On Tuesday, May 25, 2010, the Manhattan Community Board voted to allow the building of an Islamic community center two blocks away from where terrorists leveled the World Trade Center nine years ago.

Debate has become heated throughout the United States over what has been coined the ground zero mosque. It seems the opinions of many Americans on this issue have become distorted by politicians who stretch the truth about what will be going on at the Islamic community center.

Many people wrongly fear the building will be a gathering place for potential terrorists, but in reality it will be a prayer center and a place where Muslims will be able to gather for family events and other activities it will even include a basketball court.

The major complaint against this building is that it will be too close to Ground Zero, and will be disrespectful to those killed on Sept. 11, 2001. Well, there is already a mosque, the Assafa Islamic Center, four blocks away from Ground Zero, and it was built almost 14 years ago. Now, if Americans have a problem with a new community center two blocks away from Ground Zero, then why do they not seem to care about the mosque four blocks away? It begs the question: how close is too close?

If this place is a problem, then what should be done about the other mosques located throughout New York City? Muslims have just as much of a Constitutional right to build this community center as any Christian, Jewish or Hindu religious group does.

There are men and women in the military who fight daily to protect our First Amendment right to be free of religious persecution. By not allowing Muslims to have a center where they have already been given the approval to build, Americans would be discriminating against them.

Even President Barack Obama reflected on this issue. “Let me be clear: as a citizen, and as president, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as anyone else in this country,” he said during brief remarks on Saturday, Aug. 14. “That includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in Lower Manhattan…This is America, and our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakable.”

Clearly, there are no legal reasons why this center should not be built. September 11 was a tragic day, but we cannot continue to blame all Muslims for what happened on that day.

We do not still persecute Germans for what the Nazis did, so why should we discriminate against all Muslims for what a few terrorists did?