TheGallup organization has released polling data on how the members of various faith communities would resolve tensions around the construction of an Islamic center planned for a site three blocks from the site of the 9/11 attacks in New York City. Among the most interesting things about these statistics is that there is no majority of opinion in any group about what constitutes the best possible response.
Among Muslims respondents, 14 percent favor relocating the project to an alternate site, 43 percent favor construction in the currently proposed location and 30 percent favor building an interfaith institution in the current location. Among Jews, the numbers are 43 percent, 25 percent and 28 percent, respectively. Among Catholics, the group most opposed to construction on the currently proposed site (followed closely by Mormons), its 63 perecent, 15 percent and 15 percent. Protestant respondents broke down 49 percent, 18 percent and 23 percent. For atheists, it was 32 percent, 42 percent and 17 percent. In other words, as communities, there remain real questions about how best to proceed.
The lack of agreement in no way suggests that the center should not be built by those who support it. If it meets the measure of the law, it should be built. This is America, right? But, in light of the wide range of opinion surrounding this project, the way in which it should be built, the conversations which need to be part of that process, the questions which ought to be raised and the sensitivities which deserve to be addressed, are more important than ever.
Tags: ground zero mosque, islam in america, park 51, religious freedom usa
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