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Do you believe it is appropriate to build a mosque at Ground Zero in NYC? (NOTE: The site is not exactly at Ground Zero; it is two blocks from the site of the former World Trade Towers. It is as much a community center as a place of worship.)
GUINTA: "It’s an inappropriate location for this mosque to be built because it is immediately next to the site where more than 3,000 Americans were killed. / As I’ve said before Jon [Greenberg], I feel it’s an inappropriate location to build a mosque and I would ask the people to consider the emotional scars of more than 3,000 Americans being killed at that location.”
Source: NHPR News' Jon Greenberg story "Islam, Ground Zero and the Politicians" on August 23, 2010.
READER's Comment:
Park 51 Mosque
John S. Hancock - 8/24/2010
This American project initiated by our fellow citizens is called the Park 51 Mosque which has a board of directors composed of Christians, Jews and Muslims. They own the building in question that's almost three blocks away from Ground Zero, won't be visable from there and is commendably attempting to foster interfaith understanding. Those candidates who politicize this contrived controversy are capitulating to anti-Muslim bigotry.
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NOTE: Frank Guinta has repeatedly come out in support of the new controversial Arizona Law on immigration in his campaign for U.S. Congress.
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"'Ground Zero Mosque' Clears Legal Hurdle to Build"
By RESHMA KIRPALANI - ABC News - July 13, 2011
The backers of the controversial "Ground Zero Mosque" have won a court fight clearing the way for them to build the mosque and community center complex two blocks from the site of the 9/11 terror attack.
In a decision on Friday that was made public today, New York State Supreme Justice Paul Feinman dismissed a lawsuit by former firefighter Timothy Brown who argued that New York City was wrong to allow the destruction of a 150-year-old building to make way for the Islamic center.
The ex-firefighter who was among those who responded to the terror attack on the World Trade Center said the old building had been struck by debris during the collapse of the twin towers and was a "living representative of the heroic structures that commemorate the events of that day."
In a 15-page decision Feinman wrote, "Mr. Brown's claim that his ability to commemorate will be injured, is not yet recognized under the law as a concrete injury that can establish standing. Such an injury, although palpable to Brown, is immeasurable by a court."
The American Center for Law and Justice, a conservative legal group which filed the lawsuit on Brown's behalf, said they plan to appeal the ruling.
Ground Zero Mosque Clears Legal Hurdle to Build
"This decision fails to give appropriate consideration to first responders and others who risked their lives and lost loved ones on Sept. 11," ACLJ attorney Brett Joshpe said in a statement.
The ACLJ "remain confident that this mosque will never rise above Ground Zero."
Organizers of the project, officially called Park 51, declined to comment.
Brown and the ACLJ were appealing a ruling last summer by the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission which decided to allow a 150-year-old Park Place building to be razed to make way for the center.
Park 51 has been a source of national controversy since its unveiling last May. Opponents as well as supporters demonstrated at Ground Zero in reaction to the commission's decision to allow the mosque last August. President Obama was drawn into the controversy when he initially endorsed the mosque.
"As a citizen, and as president, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as anyone else in this country," Obama said at a White House ceremony last summer that marked the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. "That includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in lower Manhattan in accordance with local laws and ordinances."
But in a visit to the Gulf Coast, Obama later dialed back saying that he supported the Muslims community's right to build the mosque, but was not sure it was a good idea to build so close to Ground Zero.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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"Guinta voted against individual privacy rights"
SeacoastOnline.com - Letter to the Editor, July 21, 2014
July 19 — To the Editor:
Frank Guinta was only in Congress for two years, but he had the chance several times to protect our privacy and failed each time. He voted to allow employers to obtain employees' Facebook and e-mail passwords. But employers shouldn't be sneaking peeks into their employees' private communications. He even voted to give the government the "right" to spy on our library records and see what we read!
I hope we won't let Mr. Guinta back in Congress in November to take away even more of our privacy rights.
Charles Proulx
Raymond, NH
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