However improbable, over the past month the single dominant political issue in America has been the proposed creation of an Islamic cultural center near the former site of the World Trade Center in New York City. Far too much has already said about the so-called "Ground Zero Mosque", somehow ridiculously conflated to constitute a threat to American values and an affront to victims of 9/11. Enough people have tried to point out the folly in denying this high-profile opportunity to display our country's tolerant and pluralistic virtue and prove that we recognize that Islam is not our enemy. I would also add that it is sad that many political leaders do not have the clarity on our country's principles, and the courage to speak out against hysteria fueled by misinformation and bad intentions.
Public opinion polls show the project is opposed by a large majority of Americans. The same polls indicate that an unfavorable view of Islam may not be confined just to a handful of bigoted (or opportunistic) politicians, but that it is reflective of a significant part of the population at large. This raises the troubling question of whether the Muslim-American community has in some way failed to be accepted as part of the broader mainstream American culture in general.
