It boils down to people dealing on a local level with their own local issues, though learning from other places that are able to deal effectively with immigration and acculturation issues.

Here's a community in the US that's welcoming a mosque. Evanston, IL just north of Chicago is a thoughtful place, not in a panic. The city has a long history of racial integration -- neighborhoods there have been integrated for decades and folks have worked very hard on getting along with diversity.

http://evanstonnow.com/story/news/charle...que-to-evanston

The mosque issue is a local zoning issue and NYC last winter -- and the news channels as well -- were okay with it. It just happens to be the midterm election time. Creating divisions is a long-time favorite tactic of demogogues -- blaming the other for "our" problems rather than actually figuring out what the problem is and then solving it. I don't get what the actual problem is with the mosque and community center. It's blocks away from Ground Zero and not even visible from there. Will all of Manhattan become sacred ground or what?

According to Bill O'Reilly, Imam is associated with a "Truther."
The latter allegedly said 911 was "inside" job? That America is
somehow responsible for the attacks of the 911? O'Reilly did
several segments on this subject. He and others apparently believe this mosque will be used to do more harm than good.
I don't know. I'm just repeating what these TV personalities are
reporting!

P.S. A truther generally rejects the accepted explanation of
911, claiming our own gov't was somehow behind the incident.

? When I explain general stuff, especially what I have directly experienced, etc., this is not at anyone or at you here. I'm sorry Edelweiss, maybe things are better here in North America. Only the bad receive frequent news press.

This is a most interesting aspect of the discussion. I can understand why Americans feel so emotional about anything associated with Ground Zero; I feel emotional as well. But a part of me wonders when we all became New Yorkers. Now people from all over, including me, are weighing on what is really the use of Manhattan real estate. There are already several mosques in lower Manhattan; did we all talk about them? Surely New York, like every other place, has its own local and state regulations about land use, building occupancies, and the like. And I wonder how I'd feel out here in Oklahoma if people everywhere wanted to talk about what building permits should be issued near the site of the Murrah building.

Want a bet that even if it is built someone blows the sucker to kingdom come. They have already had threats and yet they persist!

We have a new Congress and I am very hopeful that many things allowed to go on unscrutinized will now be looked at much closer by those who truly love our country...

All the politicians are at home in there beds with dreams of our tax dollars dancing in their heads!!!!

Cute!

Cute maybe but unfortunately, too true!!!