columnists who've taken a wider view of the issues raised: eugene robinson of the "washington post" and ross douthat of the "new york times." ross, you wrote the other day that this whole thing revealed yet again a tension between what you call two americas , one constitutional, one cultural. explain. >> well, i think what you see happening in this debate is much like what you mentioned in the opening just now. there are people who frame it exclusively through the lens of constitutional rights, where what we have here is the free exercise of religion . muslims have as much a right to exercise their religion as anyone else and that's the only debate that matters, the constitutional debate. and then i think on the other side you have people who instinctively or, you know, intuitively or intellectually conceive of america in cultural as well as constitutional terms. and so, in a sense, in that america , it isn't clear that islam has completely arrived yet. there's a sense of suspicion, uncertainty that you have seen in the past where wreligious grouped like my own church, the catholic church in the 19t

. >> ifill: and jeffrey brown gets the views of columnists eugene robinson and ross douthat on the proposal to build an islamic center two blocks from ground zero. >> lehrer: that's all ahead on tonight's "newshour." major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: and by the alfred p. sloan foundation. supporting science, technology, and improved economic performance and financial literacy in the 21st century. and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> ifill: three weeks since the flooding beg in pakistan, tens of thousands of villages remain under water. more flooding could be on the way, adding to a disaster which now stretches almost the length of the country from often inaccessible parts of the swat valley in the north, through punjab and on into sindh province in the south, an area the size of the state of florida. 12% of the population has been displaced-- as many as 20 million people-- and the