American flags decorated porches across the country. Spectators at high school football games actually sung the words to the national anthem. Chants of "U-S-A! U-S-A!" normally reserved for Olympic years became popular. Lee Greenwood's "Proud to Be an American" seemed to be the most played song on the radio.
Such was America in the highly patriotic period after terrorists with a perverted reading of the Quran cowardly took the lives and freedoms of more than 3,000 Americans on Sept. 11, 2001.
In an address to Congress following the attacks on the World Trade Center, President George W. Bush urged Americans to continue on with their daily routine. He said al Qaeda was jealous of our freedoms. If we abridged our freedoms in any way as a result of the attacks, the terrorists would win the battle.
"We are in a fight for our principles, and our first responsibility is to live by them," Bush said in the same speech. "No one should be singled out for unfair treatment or unkind words because of their ethnic background or religious faith."
Yet nine years later, those wise words seem to have been forgotten by the people protesting the proposed Islamic community center two blocks from the former site of the World Trade Center.
A government prohibition of the mislabeled "Ground Zero Mosque" violates rights guaranteed by the Constitution.
Ironic, considering the United States military fights in Afghanistan and Iraq for the rights of the predominantly Muslim population, yet the rights of Muslims on our own soil are being threatened.
The Islamic community center is being attacked because it is just that -- Islamic. Should a YMCA be proposed at that location, no one would protest.
Since the terrorist attacks on 9/11, Muslims have been unfairly grouped together as militants or extremists.
But al Qaeda is called extremist because its message and mission varies greatly from mainstream Islam. The terrorists who attacked the World Trade Center that fateful day share the same religion as other Muslims in name only.
The Muslims who want to build the community center are not the same as al Qaeda, just like most Christians aren't the same as the radical Christians who attack abortion clinics.
Most national opinion polls show an overwhelming disapproval of the community center. However, democracy takes a back seat in issues of Constitutional rights. The Constitution exists for this very reason -- to protect the rights of the minority against the tyranny of the majority.
While the community center might offend the families of victims, America's beauty rests in the rights to utter words or perform actions that some may consider distasteful.
The same rights enable anti-war activists to hold protests even if they offend military families or allow anti-abortion activists to display pictures of aborted fetuses to the dismay of passersby.
The victims of the terrorist attacks must be viewed as martyrs for these freedoms. While tragic and unnecessary, their deaths were the result of the actions of a radical group envious of this country's liberties, including the freedom of religion and free market system.
The proposed Islamic community center's proximity to Ground Zero tops the list of reasons why it's offensive to the memories of the victims.
But government opposition based on location starts a journey down a slippery slope of institutional religious intolerance.
Many across the country lost loved ones on Sept. 11 and have an emotional attachment to this issue, but prohibiting the community center to be built in New York City based on its potential to offend could become a precedent for the prevention of Muslim structures across the country.
The Constitution and its inherent rights apply everywhere and to everyone. The right of religious groups to build places of worship or community centers cannot be determined on a locational basis.
Should the Islamic community center be forced to change locations, ignoring the very rights that make this country special, then the terrorists will have truly won.
