Two-thirds of New York City residents want a planned Muslim community center and mosque to be relocated to a less controversial site farther away from ground zero in Lower Manhattan, including many who describe themselves as supporters of the project, according to a New York Times poll.
The poll indicates that support for the 13-story complex, which organizers said would promote moderate Islam and interfaith dialogue, is tepid in its hometown.
Nearly nine years after the Sept. 11 attacks ignited a wave of anxiety about Muslims, many in the country’s biggest and arguably most cosmopolitan city still have an uneasy relationship with Islam. One-fifth of New Yorkers acknowledged animosity toward Muslims. Thirty-three percent said that compared with other American citizens, Muslims were more sympathetic to terrorists. And nearly 60 percent said people they know had negative feelings toward Muslims because of 9/11.
Can two thirds of liberal New Yorkers be radical extremists?
The people who live closest to Ground Zero, in Manhattan, favor building it by 51%. The support drops in the other boroughs.
Also – support correlates very closely to the respondent’s education level. [url=http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2010/09/03/nyregion/03poll-graphic.html?ref=nyregion]Survey Results[/url]
[blockquote]The center’s developers, and its defenders, have sought to portray opponents as a small but vocal group.[/blockquote]
And these developers are the “dialogue and understanding” advocates?
[blockquote] The poll, however, reveals a more complicated portrait of the opposition in New York: 67 percent said that while Muslims had a right to construct the center near ground zero, they should find a different site. [/blockquote]
They needed research to get the point? Why couldn’t they just [i] listen [/i]? But I am glad this is in print. The whole point is the location, not the right to build mosques or anything else.
[blockquote]Most strikingly, 38 percent of those who expressed support for the plan to build it in Lower Manhattan said later in a follow-up question that they would prefer it be moved farther away, suggesting that even those who defend the plan question the wisdom of the location. [/blockquote]
Reasonable people abound but are shouted down in our crazy times.
Scott K makes an important point. If you are stupid/ uneducated, then you are against the mosque. If you are bright, well-educated and, presumably well-heeled – you are in favor. Now, being bright and well educated is the standard of excellence of judgment as everyone knows. It follows that their advice must be the advice that should be followed because if the Urban Cultural Elite, especiallly the UCE of New York City, are not obeyed, then how is the culture to survive? Do we really wish to turn cultural/ constitutional decisions over to the stupid and uneducated? This is a cause for fear and trembling, Larry
The question is what “educated” means. Credentialed? Degreed by an academic institution with a closed system in which parroting the jargon is rewarded? “Education” doesn’t mean as much as it once did.
I have a doctorate and I think a mosque at ground zero is an incredibly stupid idea. Of course, I’m probably just a bigot from the South.
Why do so many articles written about the Islamic Center include so little information about the Muslims who plan to build the Center?
I realize that it may be difficult to get interviews, but can’t a few intrepid reporters get interviews or at least a little information from the Muslims who plan to build the Center?
It gets tiresome to look for real news on the Islamic Center and get nothing but lazy, cheap shots at Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich.
#4, I hope you had help putting all those words in my mouth.
#8, no, I managed on my own. But qwhat other conclusion is there, given what you said? Now, mind you, I surprised the elves didn’t whack my ears for sarcasm, because sarcasm never works well on the internet.
Nevertheless, what other conclusion is there, but that you think that the UCE are the standard setters, and that you think we should listen to them?
#5: Indeed, we must all ask that question. Larry
Why do so many articles written about the Islamic Center include so little information about the Muslims who plan to build the Center?
I realize that it may be difficult to get interviews, but can’t a few intrepid reporters get interviews or at least a little information from the Muslims who plan to build the Center?
It gets tiresome to look for real news on the Islamic Center and get nothing but lazy, cheap shots at Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich.
You can always go to FOX news – their profits are funding the people funding the Islamic Center.
http://tiny.cc/jdso4
#5 Fortunately, it’s not at Ground Zero. It’s in an old Burlington coat factory. “Ground Zero Mosque” is a media invention, designed to create controversy.
What really matters is what the people in Tribeca think. They’re the ones who will live with the Mosque. Those who visit Ground Zero need never pass the Mosque.
John Wilkins, I am under the impression that a Mosque is going to be part of the Islamic center and that is why the center is protected by U.S. laws supporting religious freedom. Please correct me if a Mosque is not part of plans for the center.
It seems to me that because of the triumph of the Muslim Terrorists on 9/11, it is inevitable that the Islamic Center, which is near to ground zero, will draw Islamic Terrorist visitors to it. I hope our government will be vigilant in protecting not only the neighborhood but also our country from terrorist activity.