The controversy over plans to build an Islamic center in downtown Manhattan subsided in November, almost abruptly, with the end of an election season that amplified its most emotional underlying issues.

The pastor of a small Florida church, under pressure from President Barack Obama and other world leaders, said he is abandoning plans to burn copies of the Koran on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.

The national debate about building a mosque near Ground Zero in New York is less about our freedom of religion than about the common sense and uncommon courtesy sometimes required to come together as Americans.