Mosque to be Built Near Ground Zero

@Roberta,

I am glad that you jumped into this, Roberta. As a dyed in the wool Noo Yawker, I would expect that you would feel more strongly than someone who was not nearby when the tragedy happened.

As a former NY resident, I too have a strong emotional pull to what happened on 9/11. For Pete's sake, when I was working, I went to meetings at the WTC.

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Quote:

Should government attempt to deny private citizens the right to build a house of worship on private property based on their particular religion? That may happen in other countries, but we should never allow it to happen here

NYC Mayor Bloomberg.

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@Phoenix32890,

Of course it is inappropriate. If this group building the mosque really wanted to mend fences and as Bloomberg said this would open people of different relgious backgrounds - they would more sensitive of this.

It is also cause alot of trouble at the mosque itself. I can only imagine what people are going to do to the mosque and those visiting it.

This is one of those lose/lose situations.

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@dyslexia,

Bloomberg is an idiot.

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@Linkat,

No, he isn't, either.

I'm a little saddened to see this latent anti-Muslim bigotry on display by so many here. It's purely ridiculous.

The site of the WTC isn't holy ******* ground, people. The mosque isn't being built ON the site, either - just near it. So what?

And this is America, not the countries that we like to hate on, where religion is secondary to freedom. We like to talk a big game about equality, but when people actually expect to be treated that way, a bunch of folks get all pissy. Well, tough ****. You don't get to discriminate against people based on religion here.

The entire part about 'planting a flag on a battlefield' is about the dumbest **** I've ever heard in my life. Not only does it lump a billion Muslim people together as if they were all one unit, it raises a question: What do any of you care? It won't affect you one way or another and it neither helps nor prevents any Muslim group from doing anything that they did before...

Cycloptichorn

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@Cycloptichorn,

He is an insensitive idiot. This isn't against Muslims - it is plain inappropriate and uncaring. Common sense tells most people that. The problem is many people do not have common sense.

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@Linkat,

Linkat wrote:

Bloomberg is an idiot.

yes I suppose he might be, there's also the possibility I am an idiot. On the other hand, I'm less than impressed with your argument of dismissing Bloomberg as an idiot. You don't make much of a point supporting your opinion. Perhaps at some point in time you could offered some kind of reasoned response but I've gotten the impression that's not something you're capable of doing.

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Why should anyone care? It's a mosque, for cryin' out loud, not an al Qaida recruiting center. Islam didn't fly those planes into the WTC towers, Muslims did. Is that distinction so difficult to understand?

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I am coming to believe that this is not as big a deal as I once thought it was and some still think it is. I do agree, however, that it is a sensitive issue.

They are expanding a large mosque in my city and I never gave it a thought. Why, then, should I think differently if they do the same thing in New York?

I suggest that those who don't like it. Don't visit.

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What, other than simplistic guilt-by-vague-association, is the objection to the mosque again? Seems predicated on an ignorant and monolithic view of Islam that equates the moderate Muslims building the mosque to the extremists who destroyed the WTC.

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@Cycloptichorn,

Cycloptichorn wrote:

I'm a little saddened to see this latent anti-Muslim bigotry on display by so many here. It's purely ridiculous.

[...]

The entire part about 'planting a flag on a battlefield' is about the dumbest **** I've ever heard in my life. Not only does it lump a billion Muslim people together as if they were all one unit, it raises a question: What do any of you care? It won't affect you one way or another and it neither helps nor prevents any Muslim group from doing anything that they did before...

Hear hear! So stupid it is almost painful to read on a2k.

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@joefromchicago,

You are right on that - but it is was in support of Islam and a twisted view of the religion. It is inappropriate and insensitive to those that were killed or had family members killed. There is nothing wrong with the mosque itself, just the fact that a supposedly religious group would be so insensitive to others. They can find another location.

Bloomberg is an idiot in the sense that he thinks this would be a good way to show openness to different religions - it is much more likely to cause problems at the mosque and highlight hatred for the religion with demonstrations against the mosque and potential violence once the mosque is built.

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@Intrepid,

Because of the location....or do you not remember what happened there...

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@Phoenix32890,

It is comments like this that make me realize, once again, how very much I miss Mary Heath.

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@Linkat,

Linkat wrote:

You are right on that - but it is was in support of Islam and a twisted view of the religion.

So? If 19 idiot Christians bomb something in the name of their religion should other Christians be prevented from building a place of worship on private property nearby? The act of a couple dozen idiots simply does not speak for billions.

Quote:

It is inappropriate and insensitive to those that were killed or had family members killed.

