In his Aug. 29 column, "Old subject, but a shameful new twist to it," Gregg Bemis pretends to take the high road in his support of the opposition to a "proposed mosque" near "Ground Zero." Actually, it will be a Muslim community center about two blocks from the former World Trade Center towers in lower Manhattan.

Mr. Bemis states that he has "great respect for those who feel affronted by these mosque plans." He further states that the proponents of the mosque are demonstrating the "height of insensitivity."

Mr. Bemis claims this is an issue of "real sensitivity to a large portion of Americans ... that upward of 70 percent of our citizenry find the plans to be sincerely offensive ...." That may or may not be true, depending on how you ask the question.

If you ask someone, do you support the building of a mosque near Ground Zero, he'll probably say "no." If you ask someone, do you think our government should allow the building of a Muslim community center in lower Manhattan, he'll likely say "yes" or have no opinion.

It is the noisiest opponents like Gregg Bemis who are being insensitive. They may not know anything about the Muslim religion, their family life, their values and they don't care. To the noisemakers, Muslim Americans don't count as real people. Because they are not Christians, they cannot be true patriots and they may be terrorists, or at least terrorist sympathizers. The "mosque" opponents Mr. Bemis has great respect for are engaged in spreading lies about and fear of Muslims in general.

This should be a local issue, not a national one. We don't want New Yorkers telling us what our residents can and cannot build. But the protesters see this as an opportunity to stir up passions, anger and fear, and draw attention to their point of view.

Fortunately, the proponents of this project are protected by the U.S. Constitution. Our government is prohibited from interfering with the peaceful practice of any religion and from taking property without eminent domain and fair compensation.

This is a controversy only because people like Gregg Bemis make a big deal out of nothing. If it weren't for the noise machine from the right, nobody would be offended.

Ronald Boyd lives in Santa Fe.