The construction of the Muslim community center originally called Cordoba House and now known as Park51--but always as the "Ground Zero mosque" by its vocal opponents--was never subject in the first place to a debate about its propriety. For the sake of upholding American values and increasing the nation's security, it must now of necessity rise and stand in New York City, just blocks from the place where the World Trade Center was attacked and fell on 9/11.

Emotions about this nation's most horrific mainland attacks, suffered at the hands of terrorists acting in the name of Islam, are still understandably raw. To most Americans, most notably some of the families who lost loved ones at the site of the twin towers, the notion of building Park51 is like pouring salt in the open wounds of their hearts. Politicians such as Newt Gingrich, Sarah Palin and others, say it is a matter of insensitivity--if not sinister motives--on the part of Imam Feisal Rauf and the larger Muslim community of Lower Manhattan.

But the opposition of opinion-makers like Gingrich--who recently compared Muslims to Nazis--is motivated more by political opportunism than concern for the safety or symbolism of the mosque, which is actually a prayer room planned as part of the much larger 13-story community center. Gingrich and Palin may be presidential contenders in 2012. Former congressman Rick Lazio, now a Republican candidate for governor of New York, is running ads using footage from 9/11 to stake out his position against the community center.

It is difficult not to empathize with the suffering of the 9/11 families who are represented by Keep America Safe, a group founded by Liz Cheney, daughter of former vice-president Dick Cheney. But other 9/11 families, firefighters and police--just as aggrieved and just as wounded by the attacks--support the mosque.

President Obama last week entered the fray to a degree, saying that Imam Rauf and his backers have every First Amendment right to build the mosque wherever city ordinances allow--and they do allow it. Opponents countered that it's not about the Muslims' right under freedom of religion, but about what is right and wrong or what is "wise" to do.

But amid all the conflicting and conflicted emotions, the debate has only grown larger and more irrelevant, not more lucid. What is right and wrong about building this mosque blocks from Ground Zero--and, it should be noted, out of the line-of-sight from the new World Trade Center under construction--is not for the public or politicians to decide.

There is only one issue at stake: Do American Muslims enjoy the same freedom of religion to build a house of worship in accordance with the law? The answer must be yes, or this nation's ideals are merely sham and artifice, no more enduring and solid than the original twin towers themselves. And our ideals cannot be allowed to fall, for they are the things that must endure after 9/11 and the reason we are a free people and the envy of nations. In the end, our ideals are all that set us apart from those who attacked us. We must not succumb to the fear they wished to bring down upon us and thus give up what we hold most precious about our country and ourselves.

The First Amendment is bedrock in the supreme law of the land we call the Constitution. There is no debate as to whether this center, this prayer room, this mosque if that's what it is, can be built. The Framers answered that question long ago, at the very moment we became a nation.

Federal, state and local law enforcement authorities do not fear this center. The mayor and city officials of New York welcome it. The Imam proposing it has been a firm supporter of other religions and a firm and outspoken critic of terrorism. His long record of respect for all religions is documented. His love of America is indisputable. And the right of Muslim Americans to worship freely is protected from the whims of public opinion and fear by the same Constitution that protects every American's right to worship no matter what others may think or how deeply others are offended by the exercise of a religion not their own.

So now the Muslim world watches with keen interest to see if this country called America, this supposed beacon of liberty to the world, actually adheres to its own ideals. If not, we will be seen as no better than the warlords, shahs and despots who rule many of their lands to this day. If not, the Shia and Sunni factions in Iraq will forever hold their versions of Islam more sacred than the other and the U.S. service personnel who died to instill democracy in that land will have died, literally, for nothing--not even for the last vestige of a purpose there.

And if our nation's answer to this mosque is "No," then expect Christianity and Judaism to be closed for business in every Muslim country for a very long time, even in countries like Jordan, Egypt and others that now show some religious tolerance. In the eyes of the Muslim world, this mosque near Ground Zero is a test of how unshakable is our commitment to religious freedom. It is a test of our motivations, long suspected of being at war with Islam itself.

Park51 must rise and stand, for that now is the only course that preserves our ideals and demonstrates to the world that America treats every faith with equal respect under law, even when that dedication to our ideals grieves us personally. To suggest the legal placement of any house of worship in America is open for debate on any grounds at all is just another way of forsaking our values. What anyone but its congregation thinks or feels about its construction is completely irrelevant.