The proposed Islamic Cultural Centre to be built close to the site of ground zero has caused a widespread emotional response throughout the United States on both sides of the argument. Passions have further intensified with the assault driver Ahmed Sharif. Although protests against the building of the Centre would seem to have absolutely no basis in law, the moral question of whether building should go ahead has been widely discussed. The Economist poll presents intriguing statistics. The respondents to the poll were split along party identifications.
When asked if ‘the Islamic cultural centre and mosque should be built near the World Trade Centre site, or not? 28% of Democrats believed that it should with 88.3% of republicans against. When asked how much would you say you know about the religion of Islam and its practices? 29% of Republicans replied Not very much with 11.9% responding nothing at all. The most worrying statistic of the poll states that 50.9% of republicans have a ‘very unfavourable’ ‘impression of the religion called Islam’.In total 17.5% believed the centre should go ahead, while 57.9% believed that it shouldn’t.
In a poll carried out by the Irish Times the vote was split on whether the Islamic cultural centre should be constructed, 50%-50%. The same issues surrounding the motivation and funding of the Centre have led to Irish people to argue for the centre not to be built. The Irish Times poll would seem to reflect that Irish people are dealing with a similar sense of morale uncertainty being experienced in the US. It would appear that people’s sensitivities about the ground zero sight are not limited to those living in vicinity of ground zero, New York State or even the United States itself.
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