“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

-1st amendment to the United States constitution




On the nine year anniversary of the terrorist attacks of 9/11 over thirty thousand Americans gathered together to show support. But their support was not for the families who lost their loved ones during the events of 9/11, but rather for the withholdment of freedoms every United States citizen is guaranteed by the first amendment of the constitution. These thirty thousand people wanted to keep their fellow Americans from building what they call the “Ground Zero Mosque” (Cole, 2010). For those who have been living in a shoe box the last nine years, here is a brief overview of what happened on that tragic day. On the eleventh of September in 2001, nineteen Al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four airplanes and crashed them into various locations in the United States. Two were flown into the Twin Towers, another was flown into the Pentagon, and the last crashed into a field near Pittsburgh. Around three thousand people from fifty-five countries were killed (Cole, 2010), the majority were American citizens killed while in the Twin Towers. The location where the Twin Towers once stood is now called Ground Zero. Nine years later Americans still feel a resentment not only towards the people behind the attacks, but any person from the same religion or ethnic background. This has led to persecution, resentment, and a buildup of frustration on both sides. That, along with misinformation, is the main reason there is so much support against the “Ground Zero Mosque” in the United States.

The most startling part about all this is that the “Ground Zero Mosque” is not a mosque at all. WHAT? That means all the reporters and the politicians have been lying or at least stretching the truth. This “mosque” is actually an Islamic community center. It will have a pool, a gym, basketball courts, a library, a five hundred seat auditorium, a restaurant with a cooking school, art studios, a 9/11 memorial, and a childcare center (Benjamin, 2010). Even with all of that, no one can seem to forget about the small section of rooms where they can pray, and try to make it something it is not. Why, because telling the truth would not have sold as many papers as the fabrication of a mosque would have. Even so, should a community center really be built on Ground Zero? No, it should not. The good news is that the founder never planned on the cultural center being there. The location for this project is not at the base of where the Twin Towers once stood, but instead over two blocks away. Right there are two major lies given to the public which have extremely swayed their opinion on this subject. At this point if the public ever hears the whole truth, it is too late. They are already so fired up to stop this travesty that the chance of them really stopping to consider the whole picture is slim at best. Because who in their right mind would support a project such as this?

People seem to feel that all Muslims are responsible for what happened on September eleventh because of the simple fact that the hijackers were Muslim as well. This affects more than just the building of centers. In the United States only two percent of the population is Muslim, but in 2009 they were responsible for over 25 percent of the religious discrimination claims brought to the attention of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (Wiki, 2010). In an interview on 20/20, an American Muslim commented that she was tired of people always asking her why the Muslim community was not doing more to stop the extremists, and implying that she was somehow responsible for 9/11. Back during the Holy Wars groups of Catholics murdered many people of different religions, but it is not uncommon for churches to be found in the areas this happened, and society as a whole does not condemn everyone in the religion for the actions of a small group of people. It seems like the majority of Americans feel like all Muslims are guilty by grouping, responsible for the actions of others because of a shared ethnic background or religion. So by those same standards over a third of the people in my home town would be responsible for multiple abortion clinic bombings for the simple fact they are white Christians. Ethnic and religious grouping is wrong on so many levels, and should not determine who is allowed to build what where.

A current poll by the New York Times states that two-thirds of New Yorkers are against the location of this project (Cole, 2010) and according to a CNN pole 68 percent of the entire country is against it as well (Rhiel, 2010). The same New York Times poll also showed that less than 29 percent of Americans favor this new project. If this were a church who would care? No one. Between where this Islamic community center is proposed to be built and Ground Zero there are currently two strip clubs, multiple bars, and a lingerie and porn shop (Rosenburg, 2010). But apparently all those things are better than a Muslim version of the YMCA.

The people against the community center say it would take away from people who would go to Ground Zero to grieve for victims lost on the horrible day of 9/11. They say that a mosque has no place anywhere near there. It is not mosque, but even so, would it really be too close? Hypothetically let us say it was one. It would be .22 miles away from Ground Zero. Currently, there is an actual mosque .35 miles away (Clendaniel, 2010), but no one has said anything about that one. Is .13 miles really that big of a difference? It is only six hundred and eighty-six feet. But apparently six hundred and eighty-six feet is a big deal. Six hundred and eighty-six feet is the difference between okay, and something that warrants thirty thousand people trying to deny another religion a freedom given to them by the first amendment. It is not a mosque. The people building the center are Muslims, they pray five times a day. If they are going to build something, it would only make sense for them to set aside a place inside of it to pray. If you pray somewhere, that does not automatically make it a mosque or a church or anything other than what it is suppose to be. This is not mosque, no mater what the freedom squashers might say.

At the rally against the “Ground Zero Mosque” on the anniversary of September eleventh Dutch Parliament member Geert Wilders flew in to speak (Marco, 2010). He gave a well-written speech, that if not listened to closely, sounded absolutely amazing. But if his speech is actually listened to, it is not hard to hear his flawed reasoning. At one point he started to quote “Have You Forgotten” by Darryl Worely. “Have you forgotten how it felt that day? To see your home land under fire and her people blown away. Have you forgotten when those towers fell? We had neighbors still inside going through a living hell.” No America has not forgotten, and never will. But it also can not forget another line in the same song, “What about our freedoms?” Freedom is what this country was made on, and freedom, at least in the United States is suppose to be guaranteed to all citizens, no matter their ethnicity or religion. A government can not give freedom and then take it away because it disagrees with a group of peoples beliefs. If a person is proven to be a traitor or a terrorist then go for it, but the average citizen is guaranteed rights. And to tell them that they can do something but if they were a good United States citizen they would not do it, is completely ridiculous. It would almost be un-American for them not to. The United States is not know for being a push over, it is known for the exact opposite in most cases. The United States is known for its freedom, and its constant want of rights not only for themselves but for others. So not only do the people behind the center have the right to build but the obligation as Americans to do so. Then again Geert Wilders, being Dutch, would not get that. This is not a mosque, and it is not just right. This a community center, and an obligation.