Resolved: An Islamic Cultural Center should be built near Ground Zero.

Since you have not offered a rebuttal to the pre-contention statements we have been going back and forth over for 3 rounds I assume that you have agreed to my definition of your statements. To summarize, Con states that the American public is not religiously tolerant and do not support religious freedom. This is a fatal flaw in my opponents argument as it shows that the opinion of the public should be considered irrelevant as it is flawed in its logic. 1) I agree, but this does nothing for your argument as you have not cited any source for morality other than law. The law is cut and dry, whatever you are basing this "should or not should" concept from has not been mentioned at all. And it cannot be public opinion or personal feelings as both are very subjective by nature. 2) If I can't call the police and your giving me death threats, I'd probably kill you first. Is that what your looking for? I think what you got mixed up is that the people committing the hate crimes are, in fact, the criminals. I know you are trying to insinuate that I should surrender my rights to protect my friends, but how long will it be before my friends and I grow tried of this oppression? 3) What I'm trying to say is that the stereotyping is the problem, not the mosque building. You see, when you do something like intimidate someone to move a building, you set a precedent. Now, if it does move, people will see Muslims as susceptible to intimidation and so perhaps more buildings will be moved by the same method because there exists this Muslim stereotype. Thus, it should not be moved the first place. 4) I am saying that neither of us can predict the outcome this until it is actually done. Maybe there will be initial hatred, but perhaps it will sow the seeds of peace. Maybe the Muslims have the best intentions for what they hope to do and maybe it will work. "Hospital and Gangs" --Yes but maybe the area needed a hospital. "Christian extremists" --I know your argument is revolving around this idea of respect, but you have yet to actually tell me why it is disrespectful. That's why I keep saying, over and over, that the actions of these few should not represent an entire religion. Nor should what is normally a holy building be considered a trophy for terrorists. Conceded Points Before moving to refute your next section, I'd like to say that you offered no rebuttal to "those without religious obligation are more accepting of a mosque near Ground Zero than Christians and other religious denominations" New Con Rebuttal 1) Have you considered yet that maybe the people who are offended by the mosque to be... misguided? Your argument is not complete as you have not given the reason as to why the building is considered disrespectful. 2) Once again, why is a mosque considered disrespectful? You have to ask yourself why the families care so much, and like I said before the actions of these few men should not be even considered a part of the philosophy of mainstream Islam. Its almost like getting mad at apples for being blue. It doesn't make sense. 3) First off, taking quotes from www.no911mosque.org should not even be allowed in this debate. That site is very biased, opinionated and it is part of the fear mongering in America. Before you fight me on that, just look at the title of the website, would you ever use that for fair and balanced information? According to my source from last round, people are crowding into an old department tore building in order to pray. I think that's a pretty reasonable sign of not having enough prayer room, despite there already is ONE other mosque in the downtown area. It is very congested area to say the least. 4) I don't deny the hate crimes, of course they exist. They exist because we let them, because we let mass hysteria and nonfactual information from places like www.no911mosque.org take hold of our imaginations. Sometimes doing the right thing is going to ruffle some feathers, but the point is that we should not let threats affect our decisions, ESPECIALLY in this country, which prides itself for its freedoms. So if you didn't get it before, now I'm going to say it with a megaphone: THE RESOLUTION CALLS INTO QUESTION WHETHER THE BUILDERS SHOULD BUILD AT THE PROPOSED LOCATION. THE ONLY REASONS MY OPPONENT HAS PROVIDED IS PREVENTING HATE CRIMES THROUGH SUBMISSION AND THE PERCEIVED DISRESPECT FROM WHAT SHOULD NOT BE A DISRESPECTFUL ACT. THE RESOLUTION DOES NOT ASK WHETHER IT CAN BE BUILT, SO CLEARLY THE LEFT IS OUT OF THE QUESTION. THEREFORE, BEFORE YOU CLICK THAT VOTE BUTTON, THINK ABOUT WHY IT CAUSES DISRESPECT, SEE THE FOOLISHNESS IN THAT THOUGHT, AND THEN VOTE PRO. --------------------------- In summary, I ask Con to provide a reasonable explanation of why building a mosque is disrespectful, and then ask himself if the mosque and the disrespect are actually related. I hope Con is enjoying the debate as much as I am and I look forward to the final round.