In following the debate over whether a Islamic house of worship should be built at Ground Zero in New York, I was reminded of the debate many years ago about whether it was appropriate for a community of Carmelite nuns to locate themselves near the Auschwitz concentration camp. In both cases, it is suggested by some that the presence of these communities would be an act of reconciliation. Others, of course, saw the presence of these communities as causing pain to the families of the victims.Does anyone else see a parallel here? If the two cases are different, why are they different? If similar, why are they similar? Is it possible to acknowledge a right in the abstract while questioning the wisdom of its exercise in a particular case? Discuss....

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