Examining the religious concerns

An often-unnoticed mosque named Masjid Manhattan—four blocks from ground zero of the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York on September 11, 2001—is, after forty years, to have a neighbor two blocks closer to that historic site. This one, Park 51 or Cordoba House, has made headlines, dominated prime time, and set the stage for furious conflicts to come. It should have found its place quietly since the Muslims who plan to build it are quite definite about its positive purposes. There, people will celebrate community life, swim, eat, view movies, work on interfaith relations, and, most important, worship.

This proposed building, news of which turned the furies loose last summer and threatens to continue doing so for years to come, is noticed because of its location, sponsorship, national and spiritual context, and exploitability as an issue in politics and the media. It is intended to symbolize a vastly different Islam than the one that al Qaeda claimed when its agents there killed 2,750 Americans on September 11, 2001.

No one doubts that al Qaeda, a lethal spin-off from extremist Islam, killed in the name of Allah. However, the leadership of this building and institute, best described as "open" to others, has a clear record of reaching out to non-Muslim America.

A host of Americans, suspicious of or violently opposed to Islam, Muslims, mosques, and this mosque, spoke up and organized. While much of the noise being made was inspired by agitators who had only negative and self-serving purposes in mind, fair-minded and empathic defenders of the planned structure will gain no hearing if they do not pay attention to some possibly, if only partly, legitimate reasons for opposition as offered by serious critics.

Most frequently, one hears that such a building at such a location would dishonor the memory of those who were killed and offend the living who mourn them. Some critics go on to say that the building would also dishonor the nation itself since the citizenry as such has not recovered from the al Qaeda assault on its strength and integrity. They voice the fear or the charge that some users of the building might exploit its position at this place where American vulnerability to attack had been revealed. Some New Yorkers could, and many do, make a special case: since they felt the immediate shock of the 9/11 incident a decade earlier, they have never settled back again with the sense of ease they may once have felt.

From "The Mosque at Ground Zero" by Martin Marty

What are the specific religious concerns raised by this issue?