First, some serious thoughts on this topic..  and then I will post the article.

I am not a christian but have a deep sense of right and wrong and always doing the right thing especially by law and ethics, by family, friends and people who believe in us, and truly by a sense of what is fair, just, honest (but not hurtful) and equitable.

I believe all prayers are equal and good, and are meant to keep each person centered so that they do not harm themselves nor others.

At times when I saw christian prayers at Ground Zero in the midst of official events, I had wondered how it rubs others.. and was much relieved when at times it was followed by prayers of various other religions.  

It is unfortunate that Islam and terrorism have become related topics by virtue of statistical correlation and some causality has been attributed to the religion itself.  Yes, extensive brainwashing is what religions do -- religion is afterall stories passed down from generation to generation to pass down and enforce behaviors that have come to be accepted within the power centers of that religion -- others follow it in good faith.  For example, the whole notion that God is a "He" is very self-serving by one gender that became a power center over time.  Religions have good and bad elements that have been passed down... but prayer is one of the better elements of religion... and a mosque is supposed to be a place for prayer.

But even I was taken aback by the Ground Zero mosque proposal -- and that caught me off guard a bit to be honest.  Ever since the Ground Zero mosque topic came up, I have battled my emotions on the subject.   Being in NY, being on the bank of the river that was followed by the aircraft that hit WTC and hearing of roommate of a family member not returning home that day, and many friends coming too close (by 5 minutes or less) to being in the buildings because they were late or had later appointments... the WTC topic is very sensitive for me. 

While by Constitution, as restricted by any zoning which was absent in this case, the mosque is quite a legitimate thing to build in the ground that it is sought to be built upon, I have wondered about the lack of sensitivity of the people proposing it.  Yes, people can say it is a "triumph trophy" of sorts, but one can also see it as people wanting to pray... but that prayer can be done elsewhere, not quite so close.  [But if they had proposed it 5 blocks from Ground Zero, we would probably have had the same discussion.]

America is indeed a country with people of many religions.  Yes we refer to God in many places, but not to any "one" named God as such [although many will claim otherwise] and I strongly believe that the land itself is the best ground for all religions because the natural law was the law of the land for the native Americans.  They were welcoming enough of others.

So, it is for us America to view terrorism with disdain and shun all terrorist activities.. but not for us to shun a place of worship and prayer. Let us not confuse the building of a mosque with a terrorist activity; it is not. Yes, it is regrettable that some people did not see how it would irk many of other faiths when they proposed a mosque in that place... but say some of them come to Ground Zero and want to pray their way... where would they have to go?  We have to give people the benefit of the doubt... while still being vigilant on individual people's activities and actions, and being on our guard on terrorism despite the very promising numbers I read in the article below.

The following article made me feel good about the topic of the mosque a well as America's achievement on terrorism front. So, I share.

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Read @ Yahoo News
Originally from TIME.

'Ground Zero Mosque' Park51 Not a Triumph of Radical Islam

Should Muslims be allowed to build a mosque at Ground Zero? Merely posing the question is an act of deliberate distortion. As its defenders point out, the Community Center at Park51 will occupy not a solitary inch of the 16-block site on which the Twin Towers stood. Once built, the center will indeed house a mosque, "open and accessible to all" - but also a swimming pool, basketball court, auditorium, library, day-care facility, restaurant and cooking school. The center is being built by a private organization on land it legally owns. Twenty-nine out of 30 Lower Manhattan community-board members voted to approve it. By every legal standard, the case for allowing Park51 to be built is, in the words of conservative UCLA constitutional-law professor Eugene Volokh, "open and shut."

But the question isn't going away. [SNIP]

Many opponents of the Park51 project claim that the mosque itself isn't the problem; it's the idea of building it so close to the World Trade Center. Such misgivings have some validity. But the heat the mosque controversy has generated, on both the left and right, is unhealthy, misplaced and ultimately self-defeating. (Emphasis added here) It reflects our tendency to exaggerate the real threat posed by Islamic extremism and what America should do about it. And nine years after 9/11, the fight over the mosque near Ground Zero shows how obsessed we remain with an enemy that may no longer exist. (See more commentary on Islamophobia and the mosque near Ground Zero.)

The mosque's critics and champions both say their goal is to counter radical Islam. In his Aug. 3 speech defending the Park51 project, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said that "we would play into our enemies' hands" if we were to deny American Muslims the right to build a mosque where they choose. "To cave to popular sentiment would be to hand a victory to the terrorists," Bloomberg said. New York Congressman Jerrod Nadler, a mosque supporter, says, "Everybody's liberty is at stake here." The mosque's opponents make the same argument in reverse. Gingrich has called the Cordoba Initiative part of "an Islamist cultural-political offensive designed to undermine and destroy our civilization." Building the mosque, in the words of one conservative columnist, would be "a symbolic monument to the triumph of Islamism in the United States." (See the moderate imam behind the mosque near Ground Zero.)

The prevalence of such rhetoric on both sides of the mosque debate makes it seem as if the struggle against global jihadism hangs in the balance. The truth is that Osama bin Laden and his ilk face much bigger problems. The story of the past decade in the Muslim world is that of the widespread rejection - or "refudiation," to borrow a phrase - of terrorism. A study by the Pew Research Center earlier this year found that support in Muslim countries for suicide bombings has fallen precipitously from post-9/11 levels. One-third of Pakistanis believed terrorism was justified in 2002; now just 8% do. (Emphasis added here) For all our anxiety about the rise of religious extremism, no government in the Arab world has been toppled by forces sympathetic to al-Qaeda since 2001. And though some militant Muslims surely wish us harm, their ability to actually inflict it has eroded; it has been more than five years since the last successful al-Qaeda attack in the West.

[SNIP]

What does this mean for the mosque near Ground Zero? However the dispute is ultimately resolved, its impact on the "threat" posed by radical Islam will be negligible. That's because the threat is receding on its own. Allowing a place of worship to be built in lower Manhattan will constitute neither an American triumph nor a defeat. It will simply tell the world that this nation, wisely, has decided to move on.

Full article @ Yahoo News

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It is a triumph of America and its constitution to be able to co-exist peacefuly. To each their own is true in our culture, like it or not that is what America is and what American constitution allows.

It would have been a bigger triumph to have an inter-faith prayer place -- like we find in the Albany airport -- and yes, I visit that prayer place for its serene silence and it does quieten your mind of a zillion thoughts that go through the head and you can hear yourself speak to your God and suspend the silly as well as logical thought.. things of mundane earthly life.  But, no, we as a NY community were not forward-looking enough to do that...

I hope the place has equal access to women.

I hope the place allows access to people of other faith.

I hope the place never becomes a western Jerusalem.

And, I hope to go there and pray my way for health and happiness of my family and friends and peace on earth (that's pretty much what I pray for), which is neither muslim way nor christian way... and be left alone and not ever be noticed for who I am or what I do in how I pray.

It is time for peace.  And perhaps the peace can begin with us (yeah, that's small "us").  I am ready for it to begin with me.


-- Edited by Sanders on Wednesday 18th of August 2010 01:38:29 PM