How Should Christians Respond to the "Mosque" at the World Trade Center Site?

The Muslim center is slated for construction in a former Burlington Coat Factory store, and it seems most Americans are far more comfortable with the idea of purchasing fleece at a reduced cost than providing Muslim Americans a place of community and outreach.

When a CNN/Opinion Research poll released Wednesday asked whether one favored or opposed a "mosque" being built two blocks away from the WTC site, nearly 70 percent of Americans responded with disapproval. Very little new information has entered the debate besides the generic rhetoric of protestors and supporters. But would the public opinion be changed if the facts surrounding the "Ground Zero Mosque" were presented more clearly, or even at all?

In reality, all the facts have not been presented fully or accurately to most Americans--highlighting the ever-growing problems with contemporary journalism via pundits. If disseminated more broadly, these facts would presumably reshape the debate toward a more fruitful discussion of the role of freedom of religion and Christians truly embracing Christ's commandment to love thy neighbor.

The mainstay of the debate centers around what is being built on the site. Families of 9/11 victims regard the site as a sensitive place where massive pieces of the airplane wreckage fell. Since then, the owners could not even sell the badly damaged property, until now.

Formally named the Cordoba House, the "Ground Zero Mosque" is now referred to as Park51 after its physical address at 45-51 Park Place. The name, Cordoba House, references Cordoba, Spain, where during the 10th and 11th centuries the Muslim Caliphate served as an epicenter of interfaith dialogue and peaceful coexistence. The Cordoba House was designed after a Jewish community center in Manhattan and modeled much like a YMCA, featuring amenities typical of exclusive resorts, including an arts institute, a culinary school and food court, fitness facilities and swimming pool, daycare center, bookstore and conference rooms. Thus, this "mosque" has become the premier face of Muslim-American outreach to other Americans, provoking a serious backlash at their "insensitivity" for its close proximity to the WTC. These various components hardly resemble the mosques of the Middle East, and should put some Americans at ease.

A look at the worship center's essential components, however, shows no minarets or muezzin calls to prayer. While the center does contain a large worship space to accommodate up to 2,000 Muslim worshipers, it does not seem appropriate to label this singular feature as its overall grand scheme. Many hospitals around the country contain chapels, though we do not label the entire hospital as a church. A church I grew up in met for a number of years in a school auditorium, yet no one protested the school as a religious worship center. Likewise, it seems unfair for Americans to selectively categorize the Cordoba House in such a way.

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