Hot on the heels of my last post about Islam, today I'm talking about the proposed mosque near ground zero in New York City. I have a simple question:
Are we a country that claims to have freedom of religion? Yes? Then what's the problem?
The argument about whether this mosque should be allowed is once again focused on the wrong issue. The issue is not about whether it's a good idea to build this mosque. (It's probably not. It would have a target on it that anti-Islamics could see half a world away.) The argument is about whether it should be allowed to be built. And the unequivocal answer to that question is Yes. If the people who submitted the plans deem that the time isn't right or it's too risky to build right now, then that's their decision.
We can't have freedom for some whenever it's convenient. We must have freedom for all, at all times.
It's the exact same problem when talking about any of the other hotbed issues; abortion, gay marriage, right-to-die, etc. It's not about whether you agree with the specific opinion. It's about whether you agree that each person has the right to make his/her own decisions about his/her own body.
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