Al Qaeda, The KKK, and America.

My dearest readers, however a small group you may be, it is time that I bring up the topic of politics, as unpleasant as it may seem.
On May 25th, the idea of building a Mosque near the sight of 9/11's ground zero was put to the vote of a community board. They voted largely in support of the plan, 29-1.
Suddenly, there is an uproar of protest, presently from 70% of the population (Examiner.com), against the building of a Mosque. Well, I'll be. I thought I lived in the land of the free and the home of the brave. Ladies and gentlemen, you ought to be ashamed of yourselves. I speak, of course, exclusively to those of you who generalize and deny these Muslims their right to worship in their own way.
I absolutely advocate the building of a Mosque and Muslim community center near the site of ground zero. Phew. There, I said it. So stone me.
With so many opinions and high-throttle emotions being thrown about, let's lay down some facts.
1. Yes, the attacks on 9/11 were (I'm trying to double check this, as there seems to be a lot of conspiracy theories around the origin of the attacks) coordinated and executed by Al Qaeda, an extreme, militant Islamic group.
2. The majority of Muslims condemn the actions and beliefs of Al Qaeda and other Muslim Extremist groups.
3. The first amendment to the Constitution of the United States grants all citizens freedom of Expression, Religion, and Press. So, people can believe what they want to believe.
4. There's also the idea of the Harm Principle, by John Stuart Mill. You can do what you want, so long as it's not harming another person. I suppose that's more of an opinion.
5. The Mosque would be built a few blocks from the site of ground zero. I'm currently in search for the sect of Islam that the Mosque would be built under. I'm not really sure how that works in Islam.

I come from a conservative household, and the conservative talk-show station is playing on the radio a lot of the time. Yesterday, this "corruption of America" was the chosen topic of discussion on Sean Hannity's talk show. He voiced his concerns (rather loudly) and opinions (seemingly blind, but I shouldn't judge) about the plan to build this Mosque. One of his arguments included some evidence he came across that the sect of Islam that would worship at this Mosque would be the same sect that had allowed a man to get away with rape, under their laws. I think that's terrible. Really, I do. But we have to consider that in every religion, there are extremists, and people who manipulate the text of their beliefs in awful ways. I'm Catholic. I'm sure that out there somewhere, there's a person justifying murder, or rape, or polygamy by manipulating the Bible. That's not okay, but it doesn't mean that I go on killing sprees and then tell myself that it's for the good of the church and that I'm on a mission from God, just because I'm Catholic.
What we have here, dearest readers, is a classic case of an Uneducated Bullshit Misunderstanding, or Ignorant Arguing.

I truly believe that a Mosque and Islamic community center near the site of Ground Zero would be one of the best things to do to help the country and the area move on from a terrible time of fear and hatred in American history. If we can educate people to the ways of true Islam, and the peaceful practices of most Muslims- if we learn to recognize that although these people call their God "Allah", and worship differently, they are just like us, people trying to get by in a world of misunderstanding, and perhaps join them to defeat radical Islam- then, we can truly move on from a period of unrest. We need to not associate peaceful Muslims with Al Qaeda, because it would be like associating all white, Christian men with the KKK.

Lastly, I would like to offer out the note that I recognize the tragedy of 9/11. I understand the great pain and grave sadness of those who lost loved ones on 9/11. I just don't think it should get in the way of closure. That's my opinion as of now, and I'll probably keep posting on the topic.