The 'outrage' of a mosque in the vicinity of Ground Zero.

Something a friend posted on Facebook (Monday, July 19th) to gin up a little populist outrage:

Meredith Jessup (2010:Jul.18). "What Role is the US Gov't Playing in Building the Groud Zero Mosque?" Townhall.com
http://townhall.com/blog/g/bd1a5d26-d443-4f87-8a94-47c4d31fecfe

My response:

"Whose land is it?"

Then:

"Is this private land, or is it stuff the state probably shouldn't own, but does anyway?"

Then after someone asked (seriously) "How do we stop it?" and someone else stated "Symbolism matters. That is why they want to build it and that is why they should not," I responded:

"How does one prevent a private entity (such as a Muslim mosque, or Christian church, or Jewish synagogue) from building a house of worship on private land (i.e. that they have already acquired)? Or, how does a government (be it federal, state, regional, or local) choose to *not* sell land they probably shouldn't have owned in the first place, but (for better or worse) do anyway, to members of one religion, even if it is [arguably] symbolic?"

A few days later, Reason caught up to this story.

I think he missed some important issues here (like the ones *I* raised, lol), but oh well:

Steve Chapman (2010:Jul.22). "Repeal Religious Freedom at Ground Zero? It's wrong to 'refudiate' the First Amendment," Reason.
http://reason.com/archives/2010/07/22/repeal-religious-freedom-at-gr