Facts are in short supply

Stephan Salisbury

is The Inquirer's culture writer and the author of "Mohamed's Ghosts: An American Story of Love and Fear in the Homeland"

The first thing that must be said about the mosque at ground zero is that it is not just a mosque, and it is not at ground zero.

Granted, calling it an Islamic center that contains a prayer space, a spa, a swimming pool, community meeting rooms, a 9/11 memorial, an auditorium, a basketball court, classrooms, and an exhibition space - to be located two blocks away and around a corner from ground zero, at a site Muslims are already using for prayers - doesn't have quite the same kick as calling it the mosque at ground zero. It's just a more accurate description.

Facts matter, and they seem to be in short supply in this ugly fight.

It's also important to note that the controversy over the center, which has now engulfed the president, is only one of several that have flared up across the country over mosque construction or expansion plans. Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Wisconsin, California - all have seen fights over mosque proposals. There are even two other New York mosque projects, in Brooklyn and Staten Island, that have provoked attacks and demonstrations.

There have also been attacks on existing mosques, not just planned ones. A bomb exploded during services at a mosque in Jacksonville, Fla., and there have been reports of arson and vandalism of mosques in Texas and Tennessee. (No one was hurt in the incidents, which are being investigated.)

Murfreesboro, Tenn., is witnessing a particularly ugly construction standoff, with many of the same features as the fight in Lower Manhattan. Mainstream politicians running in tough primary races have attacked the project there, and so have grassroots activists affiliated with local tea party groups.

One Tennessee congressional candidate charged that the mosque's proponents were foreign radicals. (They're not.) The state's lieutenant governor, a candidate for governor, claimed Islam is a "cult" that doesn't deserve First Amendment protections. A statement by the Wilson County Tea Party, which is in the thick of the Murfreesboro fight, wondered: "Is Islam nothing more than a front for terrorism?"