Community Center That Is Planned to Include

¶ … community center that is planned to include a mosque, and which is located two blocks from ground zero -- is an excellent opportunity for anyone looking to champion civil rights in the face of adversity, which in this particular instance, has largely come in the form of anti-Islamic supporters.

The best way to actively promote the value of civil rights which the building of this edifice represents would be to start from a legal perspective. In pure legal terms, there has been absolutely no opposition to the building of this community center or of the mosque which it will house. When the project was initially proposed in public -- to Community Board 1, an advisory board that represents the lower Manhattan neighborhood -- the board approved the plan at a rate of 29 to 1 with 10 abstentions.

The next legal matter to be used to defend the civil rights of the builders of this piece of architecture occurred in August of 2010, when a landmark commission voted 9 to 0 to deny the building being protected under a historic clause -- which if it had been upheld, would have made the current structure (which was previously used as a retail store) legally protected from being converted to the community center. Therefore, the New York City gave its unanimous approval for the building of this structure.

The third legal matter that can be used to defend the civil righs for such an edifice to be constructed two blocks from ground zero revolves around the location of the site. Because of where this building is situated, there is no requirement for any zoning approval or permits. Again, this means that legally, this building can be converted into a religious facility that can be operated via any denomination which the builder chooses.

After the preceding point has been made, it would be prudent to introduce the wide variety of municipal and federal support that has endorsed the building of this facility. One of the most vocal adherents for the proposed structure include longstanding New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, who is just one of many city officials who have adopted a pro-community center stance for the structure. Bloomberg has gone on record as stating that government has no rights to dictate the location of a particular place of worship. "This proposed mosque and community center in Lower Manhattan is as important a test of the separation of church and state as we may see in our lifetime," Bloomberg said (Creed, 2011). The separation of church in state that exists within the United States, and which can be cited in the U.S. Constitution, readily affirms this assertion, and is an excellent piece of evidence to promote the civil rights of the builder for the community center which is to contain a mosque.