@OmSigDAVID,
Quote:I 'm pretty sure that if those Moslems were ABLE
to put that mosque exactly where the World Trade Center used to be, thay 'd DO it.
Then thay 'd announce that thay were honoring the victims.
That statement might be true if "those Moslems" referred only to the people who hijacked and flew those planes and the Al Qaeda operation that devised, financed, and implemented the attack.
However, if "those Moslems" refers to all people of the Islamic faith, that is an unfortunately erroneous conclusion which is based on stereotyping and a negatively distorted view of an entire religious group.
Opposition to the building of mosques has recently occurred in California and Tennessee in addition to the current flap in NYC. The fundamentalist Christian right has been behind the opposition to the building of mosques in all of those locations. The real issue in NYC has very little, if anything, to do with the proposed cultural center/mosque being in the proximity of the WTC site. The right wing fundamentalist Christian groups see the expansion of Islam in the U.S. as a threat and an affront to Christianity and a belief in Jesus. And they voice these sentiments quite clearly and openly.
Fighting the building of mosques, particularly the ones in California, Tennessee, and NYC, which are designed to be large cultural centers, is part of a right wing Christian religious crusade to try to stamp out Islam in the United States. These proposed cultural centers/mosques are designed to keep more younger Muslims involved with their faith, and to attract others to Islam. They are not unlike the mega churches in that regard. And the Christian right finds that intolerable. They do not want the United States to be a country that represents ethnic or religious diversity, they want it to be a Christian nation that espouses only those values consistent with extremist right wing Christian beliefs. These allegedly "Christian" people represent the most entrenched intolerance and religious bigotry. And, before anyone hops on their bandwagon, they should take a look at the forces they are aligning themselves with.
The Rev. Pat Robertson, who is behind the opposition in NYC, agreed with what the Rev. Jerry Falwell said regarding who was to blame for 9/11
Quote:JERRY FALWELL: And I agree totally with you that the Lord has protected us so wonderfully these 225 years. And since 1812, this is the first time that we've been attacked on our soil and by far the worst results. And I fear, as Donald Rumsfeld, the Secretary of Defense, said yesterday, that this is only the beginning. And with biological warfare available to these monsters -- the Husseins, the Bin Ladens, the Arafats -- what we saw on Tuesday, as terrible as it is, could be miniscule if, in fact -- if, in fact -- God continues to lift the curtain and allow the enemies of America to give us probably what we deserve.
PAT ROBERTSON: Jerry, that's my feeling. I think we've just seen the antechamber to terror. We haven't even begun to see what they can do to the major population.
JERRY FALWELL
The ACLU's got to take a lot of blame for this.
PAT ROBERTSON: Well yes.
JERRY FALWELL: And, I know that I'll hear from them for this. But, throwing God out successfully with the help of the federal court system, throwing God out of the public square, out of the schools.
The abortionists have got to bear some burden for this because God will not be mocked. And when we destroy 40 million little innocent babies, we make God mad. I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way -- all of them who have tried to secularize America -- I point the finger in their face and say "you helped this happen."
PAT ROBERTSON:
Well, I totally concur, and the problem is we have adopted that agenda at the highest levels of our government. And so we're responsible as a free society for what the top people do. And, the top people, of course, is the court system..
http://www.actupny.org/YELL/falwell.html
The opposition in NYC is being led by Pat Robertson. His group filed the lawsuit to block destruction of the old building on the site the proposed mosque is to be built. This is all about religious bigotry and intolerance, and, rather disgracefully, they are using the memories of the 9/11 victims to advance their agenda. And, unfortunately, using this emotional approach, they seem to be convincing some otherwise thinking people that the building of a mosque in lower Manhattan is somehow offensive.
I say again, before anyone hops on their bandwagon, they should take a look at the forces of intolerance they are aligning themselves with.
And remember, many Muslims were among the victims on 9/11, they worked in the WTC towers too, and they were also the innocent victims of those murderers.
If we let the forces of religious intolerance prevail, we honor no one's memory, particularly the memory of our founding fathers. Our flag will stand for nothing.
