Mosque to be Built Near Ground Zero

Yesterday, I heard former Presidents Carter and Clinton both make comments about the proposed community center/mosque--and both strongly supported the view that it should be built in the Park Place location.

Carter clearly emphasized that the project is not at "ground zero" but is two blocks away. He sees the location as a non-issue. He not only emphasized the constitutional right to build the center, but expressed the belief that no religious group should ever be considered in a subordinate place in respect to other religions in our country. Wisely, and correctly, he said he feels the entire controversy has been manufactured by an anti-Muslim group for their own purposes. In the interview, on Larry King last night, he repeatedly blasted Fox News for their deliberate distortion of issues, including this one.

Clinton came up with the best suggestion of all. He said the project should be built as a Muslim enterprise, open to the public, rather than as an interfaith oriented facility, and the backers should dedicate it to the memory of those Muslim Americans killed in the 9/11 attacks.

I think that's a brilliant suggestion by Clinton. It's hard to consider the project a deliberate affront to 9/11 victims' families sensitivities if it were dedicated to the memories of those innocent Muslim American victims who died that day. If anything, that would be a recognition of the fact that innocent Muslims died that day along with the other victims of the tragedy--it is a tragedy which is personally shared by Muslim Americans. Such a dedication would be most appropriate.

In a meeting of nation-wide Muslim leaders held yesterday in NYC, they also came out in favor of the project at its present location. They also made a good suggestion. They proposed that the other mosques in that area, and elsewhere, open their doors to non-Muslims and publicly invite them in so that they can learn more about Islam. This might help to dispel some of the mystique and fear that surrounds mosques for many non-Muslims. It sounds like a good idea.

It all sounds way way too reasonable to me, FF. I think Carter and Clinton should rethink their positions.

I strongly suspect that those who are opposed to the Mosque project are not interested in anything that either Clinton or Carter have to say on the subject. Carter is always for peace at any cost so we already knew what he thought before he said a word, and Clinton is the perfecter of identity politics.... the pitting of one social group against the other for personal gain. Neither have any credibility on the Muslim question, no matter what their opinion was it would be ignored.

Telling.



I was going to suggest in my post previous to this one that the ideas and opinions expressed by Hawkeye and Bill be forwarded to Clinton and Carter to help them reevaluate their positions.

But seeing as Hawkeye has declared them and their opinions to be a non-issue anyway, we needn't worry about doing that now. If Bill backs Hawkeye then we should just inform the hamsters to take down FF's post.

That's telling too.

You've got no feet left, Hawk. Where are you gonna shoot yourself next?

Who says that "a lot" of Muslims were killed on 9/11? I have never seen this documented, in fact most lists claim about 20- 30.....or at most 1% of the victims. If we include the terrorists we would have more though.

If one is too many, then "alot" is based on who's side of this issue you are on.

Is 3000 too many or alot? By who's calculations? Is hundreds of thousands too many or alot? That's the killings fields of Iraq that the US was responsible for in our "shock and awe" campaign. Weigh the 3,000 to the hundreds of thousands; which is too many or alot?

All the CIA terrorists were safely evacuated before the buildings came down.

I have no doubt but that the man who is willing to make up his own definition for the word "is" and defend it is also willing to make up his own definition for "a lot". Very few people are going to buy that 1% or less of a group is a lot of a group. Very few people are going to think that when 30 out of about 3000 dieing in the 9/11 attacks justified a huge project two blocks from ground zero in their honor. An interfaith center would have been justified, but Clinton is whacked out if he seriously believes that this explanation, had it been given, would have changed anything.

His mind has never been what it was after his heart problems. It is getting increasingly more difficult to take him seriously.

That's true to some degree, but there are more than just Clinton who can argue "what is is."

How many Moslems are in a LOT ?





David

By your personal beliefs, one is a lot.

I have never counted Moslems.





David

And you never will.

That might very well be the only true thing that u have ever said, Imposter.





David

The actual number of Muslims killed on 9/11 is not really known, but the estimates I have seen place the number at about 60.

The dedication to those lost lives would not be a justification for the center (which is not a "huge project"--it's a 13 story building, tiny by NYC standards). Rather it would be a recognition that Muslim American lives were lost that day, and it would be a reminder that all groups of Americans were tragically affected by a loss of life that day. It is a way to bridge the "us vs them" divide.

Bill Clinton is a much smarter guy than you are. He also knows how to bring groups together rather than drive them further apart. That is the real skill when you are trying to decrease inter-group conflicts and reconcile differences. His suggestion is excellent. I hope the backers of the project take note of it.

This is a Muslim backed project, with recreational, educational, and cultural facilities designed to serve the entire community, and to provide an environment where Muslims, in particular, will feel comfortable and welcome. It is to include a small mosque, or Muslim prayer space, with programs geared to promote inter-faith dialogue and discussion.

There is no reason under the sun to turn it into some phony inter-faith project with interfaith prayer spaces. That was never its purpose. The religious programs in the Cordoba part of the project are intended to help educate the general population about Islam. That makes sense since there does seem to be considerable misunderstanding about Islam. Increased understanding helps to diminish unwarranted fears and suspicions. It helps to build bridges.

Except Clinton didn't make up the definition of "is". He used the dictionary definition exactly as defined as only in the present time and to not include the past tense. A lawyerly trick perhaps but it wasn't a made up definition. Those that want to argue that "is" refers to the past tense are the ones I would think are making up definitions.

How about,

The person who lived there is deceased.

really, cause i heard they were dead

Then, they still are. Presently.