a mosque at ground zero

[altezon]

The "Ground Zero Mosque" that we have been hearing so much about is not at Ground Zero, nor is it a mosque.

The future site of the Cordoba House and its relation to Ground Zero:



From 45 Park Place (marked 'A'), the planned site of the Cordoba House, it's two blocks and around
a corner to get to the WTC site (marked 'B'). Park Place doesn't lie between the construction site
and any mass transit stations, so you would need to go out of your way to have it offend you.

It took two minutes to walk from Ground Zero to 45 Park Place with a shaky video camera.
Here's the clip, first sped up to 4X speed then slowed down to 1X:

[youtube]zUYOPHxpTfU[/youtube]

The building planned for 45 Park Place is a 13-story community center that would include a performance-art center, gym, swimming pool, and a prayer-auditorium expected to accomodate 1000-2000 muslims. That it may even be called a mosque is debatable. It is designed as a multi-use complex that will be open to all New Yorkers.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/matt-sledg...60585.html

Imam Rauf, who helped found the Cordoba Initiative following the 9/11 attacks,
says the project is intended to foster better relations between the West and Muslims.



Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf is a Kuwaiti-American Muslim, author, and activist whose stated goal is to improve relations between the Muslim World and the West. He has been Imam of Masjid al-Farah, a New York City mosque, since 1983.

He has written three books on Islam and its place in contemporary Western society, including "What's Right with Islam is What's Right with America", and has founded two non-profit organizations whose stated missions are to enhance the discourse on Islam in society. He has condemned the 9/11 attacks as un-Islamic.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feisel_Abdul_Rauf

Americans should carefully consider whether a properly-permitted project to be built on private land should be hindered due to religious discrimination. Some of the 9/11 victims were muslim after all, as are many of our citizens. But you wouldn't know it from the prominent cross displayed on the site, to which groups such as the American Atheists and the Coalition for Jewish Concerns have objected.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Trade_Center_cross

Four Christian churches are within a block of Ground Zero, including one that faces it from across the street. If two and a half blocks and out of sight of Ground Zero is too close, how far away should the Cordoba House be before it ceases to offend?

http://wtfiswrong.com/2010/08/world-trade-center/