The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees the freedom for religious practice of every citizen of this country. There is no reason for us to deny this, or alter it for particular circumstances. The combative attacks that took place on September 11, 2001 permanently altered the nature of political discourse in America. We cannot deny this fact either.

The sheer amount of controversy and debate over the construction of the Park Fifty One Islamic Center, two blocks away from the site of Ground Zero, attests to how deeply this tragedy still impacts our national psyche nearly a decade later. Unfortunately, the fact that Islam was the professed religion of the hijackers caused many Americans to associate Islam and Muslims with hatred and violence. I was not immune to this.

Still an impressionable 11-year-old when these events occurred, they caused me to feel resentment of my paternal lineage, Arab and Muslim. Although I have long ceased to feel this way, the shock that I felt then has continued to influence my standoffish feeling towards Islam and organized religion in general.

When I first became aware of the plans to build a mosque, my emotional reaction sounded a strong “no” to the plans. I simply felt that it would be tactically unwise and emotionally insensitive for the Islamic community in Manhattan to construct a house of worship so close to the site of 9/11.

My emotional mind tried to logically justify an abridgment of liberty, because I felt it would be psychologically damaging to families of 9/11 victims. I feared that such actions would be detrimental and alienate American Muslims from society at large.

The proponents of the 100,000 square foot project have pledged to strive for goals of pluralism and interfaith dialogue. Additionally, there are plans to place to a memorial to the victims of 9/11 on the grounds.

I first believed that the best way to honor peace would be to discourage the construction of this center. However, I have come to the conclusion that doing so would reveal our own tendency to be hostile of what we may be skeptical towards.

As the debate continues, doubts still linger in my head over whether this center might alienate the Muslim community from the mainstream. However, for the thousands of Muslims working in Lower Manhattan, I ponder the alienation they might feel in lacking a legitimate house of worship to turn to.

Rather than alienating ourselves through fear, we should redeem ourselves through tolerance and openness to dialogue. That is why I say “build it.