No laughs. My ideas about the "Ground Zero Mosque".

Lately the issue of a mosque and Islamic cultural center being built two blocks away from ground zero have given rise to a large debate about, whether we would like to admit it or not, religious tolerance in the United States.
First, let me say that the building of the mosque has been approved so while it may take time the building will eventually be put in. Secondly, I will do my best to see both sides of this story, give the facts and then give my opinion at the end. If anything in this post can be contradicted please let me know with a link to the correction and I will put it in as quickly as possible. So, let's begin.
We all know why this is controversial. 9/11 was the worst terrorist attack on American soil in history. The attack killed roughly 3,000 Americans of whom close to 30 were Muslims. It's very understandable as to why people would be offended about a mosque being put in two blocks away from ground zero.
What many people don't know is that there is already an Islamic prayer room in the building that would be torn down to put in the new cultural center. So in essence a mosque already exists at the site. There is also a mosque located four blocks away from ground zero which pre-dates the twin towers. There is also a strip club called the New York Dolls located even closer, one block away, than the cultural center would be.
Some have argued that the mosque would be a recruiting ground for terrorists. While it is true that extremists have used mosques and other religious centers to find people who would be vulnerable to extremist recruiting extremist are also known to look for recruits on college campuses. In fact United Sates Attorney General Eric Holder has even credited Muslim community leaders, like those found at mosques, for regularly denouncing terrorists and for providing critical assistance to law enforcement to help disrupt terrorist plots and combat radicalization ( http://tinyurl.com/2dmf37s ).
Others have argued that Islam is nothing but a religion of violence that would celebrate the mosque as a victory over America for the 9/11 attacks. However, even former President Bush has been quoted as saying that "Islam is a religion...of peace." ( http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=43906 ). The Quran itself also states that "...anyone who killed a person...it would be as if he killed all of mankind..." (Sura 5. Verse 32.). Therefore it is difficult to believe that the Muslim nation would celebrate a victory of violence. However, that being said, it could still be argued that the extremist would.
In the end how we feel doesn't matter. The mosque has been approved and therefore will be built. However, with some threatening violence I feel that I should give my humble and non-influential opinion to someone who will listen.
We live in the United States of America. This is a country that was built around the idea of religious tolerance, not just to Christians but to people of all religions, especially those who are being put out by the rest of the world. On September 11th there was no such thing as Christians, Jews, or Muslims. We were all Americans. I believe that that is how we should look at this situation. While it can be argued that extremists will find the building a victory it would play into their hands even more if the building was not allowed to be built. How easy would it be for them to point to the news and say "Look, do you see how the West hates us?"
By allowing this mosque to be built I feel that we are showing to a world, that every day loses more faith in us, that America is not a country of bigots. We are country of mature adults who are willing let a people practice their believes freely and without damning an entire faith for the doings of a small group and who are willing to allow them to exercise their rights whether we agree with it or not.
I'm not asking for people not to be offended or to forget. What I'm asking is for people to see this as an opportunity at showing that we are a people of peace, not of hate. If you truly are bothered by this then I feel that you should say that no religion of any kind should have a claim at building a center near ground zero. That I feel is fair.
That's my thoughts. Please let me know what you think.