Truth about mosque not political

Blade op-ed columnist Marilou Johanek acknowledges that Newt Gingrich’s opposition to a mosque at Ground Zero is the majority opinion (“Freedom of religion is not a conditional right,” Aug. 5). Indeed, New Yorkers oppose the Cordoba House initiative by a whopping 61-26 percent.

But while Ms. Johanek certainly has the right to agree with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg in supporting the construction of the mosque at Ground Zero, she should at least recognize the legitimate concerns of the overwhelming majority, including the respected Anti-Defamation League, that have nothing to do with what she calls “anti-Islamic sentiment.”

Ground Zero is too sacred and too sensitive for Americans not to know exactly who is behind this project and what the motives are.

Mr. Gingrich, like the majority and the ADL, is not opposed to the more than 100 mosques in New York City or the more than 2,300 in the United States. He is opposed to the construction of this mosque, to be dedicated on the 10th anniversary of Sept. 11 just yards from Ground Zero.

The evidence is that it constitutes the political act of planting a victory flag over the United States at Ground Zero, with its originally proposed name “Cordoba,” which signifies the historic height of Islamic conquest.

Surely Ms. Johanek is not ignorant of Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf’s contempt for the victims of 9/11 when he stated that U.S. policies “were an accessory” to 9/11and “in the most direct sense, Osama bin Laden is made in the U.S.A.”

The leader of the effort to build the mosque has also refused to repudiate Hezbollah, the terrorist organization behind the 1983 Beirut bombing that killed 241 U.S. Marines. Hezbollah continues to rain down missiles into Israel from its base in southern Lebanon.

Ms. Johanek is correct when she suggests that the Bill of Rights should not be denied by passing agendas. But Mr. Rauf, whom she is apparently defending, has claimed that the U.S. Constitution is compliant with Islamic law that justifies the execution of homosexuals, honor killings, and death sentences carried out by stoning. It is the same law the hijackers used to justify the slaughter on Sept. 11, 2001.

If pointing out the facts is grandstanding, as Ms. Johanek calls it, we need more of it.

Rick Tyler

Founding Director

Renewing American Leadership

Washington, D.C.

Site is no part of religious liberty

Freedom of religion is constitutionally protected, as Ms. Johanek says. It applies to the exercise of religious celebration, but does not confer the right to exercise that freedom just anywhere.

Zoning laws apply to buildings, housing, and religious institutions, regulating their location. So do numerous other building, parking, and occupancy restrictions.

Communities do not permit the construction of churches, temples, or buildings that serve other constitutionally permitted activities wherever one chooses.

Nor can one hold services in government-controlled areas such as parks, plazas, or streets without special permits. Freedom to worship does not extend to location.

These are good reasons to enjoin the construction of a mosque 500 feet from Ground Zero, just as there would be reasonable objection to building a church or temple next door to one's home in a residential area.

It is not the mosque to which most people object. It is its location, and there are time-honored precedents to that objection.

Jerry Briskin

Sylvania

Issue not freedom, but propriety

The question is not about freedom, but propriety.

Would Ms. Johanek support a Shinto shrine at Pearl Harbor, or a memorial to the U.S. cavalry at Wounded Knee? Does Mohammed really care if the prayers of the faithful are uttered elsewhere?

Morris Frommer

Holland

Irony of Iott'sjobs platform

Congressional candidate Rich Iott started out spending his vast resources on slinging mud at his opponent, Rep. Marcy Kaptur (“Iott loans $823,100 to House campaign,” July 17).

Realizing this was a bad strategy against someone who has spent 28 years serving the public, Mr. Iott now says he is running on a jobs platform for northwest Ohio.

Just ask all the former Food Town workers, a Toledo symbol that he ran into the ground. People were put out of work as a result of bad business decisions, and now he wants to make decisions for us? His track record follows him; northwest Ohio does not need more of it.

Mike Johnson

Monclova

Recall first year of high school

Mr. Iott dreams of going to Congress, believing he can begin a renaissance in Washington. Well, he can wake up now. The dream is a nightmare and his run will be history.

Going to Congress as a freshman, he would receive the same welcome as a freshman in high school. If he can't remember that, his understanding of Washington is nil and he is intellectually vacuous.

Nate Washington

Bricker Avenue

Flights to Detroit will be missed

The report that Delta Airlines will cease flying the Detroit-Toledo route in November because of low passenger patronage was sad (“Delta adds flights from Toledo to Minneapolis; Airline discontinues service to Detroit,” Aug. 5).

Efforts by the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority to increase flight patronage have not yielded the required results.

My family made it a policy to encourage our friends and relations from Africa, Europe, and the United States to fly directly to Toledo Express Airport via Detroit if possible. We refused to travel to Detroit to pick them up.

And it worked. We believed that if the local economy is to grow, we all have a stake in playing our part.

Now that the Toledo-Detroit route is canceled, I understand that the average cab fare to Detroit Metro Airport is about $100.

My prayers are that someday Delta Airlines will return to the Delta-Toledo route.

Paul U. Aduba

Willowvale Drive

Health plan not all fair

It would seem that the provision in the new health-care law that excludes union members from having to participate, thus protecting their generous health-care packages, violates the constitutional intent of equal treatment under the law. That is not fair.

Gordon M. Mather, MD

Crossfields Road

Ponder other views on war

I agree with the Aug. 4 Readers' Forum letter “Afghan war must end now.” However, has the writer ever thought about what will happen when the President pulls out the troops?

The Taliban will move into Afghanistan and methodically kill innocent people. It will be genocide.

The writer labels the war in Afghanistan “President Obama's war.” I beg to differ. The country was out of debt when President Clinton left office. His successor started the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and put us deeper into debt.

President Obama has done his best to bring back prosperity, possibly by making some unpopular decisions, but at least he's making an effort.

Unfortunately, in order to eliminate debt, he's had to increase it, which is what he said during his presidential campaign.

Rollin MacDonald

Lakeside