Yes, when I first read about plans for a mosque “at Ground Zero” my initial reaction was to wonder why, whatever the merits of an Islamic Cultural Centre in Lower Manhattan, such a project had to be built in such a location. It seemed likely to cause offense even if none were intended.
The reaction to the Cordoba House initiative, however, has changed my mind: I now think not only is there no reason not to carry on with the project but that, contra its critics, it now must be built a couple of blocks from the site of the former World Trade Center.
The people responsible for changing my mind are those Republicans and cultural conservatives most opposed to the plan. Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich are merely the more high-profile “campaigners” protesting that the proposed centre is offensive or that it “stabs the heart” or represents an American capitulation to “radical Islam”.
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