I personally believe that all religions are equally worthless in terms of providing a coherent explanation of the human condition. No one has shown me a better way though to instill morals and a respect for society into children. The Progressive-Fascists are trying to make the case that the State can replace religion but this is a heresy which will only create a cult of personality like those found in any Fascist, or Communist totalitarian state. The situation becomes unimaginably difficult when not only do we have to debate religion or no religion but also which type of religion. This is the dirty secret of religion in society. It only works with in a subsection of society that has a particular religion as a part of their culture or adopted belief system.
Religion is nothing more than an ancient and archaic myth to answer man's desire to know where he came from and where he is going to after death. Some of the smartest men of all human societies saw an opportunity to answer this question and make an easy life for themselves. Enter the shaman, the high priest, the preacher. If they could answer these questions convincingly then the men of the tribe would do all the work and pay these guys to promise them an after life. That is a pretty good scam and it still works to this day. The problem is that when tribe A met tribe B their religions of course conflicted causing an instant reason for disagreements to arise. The centuries of war in the name of religion have brought us to the point we now find ourselves at. Unfortunately man has made monumental advances in methods of killing each other but can't seem to grasp a need to place an ever lessening emphasis on the nuance of differences between religions. Man has failed in most cases to view religion as an extension of culture and not a means to explain one societies interactions with another different society.
Worse than using religion to gain a free ride in life, some men have extended this to using religious fervor to advance nationalistic goals. This phenomenon is not unique to any religion. All of the major religions have been used at one time or another to advance a nationalistic agenda of an opportunistic individual or group of individuals. Al Qaeda is the latest example of a group using a religion to advance a nationalist agenda. Al Qaeda may not have a State currently but their goal is to create a Greater Arab State that would unite all Arabs under one Caliphate. The Iranians also are using Islam to advance with fascist goals of expanding their borders to encompass their ancient borders of conquest. Use of religion for nationalistic goals is not unique to religious leaders. The fascist and communist Left in the United States is catering to Islamic fundamentalists to advance their own goals as well. The large block of Conservatives in the United States that stand in the way of the Left's goals of collapsing the free market capitalist Republican form of government are mostly Christians. The Left sees Islamic fundamentalists as a vehicle to undermine the Christian Right's power base. Hence the demonetization of the Christian faith.
The Renaissance in Europe began the process of separating religion from the political systems about 700 years ago. This is the reason Christianity has become more a force for good that has abandoned its political goals that caused so much strife and loss of life in its prior history. Muslims that point out the militancy of Christianity are fighting a ghost long gone while continuing to use their own religion as a source of geopolitical power. This has placed the entire world in the dangerous situation of having 7th century thinking people with 21st century weapons.
The most effective weapon against the threat the world faces from militant Islam is not military force but rather the pen of the writer or cartoonist. Muslims have, like all religious people, a weakness which has a vulnerability to logic, reason, science and satire. The most effective weapon against ignorance is not the barrel of a gun but the pen! The quote, "the pen is mightier than the sword", could not be more true or needed more than now to save mankind from the oppression of ignorance in the form of a militant religious force. If all the Progressive journalists that constantly puff themselves up with their own self importance really want to change the world and earn their pay then they should begin to chip away at the intolerance and ignorance of Islamic fundamentalism that is plaguing the human race.
Lastly, I agree that the Muslims should be able to build their Mosque near the ground zero of the 911 attacks. Religious freedom is religious freedom there is no qualifier in the Constitution. Having said that I would expect a society that wants to march forward to challenge the intolerance of Islamic fundamentalism and drag these people kicking and screaming into the 21st century.