Remember in elementary school when you had recess? Boy, those were the days, weren’t they? But do you remember standing up from that cold plastic chair at your desk early in the morning to aimlessly point your body towards the American flag, putting one hand over your heart and saying the Pledge of Allegiance? Remember letting out a sigh of relief when you uttered the last phrase, “liberty and justice for all?”

Well that phrase is more pertinent then ever at this moment in time in America’s society right now. In a society where the vast majority of American citizens think it is somehow ‘right’ to stop a religious group from building a community center and place of worship in New York City, the cultural melting pot that it is, simply because a terrorist group is affiliated with the same religion.

If you are not aware of what I am referring to, one, shame on you, and two, I am referring to this sudden movement of extreme anti-Muslim bigotry that is shaking this nation at its roots.

There are plans underway to build a mosque and community center two blocks away from ground zero in New York City, the place where the Twin Towers fell nine years ago.

Some people have no problem with this notion at all. In fact, they welcome that phrase “liberty and justice for all.” But others, mostly Republicans, somehow find it ‘morally’ offensive that a group of Muslims should even consider the idea of building a community center and place of worship near a place that holds horrible memories for all the Christians that died that day, despite the fact that several peaceful Muslims died at ground zero as well.

Now I am not denouncing that what was done on Sept. 11 was tolerable, but the burning of the Muslim holy book, the Quran, and Mosques in such a beautiful country as ours should not be allowed.

As a political science major, I know all too well that this great country was built on Christian beliefs and morals, but that does not justify such hatred and disgust towards another religion’s practices and virtues in this nation. If you disagree, just read the First Amendment of this country’s constitution.

Most people who oppose the Islamic community center and mosque in New York City are foolishly protesting something they do not know the full details about. Most of these people will argue that it is morally wrong that Muslims want to build something two blocks away from ground zero. But they fail to speak about the immoral porn shops and the strip club that is also within that same ‘moral’ radius of ground zero.

They, the anti-Muslim bigots, will also argue that the Muslim religion is this worldwide symbol of terrorism and should not belong in such a ‘sacred area’ such as ground zero.

May I remind people who the world’s two most historic terrorist groups were: the Ku Klux Klan and the Nazis. These are both “Christian-based” terrorist groups. So that means no more churches around ground zero either, right Fox News?