The other day Herman Cain, a GOP presidential candidate, thundered against an Islamic center proposed for Murfreesboro, Tenn. He called the center "an infringement and an abuse of our freedom of religion." "And I don't agree with what's happening, because this isn't an innocent mosque."
Cain apparently is not a constitutional scholar. Opposition to a religious facility would seem to mock the First Amendment's solicitude for religious freedom. Moreover, many of those who would cheer Cain's remarks likely would consider "innocent mosque" a contradiction in terms. To the overheated, mosques may carry presumptions of guilt.
Henrico has an opportunity to follow a more compassionate path. Last week the county's Planning Commission approved a rezoning request to allow the erection of a mosque off Staples Mill Road. Three years ago the Henrico Board of Supervisors spiked a similar proposal. The panel will take up the issue next month.
Muslims contribute to the community. They deserve the same status accorded believers of all faiths. The love Christians profess for all humanity argues in favor of the Henrico mosque.
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