Author Stephen Prothero takes the argument of Ground Zero mosque opponents to its logical conclusion, writing at CNN's Belief Blog:
The key question underlying the Ground Zero mosque debate is whether Americans are at war with Islam — whether the so-called clash of civilizations between the Christian West and the Muslim world is something we are trying to avoid or something we are trying to provoke.
If Islam is the enemy, then we should not stop at prohibiting the Cordoba Initiative from constructing a mosque within its Islamic community center in Lower Manhattan. We should outlaw new mosques from Cape Cod to Southern California.
Clark Strand offers this similar perspective at the Washington Post's On Faith blog:
[T]he question, "Should we allow a mosque to be built near Ground Zero?" is really another way of asking, "Do we bury the principle of religious liberty this country was founded upon, or do we use it? Sarah Palin would have us believe that it is a stab to the heart to erect a mosque within a stone's throw of the former Twin Towers. I say, the closer to the heart of America any mosque is built the better. In fact, it might have been better to build a mosque there in the first place. If we want to protect the liberties which are the bedrock of American spiritual and public life, we have to offer them to others.
