Now the Ground Zero mosque will be built to express conquest over the World Trade Center. It’s clear, not only from the scriptures in the Koran, but from the actions in the name of Islam, that anyone who doesn’t accept Allah as God is inferior, and Allah must not have any rivals.

So now the Muslims have a constitutional right to build a victory mosque over 9/11. It’s disconcerting that the Muslims disguise their religion as peaceful in building this mosque.

I wouldn't say it's wrong if they have good intentions. But chances are they don't. They know what happened near where they're trying to build the mosque. They know that hundreds of people were killed. And they know how they were killed. Knowing these things, they also knew, before they started building the mosque, that it would piss people off if they built it there. Knowing these things, why would they try to build the mosque there unless they're trying to piss people off?

I don't think its a bad idea actually. Personally I feel its necessary. Since 9/11 people have discriminated against Muslims so much. Yeah a few Muslims did HORRIBLE things. But that was only a few of the millions out there. I think of it as a gesture toward peace. But hey I'm an optimist.

dramabethie : that's the problem though.... I don't think that moderate muslims are the ones trying to get this mosque built. I think they have enough respect for America and the people that died in that attack to realize that this could be offensive.

Here is the problem I have with this situation (and with the way Islam is dealt with in general by the West). There is no give and take. It's almost always give from the West. We give in to their demands over and over. How long are we going to give them what they want before we no longer have anything they want, or the power to appease them (or resist them).... appeasement doesn't work. People with radical beliefs will use any means they have to get what they want.... we won't stop them by giving in over and over.