There are two mosques down the hill from my in-laws on opposite sides of a busy street. One is Shi’a and one is Sunni. Both have schools and cultural centers. (It was actually interesting when the Sunni one held a car wash because the 13 year old girls advertising it were jumping up and down in their head scarves, long-sleeves, leggings, and flip-flops while across the street some middle school cheerleaders were holding a car wash of their own and jumping up and down in tank tops, shorts, and flip-flops.) Anyway, both are model neighbors and totally chill with the fact that there are other people who don’t share their beliefs around.

Enter the sitch at Ground Zero. While it’s a bit of a different situation because of the events of 9/11, the Muslims using the building have been using that space for awhile now. They were interviewing a couple Christian pastors who know the imam and they’ve said that he’s down-to-earth and totally into blending with the community. His wife is very chill and I feel like it’s a different situation than it would be if he was anti-American and anti-Western. It’s honestly no different than building a JCC or a Christian church in the building.

I’m really a bit angry at a lot of the protestors that are fighting the building of a mosque. If you’re going to blame all Muslims for 9/11, then you should blame all Christians for the shooting of abortion doctors or all Catholics for the abuse scandal. Nineteen people do not represent a whole religion. Adherents of a religion only know what they are taught and I think at this point, it would be better to allow a mosque with a mentally-balanced imam to show what Islam truly is and what it isn’t.

And seriously, I have been treated better and shown more hospitality by Muslims at mosques I’ve visited than I have by my fellow Christians. I’d rather encourage their attitude than the attitude of my less hospitable brethren.