This is to all the Local And National unions in NYC.No one can ever question your love for this country. STRIKE, WORK SLOW DOWNS. Do what ever you can to insure that this Mosques not finished until 2200 and cost them Billions

I got bombed out of my office on 9/11. Last week my spouse's company announced they will be leasing space from the new "Freedom Tower" or whatever they are going to call it. You can say I'm racist for needing to remind people that there is a discussion about RISK that needs to be taking place but that's not so.

This should not be me saying any of this, it should be the mayor, Freedom Tower's insurers, and the bursar of the 9/11 Fund (who would probably end up with that job the next time around too). Also, peaceful members of the planned Muslim center/mosque, who will themselves become the sweetest and easiest targets, at least by evil-doing infiltrators.

PS -- for all you know, I am Muslim.

@Nick from UWS - I'm with you when it comes to my personal (non-)belief in religion. I definitely don't get excited with all the overt religion in the public sphere.

Regardless, my point (below) still stands.

The historical fact that the U.S. guaranteed all religious people the right practice is another great feat of proscribed secular-civic tolerance that transcends religion itself. Hell, it allows me to think what I want about religion and listen to Bill Maher.

Go ahead: Build your churches, your synagogues, your tabernacles, and mosques. Just don't expect me to attend...

@amalgam from Manhattan by day, NJ by night

In my view, religion IS ignorance, and far too often, hate. "Freedom of religion" is the freedom to promote craziness, delusion and irrationality as if it was important, and deserving of adult consideration and involvement in serious decisions affecting peoples' lives.

People walk around talking about religion as if it were some kind of fact. The fact is, it should be relegated with Santa Claus, the tooth fairy and every other thing that adults move beyond after reaching the age of 9.

@ the caller "Lisa in Manhattan" (@ 08:00 min):

as many news items in recent years have shown, there are "potential problems" with every faith community. would you want these issues publicly "addressed" (as you put it), before non-Muslim faith centers are built?

jp calling people a racist for disagreeing with you -- or expressing fear of a real risk -- is dopey. just say no, man.

some of the big people are trying to have a conversation about something.

One more funny thing:

Some people are making it seem like demographic pressures are such that the US need fear a Muslim "majority" (people have actually mentioned that).

What...do you think we live in Europe or something? Ludicrous.

I wonder what the thoughts are from those fearful of Muslims about genuine demographic changes occurring in the US with regards to Latinos?

Tea Party-Militiamen in the nation of immigrants...???

By the way, legally it doesn't matter what the preference is for all you anti-Islam, anti-American people that are terrified of mosques and the concept of the "other."

The 1st Amendment guarantees all religions the right to practice, build mosques, etc. Moreover, all pertinent NYC elected officials - firmly representing the will of the people by being elected to office - have either voted or given their approval to the building of the Muslim center.

Again, every American has the right to say whatever they choose, but their preference means nothing when officials permit zoning plans for buildings to proceed, bolstering guaranteed American religious freedom and tolerance in the face of ignorance and hate.

It's already done.

The guest is just a racist. The opposition started with racisim and hate.
Muslim American should have a place of worship like any one else.

Simply, the opposition are bringing the coflict in the Middl east to NYC,, WHy

I think for hidden agenda.

sindysf

Read the 1st amendment. That’s all that needs to be said. To bad if you don’t like Muslims. First amendment trumps all your delusional stereotyping concerns. Over 7 million Muslims live in the Detroit area and last time I checked they haven’t blown up Detroit yet… Why? Because of the 1st amendment. If you don’t like certain religions that are not to your liking, move to Iran where they don’t have a first amendment.

hugh samsom says: "To blame Muslims en masse for the acts of the 9/11 terrorists is racism and bigotry. Fact." haven't heard anybody doing that here. just risk. let's calculate:

