Park 51 Controversy By Austin Sheffer Park 51

Park 51 Controversy By: Austin Sheffer

Park 51 is an Islamic community center that will provide recreational, cultural, and social services to its community; while integrating the Muslim community in to the American society.

A war has erupted over the controversy of building a Muslim community center two blocks from the World Trade Center site.

OPPONENTS

"Rightly or wrongly, more and more people have been willing to equate Islam itself with an oppressive, terrorist ideology, incompatible with American norms and laws. “ - Harry Bruinius

"Radical Islamists are attempting to use American values of tolerance and freedom of religion to implement sharia law by stealth, which for him includes the practices of honor killings, physical mutilations, and spousal rape. “ - US House Speaker Newt Gingrich

“Although a majority of Muslims condemned the actions on 9/11, the Muslims that committed the act did it in the name of Islam. ” - Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commissions (ERLC)

SUPPORTERS

"How is it insensitive for a group of Americans in a mixed neighborhood - one that includes strip clubs, off-track betting parlors and restaurants - to start an interfaith center in the neighborhood that they have been present in for two decades? “ -Eboo Patel

"Osama bin Laden has no credentials as a religious authority and no right, under traditional Islamic practices, to issue a fatwa. " - Geoffrey Orens

"There is nothing Islamic about terrorism. To use violence against civilians to create terror is one of the greatest crimes in Islam. “ - Islamic scholar Hamza Yusef

Park 51 would represent America’s belief in religious freedom. Support Park 51.

Bruinius, Harry. "Mosque Debate: Behind America's Anxiety Over Islam. " Christian Science Monitor. 03 Sep 2010: n. p. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 24 Feb 2012. Gulvich, Tanya. Understanding Islam and Muslim Traditions. Detroit, MI: Omnigraphics, 2004. Print. Orens, Geoffrey. The Muslim World. Bronx, NY: H. W. Wilson, 2003. Print Weber, Kerry. "The Talking Cure. " America. 25 Oct 2010: 11. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 13 Mar 2012.