How can I support the Ground Zero Mosque?
To underline what BP said: The fact that it is neither a Mosque nor at Ground Zero are valid points, and bringing them up can help address the fact that the movement organizing against the center are engaging in misinformation. But that aside, I think that the whole “It’s not a Mosque” line of argument misses the point by implicitly acknowledging that it be a different matter if it was a Mosque.
You can stop calling it a mosque, and get others to as well. It’s a community/civic center and should be publicly recognized as such. Rather than trying to come up with some euphemism to replace the perfectly normal word “mosque,” I recommend regularly checking Park51’s official Twitter feed for better talking points. (You don’t need to be logged in to Twitter.) Notice that they regularly call the mosque a mosque, because a mosque is what it is. You’re not doing them any favors by avoiding the word “mosque” or trying to get people to stop calling the mosque a “mosque.” That only contributes to the sense that “mosque” is a dirty or scary word. It’s not. It’s simply the Islamic equivalent of words like “church,” “chapel,” “synogague,” and “temple.” There are already churches within two blocks of Ground Zero, so if you like the idea of a mosque within two blocks of Ground Zero (or just support their freedom to have it there), go ahead and call it wh