1. World total of muslims: 1.57 billion
LINK http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_Muslim_population

2. % of muslims who "have confidence in Osama bin Laden to do the right thing," by country (2010, Pew research): Nigeria, 48%; Indonesia, 25%; Pakistan, 18%, Turkey, 3%" etc. etc. ie millions of Muslims.
LINK http://pewglobal.org/database/?indicator=20

3. There are muslim clerics arrested all the time for supporting and preaching violence to the world's most ignorant, susceptible youngsters that go unnoticed by one of their prime targets. Today, for example:

LINK http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-08-09/indonesian-cleric-bashir-arrested-for-terror-training.html

Risk is too high
THEREFORE NIMBY

hugh samsom says: "To blame Muslims en masse for the acts of the 9/11 terrorists is racism and bigotry. Fact." haven't heard anybody doing that here. just risk. let's calculate:

1. World total of muslims: 1.57 billion
LINK http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_Muslim_population

2. % of muslims who "have confidence in Osama bin Laden to do the right thing," by country (2010, Pew research): Nigeria, 48%; Indonesia, 25%; Pakistan, 18%, Turkey, 3%" etc. etc. ie millions of Muslims.
LINK http://pewglobal.org/database/?indicator=20

3. There are muslim clerics arrested all the time for supporting and preaching violence to the world's most ignorant, susceptible youngsters that go unnoticed by one of their prime targets. Today, for example:

LINK http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-08-09/indonesian-cleric-bashir-arrested-for-terror-training.html

Risk is too high
THEREFORE NIMBY

hugh samsom says: "To blame Muslims en masse for the acts of the 9/11 terrorists is racism and bigotry. Fact." haven't heard anybody doing that here. just risk. let's calculate:

1. World total of muslims: 1.57 billion
LINK http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_Muslim_population

2. % of muslims who "have confidence in Osama bin Laden to do the right thing," by country (2010, Pew research): Nigeria, 48%; Indonesia, 25%; Pakistan, 18%, Turkey, 3%" etc. etc. ie millions of Muslims.
LINK http://pewglobal.org/database/?indicator=20

3. There are muslim clerics arrested all the time for supporting and preaching violence to the world's most ignorant, susceptible youngsters that go unnoticed by one of their prime targets. Today, for example:

LINK http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-08-09/indonesian-cleric-bashir-arrested-for-terror-training.html

Risk is too high
THEREFORE NIMBY

Eveton from Long Island -- just because you haven't gone out of your way to find out that many Muslims are critical of radicals doesn't mean Muslims aren't doing that. A major problem we Americans, if not people in general, have is we tend to only pay attention to that which confirms our beliefs.

As an agnostic, the building of the Islamic Cultural Center I predicted. But I've noticed that so far no proper minaret is being planned at the site to call the world's Muslims to their worship. And so I suggest that two minarets be built, each of them one foot taller than the old World Trade Center towers. Just a suggestion, especially if Mayor Mike is willing to finance the project.

Here's the video story as it was first reported back in May, before islamaphobia became the new anit-communism.
Mosque Planned Near Ground Zero
Some 9/11 families are protesting plans to build a mosque near ground zero. The $100 million project has already won a key endorsement in the local community board. . http://www.newslook.com/videos/208949-mosque-planned-near-ground-zero?autoplay=true

While I've been posting here in favor of this community center and continue to hold that position, as a medieval historian it does make me laugh a bit to read all the posts on the golden age, convivencia, religious-tolerance myth that surrounds the name Cordoba. I would suggest that people really interested in this topic read David Nirenberg's brilliant and award winning book Communities of Violence that provides a more complex look at the three major religious groups in medieval Spain.

It seems that the Muslim community only speaks out when they feel that they are being treated unfairly. For the most part, they are silent as if afraid of either the radicals or American society at large. I have looked for instances where they speak out against the radicals, but found very few. Sure you here condemnation after some king of violence. But until there is such an incident, there is silence. Besides, the outcry at that time is self-serving. What we want to hear from american Muslims, is clear,consistent messages.

