A Muslim much ado about nothing

It seems amazing to me that almost two years after his inauguration, there are still questions about President Barack Obama's faith, and even his citizenship. It's even more amazing to me that in 2010, almost 10 years after the attacks, there are still people who object to a Muslim mosque being built just a couple blocks from the site of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
To be clear, Barack Obama is not Muslim. He has never been a Muslim. He was born to a Kenyan Muslim father and an American mother. Yes, he spent some time as a child in Indonesia, a predominantly Muslim country. But that doesn't make he is a Muslim, any more than enjoyment of good food makes one a good cook. Obama is a member of the United Church of Christ, a Christian denomination. Yes, during a visit to Kenya a few years ago, he did don traditional Muslim garb. But that was simply a show of respect to his hosts, not a declaration of his faith.
As far the mosque issue goes, it's much ado about nothing. If Muslims in New York City want to build a community center or even a mosque within a couple blocks of Ground Zero, let them. It's not a matter of being a "monument to terrorism" as some have contended. This is a matter of simple religious freedom, as guaranteed under the First Amendment to our Constitution.
Let's be clear. The First Amendment guarantees freedom of, and even from religion, if one so chooses. It doesn't apply only to Christians, as some would like to believe. It applies to everyone, be they Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu or whatever. Gasp. It even applies to atheists and agnostics. Under the First Amendment, Muslims in New York City and across the country are free to worship however and wherever they choose, even next to Ground Zero. Ground Zero doesn't belong just to victims of the attack or to Americans. It belongs to everyone.
A lot of people, especially in the Bible Belt, mistakenly believe that all Muslims are terrorists. Nothing could be further from the truth. The truth is, the vast majority of Muslims are peaceful people. There are, of course, Muslim extremists. who engage in violence. But heck, there are extremists in every religion, even Christianity. Remember the string of abortion clinic shootings in the 1990s, where Christian terrorists gunned down abortion doctors? If we were to judge all Christianity only by those acts, we might conclude that all Christians are violent extremists. And we wouldn't want to be judged like that, would we? So why is it OK to paint all Muslims with such a broad brush? It's hypocritical and doesn't make sense.