George,

Timothy McVeigh was a Roman Catholic and invoked his religious beliefs several times during his trial in an attempt to use a religious justification for his terrorist attack on the Murrah Building in Oklahoma City leading to the deaths of some 168 innocent men and women, many were children.

Make no mistake, McVeigh's "jihad" against the United States of America only differed in the nationality and religion of the fanatics that attacked the WTC and the Pentagon on 9-11-2001.

Would there be a great outcry if the Roman Catholic Church, or, for that matter, any Christian organization decided to build a "community center" or church or near "ground zero" of the Murrah Building?

Among the Right Wing and those that call themselves Republicans (The Party of Lincoln) -- a majority have nothing but contempt for the Islamic faith so the reaction to the building of an Islamic community center 2 1/2 blocks from ground zero of the WTC from the extreme right and its cabal comes as no surprise, virtually every Fox News commentator has tried to exploit the issue. Inflaming hatred and division. The First Amendment to our Constitution has no asterisks, as I recall.

Harry Tenney (Electronic mail, August 28, 2010)