The controversy over the proposed mosque near ground zero offers an opportunity to see the protections of our Constitution, but perhaps more important, to see that the people believe in these protections.
Our system is by no means perfect; indeed a recent stabbing attack on a New York City cab driver who answered in the affirmative when asked if he was Muslim shows that hate is very much a part of our society.
The mosque issue is a very emotional one, stirring memories of the 9/11 attacks that killed 2,752 people.
"A very tragic thing happened there," said the Rev. Stephen Fournier, pastor of Milford Center Community Bible Church. "Part of the reason it's galvanizing is, first of all, it didn't happen that long ago."
Unfortunately, many people associate those behind the attacks with all of Islam, instead of with an extremist group.
Al-Qaida is no more representative of Islam than the man who stabbed the cab driver is of American society, but politicians have been conflating the two; former House Speaker Newt Gingrich even suggested that building the mosque is akin to putting a Nazi sign next to the Holocaust Museum.
A recent Siena College poll showed that although 63 percent of New York state voters oppose the building of the mosque two blocks away from the World Trade Center site, 64 percent of those surveyed said developers have the constitutional right to build it.
About half of those who opposed the project said developers have the right to build it.
Those numbers go right to the heart of our constitutional protections, which guard the rights of the minority from oppression by the majority.
A coalition of supporters of the mosque that included families of 9/11 victims rallied Wednesday at a municipal building near ground zero.
"I lost a 23-year-old son, a paramedic who gave his life saving Americans and their values," Talat Hamdani said, adding that supporting the Islamic center "has nothing to do with religion. It has to do with standing up for our human rights, including freedom of religion."
It says something important and wonderful about our country that people who are so strongly opposed to building the mosque still believe that the developers have the right to go ahead with the project.
It is yet more amazing that some of the families of 9/11 victims support the project.
As Susan Lerner, executive director of the New York office of the watchdog group Common Cause, said, "This is not just about Muslims; this is about who we are as Americans."
Opinion
Mosque debate shows good of our country's Constitution
- Opinion
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