Right now no subject generates more emotion and rhetoric on either side of the political as well as theological aisles as the New York City mosque. The President has magnificently step right into the fray with his comments focusing on Islam while seemingly ignoring Christianity. According the the 2008 US Census figures, over 173 million Americans identify themselves as Christian. No, this is not a religious discussion merely an acknowledgment of US demographics which makes the President's comments to seem especially ill time going into mid-term elections.
What I have not seen discussed is the severe strain building a mosque on the grounds of 9/11 would place on Muslim-Christian relations in the United States. The number of mosques in the United States has steadily been increasing as Muslim populations increase. Tensions have increased between Muslims and non-Muslims as they do whenever and new population arrives. I submit these tensions would be manageable except the discussion of the New York Mosque has gone national. Christian leaders and conservative politicians are going to make political hay over the issue as well as President Obama's pro-Islamic statements.
The concern from a national security perspective is this issue has the power to create outright hostilities between Christians and Muslims here in the United States. The President in his quest to make every speech a teaching moment has missed the real point of the issue. Americans suffered a horrible event on 9-11 committed by terrorists that also were Muslims. Building a mosque on the same grounds does nothing to help heal the wounds between Americans and Muslims and will lead to same climate that exists between Israelis and Palestinians. We truly would then see an increase in radical Islam in reaction to the increased tensions with American Christians.
Here is an opportunity for the Obama Administration to take a role in leading the country through a tumultuous issue to a better place.
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