PATTERSON: STATE ASSISTANCE FOR ISLAMIC CENTER IF SUPPORTERS WILL RELOCATE MOSQUE PROJECT
by Conrad Goeringer
Atheists: Schema is Unconstitutional, Taxes Nonbelievers to benefit religion
New York Gov. David Patterson has announced a quid pro quo plan that would offer state aid — including a discount on the price of public land — if Muslims seeking to build a $100 million Islamic Center near Ground Zero in Manhattan would move their project to appease opponents of the project.
“If the sponsors were looking for property anywhere at a distance that it would be such that it would accommodate a better feeling among the people who are frustrated, I would be looking to provide them with the state property that they need,” Patterson declared. The so-called “Ground Zero Mosque” is a 13-story Islamic Cultural Center called Cordoba House, that would include meeting rooms, performing arts center, restaurant, swimming pool, gym, basketball court and a “prayer space” — although some are denying that the site would be a mosque. The project recently cleared another hurdle when the city’s Landmarks Commission ruled that there were no historically significant structures on the property. The site is about two blocks from the Ground Zero location of the former World Trade Center, and was previously home to the Burlington Coat Factory.
Legal experts gave Patterson’s surprise proposal a chilly reception, pointing out that the scheme violated the constitutional separation of church and state.
“They’re really giving government aid to religion,” waned Boston University School of Law Professor Jay Wexier. ”The aid is the break between the fair market value and whatever they’re selling it for. That’s almost like giving a bunch of money to a mosque.”
Dr. Ed Buckner, President of American Atheists, warned of legal difficulties with Gov. Patterson’s proposal. “Whatever his intentions, Governor Patterson has no right to use public money or other taxpayer resources to assist ANY religious group to build a house of worship”
“Government must stay out of the business of subsidizing mosques, churches, temples, and synagogues. This amounts to imposing a ‘religion tax’ on the public, including on millions of Atheists, Freethinkers, agnostics, Humanists and other non-believers. In fact, the various income and property tax exemptions afforded religious organizations are already massive–and we think unconstitutional–subsidies of religion.”
Indeed, Patterson’s offer further muddies the political waters in a already-complicated and emotionally charged situation. Opponents of the mosque project have staged vocal protests at government meetings, charging that the project insults the memory of the thousands of people who died in the 9/11 attacks. The planned community center has been described as an affront to the country, in part due to its proposed location; but mosque construction has come attack across the country from Virginia and Tennessee to California. Construction sites have been threatened, and angry crowds have spoken out at local government meetings against the proposed projects.
Patterson’s offer, though, has been viewed as a sort of mediation between project managers and opponents. Unfortunately, his plan appears to violate the constitutional separation of government and religion.