This issue is about fear of the other. I can't believe the anti-defamation league would be getting behind the opposition to this project. I am sure they support Orthodox Jews who move into communities that don't seem to want them using the same ridiculous arguments of deflated property values and increased traffic, etc. All the groups opposing this are engaging in religious discrimination, pure and simple. Fueled by miss information, and misguided anger, they can't seem to get passed their own prejudices. This hatred is fueled by who they perceive as being at fault in the 9/11 terror attacks, and a lack of understanding of the Muslim community in this country. All religious groups should be sensitive to this type of discrimination, because it effects everyone's right to freedom of religion.

Nick's right. It's not racism. It's bigotry.

To be against this is not "racism".

Religion is not a race. Religion is an organized belief system based on stories. It has NOTHING whatsoever to do with race. There's no such thing as the Muslim, Jewish, Christian etc etc race.

We all can observe that inter-ethnic fear and bigotry always increase in depressed economic conditions, compounding the post-9/11 anti-Moslem prejudice, so this unwarrented protest is part of a larger phenomenon. People should see that the opportunity for inter-faith cooperation and learning that this mosque will present holds great positive potential. This quote from a local rabbi in the "ground zero" neighborhood, taken from the Tribeca Trib, may be helpful in calming the waters:

"Cordoba House holds the promise of cultural unity.

"As we think about the Cordoba Initiative’s plans to create a community center in our neighborhood, we should realize that Cordoba, a town in Southern Spain, was a center of religious harmony between the Jews and Muslims and the intellectual center of Andalusia during parts of the Middle Ages. 

"In the 10th century, when Cordoba became the capital of the Umayyad caliphate in Spain, it also became home to a diverse and brilliant Jewish culture heralding the Golden Age for Jews in Andalusia. Cordoba is the birthplace of Moses Maimonides (1135 - 1204), the most respected Jewish scholar and legalist of all times. Down the block and around the corner from the last standing synagogue in Cordoba is the Great Mosque (now occupied by the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption). It’s well known that great Jewish leaders like Hisdai Ibn Shaprut worked closely with caliph Abd ar-Rahman, and where Jewish scholars like Moses ben Hanokh, Yehuda Halevi, and Abraham Ibn Ezra made their contributions to Jewish intellectual tradition. It was there in the Iberian peninsula that the Sephardic Jews adopted the custom of washing their feet before prayer, just like practicing Muslims. 

"Of course, all that changed during the Spanish Inquisition, but for those who believe in religious tolerance, as we can see, the history of Cordoba holds the key to a powerful memory of cultural unity and fellowship."

Rabbi Darren Levine
Executive Director, JCP Downtown

To sindysf who writes "Would you call it anti-Semitism if Isreal organized and financed 9/11 and it was done in the name of Judaism? THAT's the parallel (and root of fear i'm sure among non muslims and muslims alike)"

Timothy McVeigh DID blow up the federal office building in Oklahoma City claiming Christian motives. I DO NOT condemn Christianity because of his acts.

Baruch Goldstein murdered 29 praying Muslims in the West Bank. He appealed to Judaism. I DO NOT condemn Judaism because of his acts.

The occupation of the West Bank, the blockade of Gaza -- costing thousands of lives -- is done by many who appeal to Judaism. I DO NOT blame and WILL NOT blame Jews or Judaism.

To blame Muslims en masse for the acts of the 9/11 terrorists is racism and bigotry. Fact.

all u religious people seem crazy!

BRAVO! Nancy from NJ!!

Kheili dost doram!

As regards to the possible mosque on Staten Island:

I moved to SI [not Midland Beach] in 1967 from Brooklyn.
Staten Islanders are Conservatives x 10. They do not want ANY change ever, at all. Education is not a priority for most folks, and education is how one learns about others and learns to embrace and enjoy difference. The pastor in question tried to slip this one past his parishioners.
What these folks don't understand is that Islam is an Abrahamic religion just like Judaism and Catholicism.

why does brian keep saying ground zero?

