ideal islamic society will look like because it is peaceful, tolerant, and pluralistic. his vision for islam, in other words, is osama bin laden's nightmare. we should be encouraging such an islamic center, not demonizing it. now, there is of course the much more fundamental issue, freedom of religion in america, which is a founding principle of this country. the most eloquent and intelligent defense of that principle came last week from new york's mayor michael bloomberg in an address that should be required reading in every civics class in america. there have, on the other hand, been politicians who have shamelessly and shamefully capitalized on the public's wariness. the public is wary understandably because there has been so much disinformation about this center. but perhaps the most puzzling stand was taken by the anti-defamation league, which was founded to support the freedom of religion. the director of the adl, abraham