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George, There are many ironies in the anti-mosque sentiments. Among them is the fact, as Mayor Bloomberg has pointed out, that, within four blocks of ground zero, there has been, for some time, a mosque. No outcry against it. There must also be some irony in the fact that two strip clubs and a pizza place doubling as a brothel exist peacefully closer to ground zero than the proposed mosque. I have been most impressed by the words of a leader of the 9/11 families for peace, stating that she welcomes the mosque because its existence will help to diminish the irrational and divisive demonizing of Muslims as a people. That goal should be in our national interest and should trump the hurt feelings argument. Muslims as a people are no more responsible for the 9/11 attacks than Christians are for the Ku Klux Klan. I think Mayor Bloomberg is right when he says that the national debate over the mosque issue is political, an issue, properly manipulated, to win favor for the right wing. That is hardly a surprise, but hardly to be welcomed. Paul Gaston (Electronic mail, August 28, 2010)
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