Instead of reiterating the more or less obvious reasons why the community center project should never have been the target of protests in the first place, I want to quickly address why it is in the media at all.
Why do we keep talking about this issue? I know, especially for liberals, the knee-jerk reaction is to say this is a silly non-issue since the proposed project is so inoffensive and it is merely feeding the fire to react.
Well, I would respond that it is, firstly, a legitimate issue simply because it has been made into one. Ignoring fear-mongering and hatred even over an ostensibly idiotic protest, is dangerous. And secondly, this "ground zero mosque" thing is clearly just the outlet years of pent up anti-muslim sentiment has taken on. Spurred by the far right, this match has finally sparked a debate that has been a very long time in the making.
Regardless of the impetus, this issue exposes that the public is just begging for some significant education on what Islam and Muslims are and are not.
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