Much Ado about a Mosque

There is much ado being made over an Imam wanting to build a mosque near Ground Zero in New York. Talk show hosts, the President, and even the Senate Majority leader are all discussing it. Invariably they discuss this as a First Amendment issue. Even the action flick hero Chuck Norris has weighed in on the argument. Unfortunately they are all wrong.

This is not a First Amendment matter. Here is exactly what the First Amendment states:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

I challenge the reader (or any reader) to identify where the First Amendment prohibits or grants the right to build a mosque near Ground Zero. Nothing in the First Amendment addresses the siting or building of a mosque. Nor does the First Amendment (by any rational reading) prohibit Congress or New York from prohibiting the construction of a mosque within x city blocks of Ground Zero. It is well established that zoning rules may prohibit certain types of establishments from locating at certain areas. READ MORE AT: http://homilysansdeception.blogspot.com/2010/08/much-ado-about-mosque.html