As much as I would prefer this mosque not be built, I believe Joe Scarborough is correct when he says it would be unconstitutional for a governmental entity to ban the building of a religious institution on private property.
That said, we could still resort to the following:
1) If – as has been stated – the purpose of building the mosque on the proposed site is “reconciliation,” then a fervent public request (in the NY Times???) should be presented to the mosque’s backers asking them to relocate it. The response to that request would be revealing.
2) Follow the money. I *think* if this a tax-exempt project, the government has a right to determine exactly where the funding comes from. Publish it, no matter what is found.
3) I love DicktheTruth’s idea in #18: Tax the mosques! It seems to me a group could file suit in federal court that Islam by its nature alone deprives it of tax-exempt privilege. And it should be possible to find all sorts of specific cases where Imams and other leaders have abused the privilege.
4) New Yorkers should swamp the “community center”. . . not to interrupt or cause damage. In fact, non-Muslims who dislike the idea of a mosque near ground zero should swamp mosques across America for the next few months to let Muslims know what it’s like to have people whose views are antithetical to your own “too close.”
Much as I twinge in sympathy for those who call for destroying or dismantling the mosque, I can’t condone it. We’re Americans. And I suspect that most of us who read Pajamas Media are Conservatives. We can’t promote the rule of law only for those things with which we agree. Muslims here should get the same rights as any American – but I still like the idea of bringing suit against them denying tax-exempt status.
