The inaccuracy inherent in “ground-zero mosque” relfects a fundamental problem with any headline, and the elusive nature of truth.
The phrase is inaccurate. It’s a community center, not a mosque, and it would be located two blocks away from ground zero.
Some journalists have called it a “ground-zero mosque” because those three words, as my fellow editing professor Dr. Ron Rodgers would say, are “dense with information.”
A better headline would start with “Muslim community center near ground zero.” But headlines are usually only five or six words, and we’ve already used six words, before getting to the rest of the headline, starting with a verb.
Several people have blamed journalists for perpetuating misunderstandings about the proposed center. Point taken.
However, the journalistic shorthand is not the issue here.
For those who don’t want to see an Islamic center in lower Manhattan, “near” isn’t OK, either. Opponents have failed to articulate just how far away the center has to be (midtown? Queens? Iowa?) because they don’t want it, period.
Even when confronted with the reality that two small mosques exist now within 12 blocks of ground zero, many opponents insist nothing more should be built.
While I understand how some Americans feel that way, I don’t share the sentiment. I want American Muslims to have the same freedom to worship that I do. And I will not blame an entire faith for the actions of 19 people, any more than I will blame Christianity for the Ku Klux Klan.
That said, those who oppose an Islamic center anywhere near ground zero are not swayed by adding the word “near.” This is not a matter of headline imprecision, but a disagreement over the meaning of religious liberty.
