Ignorance and Panic Fuel New York Mosque Debate

On the fateful day of September 11, 2001, a group of Muslim extremists purportedly crashed multiple planes into the Twin Towers in New York. The place where the Twin Towers used to stand is called Ground Zero. Iman Feisal Ramf is an American Muslim. He wants to build a community center and mosque in the place of an old Burlington Coat Factory. But the place where he wants to build it is two blocks away from Ground Zero. His intentions are to show people that most Muslims are peaceful people.

However, many people are against it. Because some extremist Muslims are accused of crashing into the Twin Towers, a number of people are going against all Muslims! But not all Muslims are extremists. This is a cruel generalization, since like Christianity, there are many branches of the Muslim religion. The first amendment talks about the separation of church and state. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said, “The Islamic center may be the most important test of the separation of church and state in America as we may see in our lifetimes.” And so this should not be a legal argument. Protesters say it would be disrespectful to build a community center and Mosque two blocks away from Ground Zero.

Some claim that it is ‘sacred’ ground. Well then how many blocks away does it need to be built before it becomes ‘normal’ ground? Battles over mosques are going on in several places around the country, but none of them have to do with the direct connection to 9/11. Ali Akram, a doctor who supports the project, said, “The people who say the mosque is too close to Ground Zero, those are the same people that protest mosques in Brooklyn and Staten Island and Tennessee and Wisconsin and California. What radius will they go for? There’s no end to it.” I agree with him, because this is not about what happened on 9/11, this is about opposition towards Muslims.

Ignorance and panic are what is fueling these protests. Some say that Muslims should not have the same rights as we ‘Americans.’ But there are about seven million American Muslims in the U.S. They are as American as we are; either born here or legally immigrated here. “The Constitution doesn’t let governments treat one religion differently from another” says Brian Gallagher.

In conclusion, I think the mosque should be built, because we should separate church from state. And there should not be a ‘radius’ of where a Mosque can not be built. In addition, we should all respect each other's religion. If we do build the Mosque, then it will show Muslims that we have tolerance for all religions. But if we do not not, we will be showing a prejudice against Muslims for their choice of religious practice.

The Light At The End Of The Tunnel

"You know bad things happen when people go down that tunnel." Patrick said.

But I didn't care about his silly superstitions. Neither did Avery or Colin. So we set foot in the tunnel without Patrick. The darkness slowly enveloped me as I walked farther down the seemingly endless tunnel. I could hear the echoing steps of my friends behind me. A fear of the superstition started to develop in my mind, but I ignored it and I continued to proceed down the dreary tunnel. I slowly turned with the pathway I could feel under my feet. Then I saw the light again. I saw the town through the few trees that were speckled about in front of the end of the tunnel. I looked behind me and saw my friends. They were awkwardly shielding their eyes from the light the opening was revealing.

"C'mon guys, the light won't hurt you!"I said jokingly.

I tried to step out of the tunnel, but it was like there was an invisible wall stopping me. I walked over to Avery and pulled his hand away from his face. I backed away as I saw his face. His skin was cadaverously pale and his eyes looked remote and lifeless. I pulled Colin's hands away hoping this was all some practical joke. But Colin looked even more terrifying. His corpselike grey skin was ice cold and his eyes looked even more lifeless than Avery's. My fears engulfed me and I couldn't move.

Middle Of A Story

This is the middle of a story I don't know the start or end to:

I sat in the car, debating whether or not to go talk to Ann about our argument. Her door opened and out she came, looking directly at me. But, before I could convince myself to just drive away, she waved at me. I hesitantly waved back and got out of my car to meet her.

"Look, I'm sorry I-"I tried to say, but she interupted me saying,"It is totally ok. I understand."

The Race

This is something I wrote today. It is a fictional story:

I tried to keep my cool as I got into position for the race. One leg was bent at the knee and the other stretched back. My body looked like it was awkwardly bowing to the track. I strained my neck as I glanced at the crowd. Then I saw the man with the starting gun put his earplugs in. It was go time.

I heard the "BOOM" of the starting gun and I launched forward. Everything was going fast now. My heart was beating fast in my ears, my legs were constantly moving forward at top speed, and my arms were doing the same. Now I could barely hear the cheers of the crowd over the rapid thump of my heart and the wind rushing by me. I didn't look behind myself to see where my competitors were. I just focused my eyes on the finish line.

As I passed the 80 meter line, I sped up. I could hear one of my competitors right behind me. Now they were right by my side. 10 meters left. they passed me, but I soon caught up with them. I passed the finish line!

I listened as the places were announced: "There has been a tie in first place!"