Sounding Off, Again

As if it weren't enough that we are fighting an unwinnable war in Afghanistan, now we are virtually declaring war on Muslims in this country.  All they are trying to do is to build a mosque in NYC.  It is not on ground zero, as claimed, but on the spot once occupied by a Burlington Factory coat store.  And it is not even a mosque, but a cultural center.  And why is there no indignation that Muslims are praying at the Pentagon, which was also attacked on 9/11?

There should never have been such a discussion as this.  Some kind of memorial to the many world citizens who lost their lives in the World Trade Center attack should have been dedicated years ago.  It is shame on someone that this has not happened.  This is what the outcry should be about.

My church, in the little town where I grew up, has a cultural center.  It is called Luther Center.  No one, as far as I know, even blinked an eye when it was built as a gathering place and education center for the Lutherans.  Probably everyone in the town, and then some, has been inside that cultural center -- to play basketball, shop at a holiday bazaar or bake sale, or any number of other events that take place there.  I bring this up to remind us that cultural centers are not places of evil.

Frank Rich, an Op-Ed columnist for the New York Times, makes a case that the virulent opposition to a mosque on this site in NYC will only hurt our chances of getting the citizens of Afghanistan to see that we are right in our fight against terrorism in their country.  Of course, he's right.

And what about this thing called the United States Constitution?  Doesn't the First Amendment guarantee something called freedom of religion?