It was distressing when it was proposed that a mosque and Islamic center be built very close to Ground Zero in New York, the site of the radical Muslim terrorist attacks that killed thousands of Americans and destroyed the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.
Even if the backers of the facility have completely innocent motives, their choice of locations for that project is shockingly insensitive to the families of those who were killed at Ground Zero.
For comparison, no one would argue that a Japanese cultural center should be built practically adjacent to the site of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, even though modern Japan is a peaceful ally of the United States.
Nevertheless, if there is no legal reason why a mosque and Islamic center may not be built at that site, our Constitution’s First Amendment protection of freedom of religion means the project may proceed.
But what the First Amendment certainly does not guarantee is U.S. taxpayer assistance for the project. So it is troubling to learn that the mosque’s backers have asked for $5 million in federal taxpayer money that was set aside to redevelop Manhattan after the 9/11 attacks.