It seems to me that most people who are "living in fear" of Islam want to stay that way; they're not interested in learning more about it because they're comfortable with identifying Muslims as "enemies of the state." It's easy to point at the "evil" foreigners and say "they're the cause of all our woes." It was the Russians the last couple of decades, and the Japanese before that.
I run into this a lot. No matter how I live my life, no matter how many facts I throw out there, none of it matters if the person I'm talking to already has their mind made up. When I present facts, I am summarily dismissed as being brainwashed, distorting the truth, or being an apologetic. One of the first things I ask people when I hear discriminatory things about muslims is, "Have you ever spoken to a muslim about this? Have you ever been to a mosque? What are your sources of information?" Of course the caveat being sometimes you get muslims who say things and don't know what they're really talking about but still, you get my point.
Where people get their information is more important than ever. If I wanted to learn about American black history, would I go online to a white supremacist site? If I wanted to learn about Judaism, would I go online to an neo-nazi forum? And on and on and on. So why do so many people go online to these websites that clearly have an agenda against Islam and muslims to learn about what I and over a billion, BILLION, people believe? Why not speak to respected muslims themselves?
Regarding the ground zero mosque...I find it interesting that this issue was huge running up to the elections. Post elections, not too much chatter. Interesting.
The term "Ground Zero Mosque" is misleading. First as previously stated by others, the building proposed is a cultural and recreation center that includes a mosque on premises. Second, it is not at Ground Zero, it is two NYC blocks away and the current building is/was an abandoned Burlington Coat Factory. Ground Zero may rightfully be called hallowed ground but the area two blocks away certainly isn't.
There are already two mosques, one of which pre-dates the WTC, within walking distance of Ground Zero.
Then of course there is the issue of the First Amendment.
Regarding the wisdom of building this facility versus the First Amendment right to build this facility. I would argue that it is never wise to give in to discrimination, bigotry, and hate. Rosa Parks would be considered unwise by some for her actions. To others she is a champion of social justice. The long term health of our people is better served by overcoming backward attitudes and progressing forward.
Gotta love some of the stuff this guy puts out.
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-august-16-2010/mosque-erade 
