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This entry was posted on Saturday, July 31st, 2010 at 8:40 AM and filed under 1st Amendment (speech), Economics, Elections/Voting, Human Interest, Legal, Media, Politics, Religion, Youth. Follow comments here with the RSS 2.0 feed. Skip to the end and leave a response. Trackbacks are closed.

One Response to “NYT (8): National News”

1. Ian Alterman said:

   Re the mosque issue, I sent the following letter to the NYT:

   To The Editor:

   A few facts in response to comments being made in opposition to the building of an Islamic center and mosque near Ground Zero (“Debate Heating Up on Plans for Mosque Near Ground Zero,” July 31):

   -The imam leading the project has been holding worship services in the building for quite some time, since his congregation outgrew their storefront mosque north of Canal Street. Yet there has been no opposition to this, and little would change in this regard when the project is done.

   -There is a growing Muslim population in lower Manhattan which has a right to be served, so building the project “a mile away” is unhelpful. Indeed, there are six churches, two Jewish centers, a Buddhist center and a Bahai center within ten blocks of Ground Zero. Thus, refusing to allow a mosque in that area amounts to blatant religious discrimination.

   -Not every survivor or family member of victims of the 9/11 attacks opposes the project; there are many who support it.

   Perhaps most ironic is that most of those opposed to the project call themselves patriots, and ostensibly support the Constutition – and the troops who fought and died (and continue to do so) to defend and protect that Constitution and the freedoms it provides. Yet many of these same people are all too willing to ignore the Constitution – in this case its provision against “prohibiting the free exercise” of religion – when it is inconvenient. How sad.

   Ian Alterman
   New York, NY

   Posted on 31-Jul-10 at 8:46 am | Permalink