61% of NYers Oppose Mosque Near Ground Zero

In light of NYC's Landmarks Preservation Commission's unanimous decision to allow a building to be torn down to clear the way for the building of a huge mosque 2 blocks from Ground Zero, Sienna Research conducted a survey of over 600 NYers.  For registered voters, here's the breakdown:

17. Supporters of the proposed community center, known as the Cordoba House, say it would demonstrate the presence of moderate Muslims in New York as well as serve as a monument to religious tolerance. Opponents say the project is an offense to the memory of those killed in the attacks on 9/11 and displays unacceptable insensitivity. Do you tend to agree with the supporters, the opponents or do you think they both have a legitimate position?

Agree with supporters:  21%

Agree with opponents: 37%

Both have a legitimate position: 38%

Don't know/refused: 4%

18. Do you support or oppose the proposal to build the Cordoba House, a 15 story Muslim Cultural Center in lower Manhattan 2 blocks from the site of the World Trade Center? 

Support: 27%

Oppose:  61%

Don't know/refused: 12%

Seems as if NYers understand the nuance of the arguments as the majority are able to see both sides of the issue. However, they still ultimately oppose the mosque by a large majority. If you review the breakdown, even self-described liberals oppose the building of the mosque by 52/36. Opposition cuts across all categories: gender, education levels, age, ethnicity, and region.

In the North Star National, Tina Trimble Belliston writes:

A seed of peace would be the understanding by so-called moderate Muslims of exactly why a mosque so very near Ground Zero is hurtful, insulting and degrading to so many Americans.  One would think that if the Cordoba Initiative truly had a “seed of peace” in their collective hearts, they would halt this project out of respect for the wishes of the American people, those who died in the attacks, and those who lost loved ones that day.

Perhaps they could erect a memorial to those who died rather than building a place to worship the very religion that inspired the attacks. But no, they will forge ahead with the blessing of those who cower beneath political correctness and a fear of being called a hypocrite, racist or bigot if they speak out against this atrocity.

While some will say this is a freedom of religion or freedom of speech issue, I say it’s a common decency issue. It’s an opportunity for Islam to show the same tolerance that it demands of everyone else for a change. A mosque at Ground Zero is, in a sense, the ultimate irony – our freedom of speech and freedom of religion are being used to force us into complying with this assertion of authority at the very hands of the religion that inspired the terror on 9/11.

It's an excellent oped so read it all.  The religious freedom issue is a red herring--there are over 100 mosques in NYC.  In such a pluralistic city, there's no burden on its residents to "prove" their tolerance.  Building a mosque near Ground Zero may be legal, but that doesn't make it right. While it was legal for Westboro Church to protest military funerals with their twisted logic that American deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan are punishment for the nation’s tolerance of homosexuality, most Americans recognized their protests were highly offensive and indecent. This isn't over yet.  I think people will become even more determined to stop the project and may even engage in a civil disobedience campaign (let's hope peaceful) to call attention to the hypocritical in-your-face "tolerance" of the founders of this project. Or some of the families of 9-11 victims may do what one father of a fallen solider did in the Westboro Church situation: sue the group for emotional distress.