Why? It's only inappropriate and insensitive if you have an ignorant and monolithic view of Muslims.

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@Linkat,

Linkat wrote:

Because of the location....or do you not remember what happened there...

You mean they can't build a mosque in NYC?

They are NOT building it on the WTC site.

What is with you people? Do you really think the US should restrict where churches can be built?

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@Cycloptichorn,

Cycloptichorn wrote:

No, he isn't, either.

I'm a little saddened to see this latent anti-Muslim bigotry on display by so many here. It's purely ridiculous.

The site of the WTC isn't holy ******* ground, people. The mosque isn't being built ON the site, either - just near it. So what?

And this is America, not the countries that we like to hate on, where religion is secondary to freedom. We like to talk a big game about equality, but when people actually expect to be treated that way, a bunch of folks get all pissy. Well, tough ****. You don't get to discriminate against people based on religion here.

The entire part about 'planting a flag on a battlefield' is about the dumbest **** I've ever heard in my life. Not only does it lump a billion Muslim people together as if they were all one unit, it raises a question: What do any of you care? It won't affect you one way or another and it neither helps nor prevents any Muslim group from doing anything that they did before...

Cycloptichorn

This pretty much expresses my feelings.

As far as location, where would one draw the line?

2 blocks is too close?
What about 3 blocks? Four?
2 blocks and 3 buildings away?

If the mosque was 2 feet past some agreed on "no Allah zone", that makes it ok?

On the ocassions I've been in New York, the thing that always struck me was how one could literally cross a street or turn a corner, and find themselves in a different world.
I would have the buildings which held the apartments of famous people pointed out to me and I would think "What a dump" The outside would like like a deserted warehouse, but I know inside they were safe and gorgeous.

Things also seem to be so much closer to each other there. I remember standing about 10 feet from the door of a Starbucks, and looking up the street, not any distance at all away, was another Starbucks, the storefront directly in my vision. It was like on the next block, kitty corner from where I was.

As far as the size, again, at what square footage do you draw the line?
It's alright if it was a 5000 square foot mosque, but not if it was 5010 square feet?

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@Linkat,

Linkat wrote:

You are right on that - but it is was in support of Islam and a twisted view of the religion. It is inappropriate and insensitive to those that were killed or had family members killed. There is nothing wrong with the mosque itself, just the fact that a supposedly religious group would be so insensitive to others. They can find another location.

I'll just echo Robert's comments here -- what a handful of extremists do in the name of Islam is not a reflection on Islam, any more than what a handful of Christian extremists do in the name of Christ is a reflection on Christianity. As for the location, I don't know why they want to build a mosque there, but then that's entirely their business, isn't it? As long as they're not violating the building or zoning codes or anything, I don't see why anyone should give a damn.

Linkat wrote:

Bloomberg is an idiot in the sense that he thinks this would be a good way to show openness to different religions - it is much more likely to cause problems at the mosque and highlight hatred for the religion with demonstrations against the mosque and potential violence once the mosque is built.

That's always a possibility, but then why should the extremists who oppose the mosque be allowed to exercise what amounts to a heckler's veto?

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The first and primary thing to declare here is that this is perfectly legal. If any private entity can pay the price and get their blueprints to code, it's not for the government to interfere. I'd be more concerned if we let our passions enable us to violate our ethics. Fred Phelps could pack up and leave Wichita, Kansas and move his loonies to NYC, and if he could pay the price, it's a done deal. The implications of obstruction here could only serve to hurt other groups in the future.

I must however express some passion myself here. I mirror what was said previously, why would they want to build here? Now I understand that any piece of Manhattan real estate is heavily fought over, so that could be enough by itself. However, I don't think the Mosque to be oblivious to the nerve this strikes. The mosque is not a AQ or Taliban recruiting center, but I have zero doubt that groups like those will use this as a HUGE piece of propaganda and for recruitment elsewhere on the globe.

American Muslims already have to deal with enough stigma without this. Why would the mosque want its followers to have to deal with new and even more angry sentiments. It won't matter that the groups is not connected with AQ or the Taliban, AQ and the Taliban will hold this up like it's a victory and the members of this mosque aren't going to be able to control what the image is beyond it's borders.

I'll note that I'd be equally angry if evangelical Christians moved in to claim the area and make a mega-church. I'm more than a little annoyed with how religion has driven politics in the last 2 decades 9and will continue to for decades to come). I don't blame Islam any more than religion in general for the religious climate the world is in.

A
R
T

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Let 'em build it.

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Mosque to be Built Near Ground Zero

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