All religions start as cults! I am equally against all religions, let's tax them and let people practice religion in the privacy of their own homes!

For those of you who haven't seen it yet, this is their official site:

http://www.cordobainitiative.org/?q=content/cordoba-house-new-york-city

Looks to me like a nice project. Will benefit the neighborhood for Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

She's right, the Iranian caller Nancy

In NJ and in MI I've had problems with both the call to prayer and with other "volume" issues. (At least sometimes it's been confirmed as Koranic chanting, but since I don't speak Arabic, I can't be sure it is always religious in nature.)

**This differs from a loud church because it is often sent out over a loudspeaker.** It is directed outwards. And generally, I've found muslims incredibly insensitive and disrespectul of my desire for peace and quiet in my home.

Aside from the volume issue, my concerns re: traffic are similar to concerns about mega-churches and traffic.

Are we going to repeat the acts of World War II when Japanese CITIZENS were rounded up and confined? Are we now going to do the same with Muslims and also take away their freedom of religion? We can't let this happen.

Brian, Did you see Fareed Zakaria this weekend. He -- and Bloomberg -- have had the best comments about this mosque so far.

When Cordoba was the capital of the muslim 'empire' in Spain, Jews, Muslims and Christians lived in peace. Cordoba, in fact, had the largest library in the world, bigger than the ancient Alexandria, and it was a center of PEACE and LEARNING. I wish people knew more about this.

Daniel is right, we don't HEAR it.

I don't doubt people are calling out for it, but the MEDIA does not pick it up enough.

It needs to be heard more on the media. Again, I don't doubt it's out there, they just need some good PR or Ad agency.

"Ask yourself a simple question: If someone opposed building a synagogue somewhere by appealing to "safety" issues, what would you call it? I'd call it anti-Semitism."

Would you call it anti-Semitism if Isreal organized and financed 9/11 and it was done in the name of Judaism? THAT's the parallel (and root of fear i'm sure among non muslims and muslims alike)

If one accepts the radicalization thesis, isn't it far more likely that this radicalization would occur in an unremarkable, unnoticed storefront -- or on the internet -- than in a bright, shiny thirteen story building in lower Manhattan.

Since people who do things to other innocent people in the name of "religion" are by definition delusional, and "houses of worship" are by definition buildings full of people living in their own self-created fantasy world, I think it's perfectly reasonable to want to keep these places away from normal sane people and their children. Especially since this particular "faith" has now proven itself to generate dangerously insane people.

I don't want religion of any kind figuring in public policy, and I certainly don't want a dime of my tax money going to it.

I work by the mosque and it will be better to have a mosque than there nothing which it currently is.

Americans need to remember what America is truly about,.. religious freedom is a fundamentally american right. The thought of denying a mosque is very un-American.

Brian, I agree with the ADL, you have all the rights in the world, just build it elsewhere. Why be in your face.
Where are the hoards of Muslim Americans joining the armed forces like the Japanese Americans did after Pearl Harbor. It has not happened. I believe that it is a clash between East and West. Islam maybe incompatible with American ideals.

Interesting to hear Brian trying to use logic with a true believer (and racist).

The caller Daniel is LYING -- plenty of Muslims denounce violence -- millions millions millions.

The liars are racists. Simple fact. Let's call it what it is.

Make that any single valid argument.

for those of you who are scratching your heads, "is this a bad idea or am i living in an alternate universe?"

http://www.onthemedia.org/

listen to segments three and four to hear some religious muslims who you WOULD LOVE to have in your NYC neighborhood.

Please mention the 1st amendment trumps all. There are no gray areas. It’s completely black and white. You can not repress any religion or churches being built. There are absolutely no exceptions mentioned in the 1st amendment. Case closed…

Sumathi Reddy is citing anonymous "experts" again?!

Other 'experts' have looked at the funding sources and associations and found no problem.

