Ground zero wrong place for mosque

I was furious upon reading that our president gave tacit approval to the ground zero mosque by reminding us that the constitution protects property rights and freedom of religion. As much as I appreciate his sudden embrace of the Constitution (as compared to his administration's nonenforcement of border laws and forcing citizens to purchase medical insurance), he completely misses, or chooses to obfuscate, the real point, which is the appropriateness of this mosque's location and the ambiguity in purpose of those promoting it. If it is meant as a positive outreach to the non-Muslim community, then the community outrage they received indicates clearly that a different gesture needs to be made. The fact that the mosque promoters are blatantly ignoring this message puts their real motivation in question. Can anyone deny that if the roles where reversed, an apology would be made and the project stopped immediately (just consider the Obama administration's apology tour)? The best thing that the group behind the project can do is use this as a "teachable moment" by issuing an apology for their insensitivity and building the mosque farther away from the site. This would actually help achieve their stated mission of "Healing the Relationship between the Islamic World and the West," and generate significant and much-needed good will between communities.

While they are at it, they may also wish to: 1. Make an unequivocal denouncement of radical Islamic terrorism and terrorist groups including HAMAS; 2. Change the current project name to something like, "Muslims standing against the radicalization of Islam." Continuing with the "Cordoba Initiative" is about as sensitive as the Japanese buying real estate on Pearl Harbor near the Battleship Arizona to build a shrine called the Kamikaze Initiative.

Michael Knapp

Mundelein