Mosque at Ground Zero

American Society for Muslim Advancement and the Cordoba Initiative are planning to build a mosque 2 blocks away from the Ground Zero. Their main aim is to promote tolerance among the Christians and Muslims. I don't think these people need to teach Americans about tolerance. It is because of their secular and liberal ideas that people of different faiths, races and color are able to thrive and make this country a prosperous one. As Thomas Friedman has pointed out in his nytimes article, if there is any place these people need to promote harmony among religions, it is not in the USA but in Saudi Arabia or in Pakistan. Can you imagine having a church in Saudi Arabia? Wiki entry on religion in KSA shows :
"Due to the legal framework of the country, which does not provide legal protection for freedom of religion, the public practice of non-Muslim religions is prohibited"

Democracies like USA, India give the right to people follow any religion and also the right to construct religious structures anywhere in the country (ofcourse within legal framework). Muslims in USA have every constitutional right to construct the Mosque at the proposed place in New York. But this is not about constitution or first amendment or legality of the mosque. Its about the sensitivities of the people who suffered in the ghastly 9/11 attacks. The attack was done in the name of Islam and having a mosque at that place would be highly insensitive. Infact having any kind of religious structure at that place would be wrong.

That New Yorkers have voted in favor of the Mosque shows the greatness of this country and the forgiveness of the Yankees. This should be a slap in the face of all those Islamic fanatics who claim that Western civilization is degraded (Iran president claims so. Have a a look at the link). Even though India is also a democracy and religions have the same rights as here in USA, I can say that Indians would have never accepted even a proposal to build a mosque in place of the destroyed Taj Mahal hotel in the Nov '08 terrorist attacks in Mumbai.

So what should be built at Ground Zero? ASMA and Cordoba initiative may try to rebuild the World Trade Center twin towers. There can be a memorial, a museum, an educational institute...

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