The caller who says there "is no question about radical" associations is LYING!

The two people leading the development effort on Park Place (I think it's Park Place) are Sufi Muslims. Sufi! With a long peaceful tradition.

What about "potential" radicalization in synagogues and churches?

Who could deny that there has been radicalization in American churches? I guess we should be blocking churches across the United States.

islam is offensive and damaging to this world just as almost every other organized religion on this planet. religious fervor and zealotry is the true cause of all that's bad in the world.
i do not want my tax dollars to support any religion in this country- freedom is one thing, but tax freedom for religion is ridiculous.

In order to have a real debate, both side need to bring valid arguments. I have yet to hear a single argument against any of these mosque projects or the Cordoba project in the vicinity of the World Trade Center site. I have only heard desperate attempts to cloak intolerance.

Some wackos don't want a mosque near Ground Zero, but they're happy with all sorts of capitalism, consumerism, and any type of crass buying and selling directly on top of the bodies of thousands who perished on 9/11. So bass-ackwards.

There have been court cases when orthodox Jewish groups wanted to build synagogues in residential neighborhoods in the suburbs of New York.

Those cases gave religious groups strong protections even from local zoning laws, and the synagogues have been built.

Now these same cases will apply to mosques.

What's the legal protection for religious buildings like mosques now?

kudos to Fareed!

Welcome back. You have a great show, and I listen every day. Regarding mosques, we should keep in mind that Germany just closed a mosque today and froze its funds. Germany said that it was used to radicalize youth. The 9/11 terrorists used it as a base, according to the news reports.

Sumathi Reddy is citing anonymous "experts"?! Call her out on this!

I don't understand why this ground is so special that a mosque is a big insult to the memory of 911. After all, its not in the WTC footprint, its 2 blocks away. In in a 2 block radius of that space there are hundreds of buildings. An Islamic community center is certainly not a worse use of space than the bodegas, pizza shops, liquor stores, and shops selling tourist junk that will no doubt be far more numerous in the same area.

There is no mosque in the plans for the Islamic cultural center. How many times does this need to be said?!

In a 'debate' with Stanford professor Josh Cohen, conservative James Pinkerton said the builders might make it a mosque later. Well, that sounds like an argument against any mosque anywhere.

Got a little reminder for the racists who oppose mosques. It's the First Amendment to the Constitution: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion...."

mcgruff

it's not " on the site of ground zero"

Was'nt there a Greek Orthodox church near the World Trade center that got destroyed and Not rebuilt ?
Anyway it's Too bad that religion, politics, racism and fear always get mixed up and co -corrupt one another.

Ask yourself a simple question: If someone opposed building a synagogue somewhere by appealing to "safety" issues, what would you call it? I'd call it anti-Semitism.

Opposition to the "Ground Zero Mosque" is bigotry and racism. And it's NOT a Ground Zero, and it's NOT a mosque!

And we know (shown again in Sunday report in the Times) that Americans are opposing ALL mosques EVERYWHERE. In NYC, people have threatened physical violence in Brooklyn and Staten Island.

The Brooklyn Paper quoted a person in Brooklyn saying that he would bomb a mosque if it was built there.

The cultural center opponents -- Pamela Geller, Abe Foxman, Bernard Kerik (Bernard Kerik?!) -- are racist.

4000 died, how do we honor them? REBUILD; freedom tower? chnia says no. do we honor them?

Did you see Fareed Zakaria this week on his show saying he'd return a honorary title the ADL gave him back in 2005.
Personally not thrilled about this mosque location, but it would be bigoted to oppose it on religious grounds alone.

yall do know that the "proposed islamic cultural center at the wtc site" includes a mosque, right? good pr but hardly responsible reporting.

anyway, i am curious as to whether all muslims are in favor of building these mosques, or is there any controversy among muslims on this issue. also, why wouldn't building a mosque on the site of ground zero be considered an inoculation to muslims seeking to kill non muslims? is that too naive?