re: #179 Charles

So what if they put it next door in a building that wasn’t damaged? Is it the damage that makes it special? In that case, how about a building that wasn’t damaged, but only one block from Ground Zero? Would that be OK?

Strip clubs are OK on this “sacred ground,” though?

The incremental question is always a tough one, isn’t it? When do you have a fever? Three degrees above normal? How about 2.9 degrees? 3.1?

For me, in this case it’s a combination of proximity, environment, and damage. Four crosstown blocks would be the better part of a mile away in a crowded city. I would not object to siting Park51 there. On the other hand, if the only building within a mile of the Shanksville crash site were to be a newly built mosque, I would probably object to that as well. If it were a few miles away, in Shanksville proper, I wouldn’t object.

I can certainly understand the temptation to deride my characterization of “sanctity”, but I don’t see a strip club as violative, in and of itself. However, I would not be in favor of a new strip club opening next to Ground Zero either.

I should point out that I would also object to the notion of closing an existing mosque in close proximity to Ground Zero. From that perspective I would agree with the “International Affairs Review” writer vis the Carmelite convent near Auschwitz.