Evangelical Christians and others are up in arms about an Islamic Mosque near the site of the World Trade Center turning into a major Islamic cultural center. By the way they were complaining about this, one would think they invaded Ground Zero and begun building a giant mosque directly on the site. Unfortunately, I'd be willing to bet that the fear mongers responsible for blowing this story out of proportion intend for just that to happen.

In fact, the location is two city blocks away at 45 Park Place.

As terrible as this sounds, the location of this site is a former Burlington Coat Factory that was destroyed by debris from the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Since the time Burlington Coat Factory left the building, gangs took over and vandalized the property; making it an utter eyesore. That's when Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, a professor for St. Joseph's College (he must be a radical Muslim if he's willing to teach at a private Christian school), purchased the property as an "overflow" place for worshipers to come and pray. Now, they're planning on developing the property and building the proposed Cultural Center. Rauf has been an active voice in trying to improve Islamic-Western relations for the past 25 years and to think that anything he's planning on doing is going to be used by extremists is simply absurd.

And quite frankly, I say it's wonderful! Instead of being a haven for crime, they're turning it into something that will educate people about the true nature of Islam and how what happened a couple blocks away was not representative of the Islam worshiped by the vast majority of the world's 1 billion Muslims. I have no doubt that when they're finished, it's going to be a beautiful addition to the neighborhood that desperately needs a face lift after what happened over eight years ago.

What particularly irritates me about this is the absolute ignorance of the Evangelical media. For example, let's look at World Net Daily.

...

Now Muslim worshippers currently occupy the building, and they plan to turn it into a major Islamic cultural center.

"The men and women stand up, raise their hands on either side of their head, murmur 'Allahu akhbar,' bow and kneel again," reports Spiegel Online.

...

He said the West must understand the terrorists' point of view – and he blamed Christians for starting mass attacks on civilians.

"The Islamic method of waging war is not to kill innocent civilians. But it was Christians in World War II who bombed civilians in Dresden and Hiroshima, neither of which were military targets," he said.

Really quickly, this last quote was taken completely out of context. He was briefing FBI agents for a sensitivity training course, so it was absolutely imperative to how they do their job that they understand the terrorists' point of view. If they walked out of there not understanding that, Rauf didn't do his job.

According to the report, Rauf said there would be little progress until the U.S. acknowledged backing dictators and the U.S. president gave an "America Culpa" speech to the Muslim world.

This is true, actually. We give a tremendous amount of money to keep the Islamic dictatorships in power across the Middle East. Israel actually gets really ticked off about it every couple of years and the political and social oppression is often times what motivates people to resort to violence under the only flag that offers them freedom - religious fanaticism.

In an interview with Beliefnet on Islam and America, a reporter asked Rauf, "Some Islamic charities are being investigated for terrorist ties. Have you seen what you consider to be reputable Islamic charities being financially damaged?"

"We believe that a certain portion of every charity has been legitimate," he responded. "To say that you have connections with terrorism is a very gray area. It's like the accusation that Saddam Hussein had links to Osama bin Laden. Well, America had links to Osama bin Laden – does that mean that America is a terrorist country or has ties to terrorism?"

Again, he's actually right. Part of the reason for this is that most terrorist groups are allowed to stay where they are because they give back to the community. Islam actually mandates that they do, so you can look at a terrorist group like Hizbollah in Lebanon and find a charity that supports them pretty easily. But what if the money raised by the charity and given to Hizbollah goes to building roads and buying medicine?

Do they have to deal with Hizbollah? Well, if you want to help people in the most poverty stricken parts of Lebanon, you have to deal with whoever has guns pointed at you when you arrive. And in all honesty, Hizbollah probably knows where the charity money needs to go better than anybody because of how active they are in the community.

With that said, it might be safer to help starving children in South America. Rauf is right though.

In 2004, Rauf participated in a 30-second advertisement, broadcast on Arabic television, in which he apologized for alleged abuses at Abu Ghraib prison.

The Times reported Rauf said he believes "Islamic terrorists do not come from another moral universe – that they arise from oppressive societies that he feels Washington had a hand in creating."

God forbid he should apologize. I mean, if President Bush didn't apologize, nobody should.

Hold on a minute. What's that? ... President Bush DID apologize for Abu Ghraib? ... oh.

... forget what I just said.

Then World Net Daily, having to keep up appearances, "copy-pasted" "comments" from "readers" on "various blogs."

Muslims are doing this only to see if they get away with it. It's the way Islam spreads in every country these days, like a cancer – through incremental totalitarianism. In this case, they'll quietly open the mosque, then, as they get away with it, they'll ramp up their outrages until someone finally points it out. At that time, their lawyers, backed by the ACLU and various liberal organizations, will pounce.

• This is not different than allowing the Nazis to establish their headquarters and propaganda office in NYC in 1938. How come people could tell right from wrong then and not now?
• What bonehead allowed this to happen?
• That's disgusting. That truly is low. I feel bad for the people who lost family members.
• This is outrageous. I just don't have word.
• This is called "staging" for the KSM trial.
• You've got to be kidding me. If this is true, our beloved country is already gone. We no longer have the America I know and love.
• Who wants to bet this place becomes a "tourist attraction" for Muslims? This mosque will become one of Islam's holiest shrines as it sits upon the site of their greatest modern military victory.
• Good idea. Maybe terrorists will be less likely to bomb this area if there's a mosque there.

Did you ever watch C-SPAN at 4:00 in the morning? It makes you question the integrity of our Democracy because we have some real idiots in this country. Well, they strike again, having no clue about the world they live in. I mean, let's say this becomes a tourist attraction. So what? This particular area isn't exactly thriving after what happened on the day of the terrorist attacks and again with this current recession. The more people it brings in, the more money that will be spent in New York.

One blogger at Patriot Update said we should shoot this plan down because Saudi Arabia wouldn't allow a Church or Synagogue in their country. Well, DUH! But the last time I checked, we don't live in Saudi Arabia. We live in a country that embraces religious freedom. And unless that's changed, I love this country because of that freedom and the many others we have. We are BETTER than Saudi Arabia because of this!

It's good for New York.

It's good for Muslims who want a place near other landmarks for the other Abrahamic Faiths (St. Peter's Catholic Church and the Museum of Jewish Heritage).

It's good for the community.

It's good for bringing a greater understanding between the faiths.

The bottom line: IT'S GOOD!