Evidence is no match against the belief in false rumors concerning the proposed Islamic cultural center and mosque near Ground Zero in New York City, a new study finds.

In a benumbing turn of events, Abe Foxman, chief of the influential Anti-Defamation League and opponent of Park51 — the so-called Ground Zero Mosque — gave a speech this week decrying the rising culture of anti-Islam bigotry.

Just four percent of Republican respondents said they support building a mosque two blocks from the site, whereas 21 percent said they would be fine with a strip club. Forty-nine percent of Democrats said they supported the mosque and 33 for the strip club.

PAMELA GELLER’S apartment, in the fashion of the blogosphere, doubles as her office. It is a modern full-floor unit in a high-rise on the East Side of Manhattan that could belong to a socialite or the editor of a lifestyle magazine. There is ample light and a tasteful lack of clutter.

Visitors to the upper floors of the Muslim community center planned for near ground zero would walk through lofty spaces – for art exhibitions, for contemplation and prayer, for programs on interreligious dialogue, for a 9/11 memorial – as sunlight streams through irregularly shaped windows between white crisscrossing beams.

According to the rough plans, the upper floors would include space for art exhibitions and interfaith programs. There would also be a 9/11 memorial and a space open to people of “all faiths and of no faith” for prayer, contemplation and meditation.

A new survey from the Democratic-affiliated firm Public Policy Polling (PPP) finds that candidates arguing over the proposed Islamic Cultural Center in lower Manhattan has left a bad taste in North Carolina’s voters’ mouths.

Depending on whom you ask, the new mosque planned for a quiet block in southern Brooklyn is either the latest target in a wave of coordinated anti-Muslim sentiment, part of an insidious effort to spread political Islam throughout America or simply a parking nightmare waiting to happen.

The developer of the planned Muslim community center and mosque near ground zero hopes to finance the bulk of the $140 million project using instruments developed to allow many Muslim investors to comply with religious prohibitions on interest.

In his smart new office downtown, Mr El-Gamal shows us the latest plans for Park 51. Only about 20% of the building at most will be a Muslim prayer space. The rest will include a swimming pool, classrooms, facilities for the elderly – even a culinary school.