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Originally Posted by willgoestocollege
Of course Muslim Americans are allowed to have Islamic centers and mosques in the US just like any other religion but why near Ground Zero and the grand opening on the 9th of September next year (10 years since 9/11)? I hope this Islamic community center teaches the good side of Islam not the extremism. Here in the UK we have a tv show called Dispatches and went undercover in the biggest mosque in the Britain. It has a shop that sells books and DVDs which preach to hate Jews, gays and non-muslims.
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It isn't being placed near Ground Zero for any other reason than that former coat shop is available and for sale. It is two blocks from Ground Zero.
There is no reason to think they are planning to teach extremist views.
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Originally Posted by manganimefan227
I think it's a symbolically good idea! A place where the real religion is taught,
We gotta trust them again at some point . . .
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You lost trust in them?
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Originally Posted by Sangetsu
A mosque or church requires government approval before being built just like any other kind of building. The government will not allow churches to be built in some places for various reasons, such as zoning regulations and the like. In most places in the country, it would be very hard to build a church in place zoned for retail use (like a Burlington Coat Factory), and permission to build a church or a mosque in such a place would be a rare exception, not something which would be normally approved.
New York City would not be intolerant in saying "no" to building an Islamic community center in a retail area, in this case they are bending over backwards to be tolerant. An Islamic community center, being a religious facility belonging to an organized religion, would of course be tax exempt, and allowing such a center (or even a Christian church) will greatly reduce the tax revenue generated by the property.
The crux of the argument is that getting permission to build a Christian (or Jewish, or Buddhist) church or large religious center anywhere in Manhattan is next to an impossibility, but building an Islamic community center somehow gets wide approval from everyone from Mayor Bloomberg to President Obama himself. Critics of the community center see this as "special" treatment based upon religious preference, which is also considered patently unconstitutional.
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What they are proposing is a Islamic community center, and it's zoning was approved unanimously by the governing committee in New York City.