For the last few years my efforts to counter anti-Muslim bigotry have been grounded upon the hope that if a person has a Muslim friend, he or she will have a more positive view of Muslims overall. In fact, a December poll supports that very thesis, finding a 20-plus percent more favorable view of Islam and Muslims by Americans who know a Muslim when compared to people who don’t.
That’s what makes the mosque controversy in the upscale town of Bernards Township, New Jersey, so astounding. The person spearheading the mosque, M. Ali Chaudry, is not only known by the community, but well liked. After all, he served as mayor of the town in 2004. And before that Chaudry, who has lived in Bernards Township since 1976, was elected to the town council twice as well as its Board of Education. Add to that Chaudry is a Republican in a GOP-controlled town.
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