Written by Don Byrd
The Pew Forum has published a new report detailing the resistance faced by numerous new mosque construction efforts during the last two years. Islamic Centers in Manhattan and in Murfreesboro, Tennessee got the most attention, but they were far from the only controversies.
53 proposed mosques and Islamic centers…have encountered community resistance in recent years…. In many cases, the opposition has centered on neighbors’ concerns about traffic, noise, parking and property values – the same objections that often greet churches and other houses of worship as well as commercial construction projects. In some communities, however, opponents of mosques also have cited fears about Islam, sharia law and terrorism.
53 is a lot. The community grievances range from the small to the ridiculous. Here’s the good news. With somewhere in the neighborhood of 800 new mosques in the United States since 2000, that means the vast majority of constructions are without controversy.
