Mosque Protesters Protest Mosque Protesters

[McAvoy]

Oh... I thought you had to play baseball for on of those New York teams.

Take a guess where they are located...

I would have to take a wild guess, New Amsterdam?

[Deepcrush]

I would have to take a wild guess, New Amsterdam?

Here's a hint...

To be a yankee, you live north of the Mason-Dixon and east of the Mississippi River.

[Captain Seafort]

The first is an example of why some are unhappy, not my view you dribble brain.

To put in a mosque as a way to gloat over a tragedy as if it were a victory is what has everybody up in arms.

This entire sentence is steaming bullshit. Not only is the place a mosque/community centre, not an AQ recruitment centre or training camp, but those intending to build it aren't even the same denomination of Islam to AQ.

So some people are unhappy because they're ignorant bigots. If you intended to make that comment as a depiction of the views of the protesters rather than your own then you made a fucking bad job of it.

The second has been expounded upon constantly, if you can't read a post in it's entirety then that is your f**k up not mine.

And we've been consistently telling you that it's irrelevant. They're building a mosque/community centre in Mahattan because they're running out of space. So fucking what? On top of that it's almost ten years since the attacks. If the timing is "sensitive" then when will it cease to be sensitive? Another ten years? Fifty years? A hundred years?

And just what is wrong with being prudent while exercising ones rights? There is nothing wrong with it.

So, in this case, what would you consider "prudent"? Building the place in Hawaii? It's their building, they're running out of space elsewhere, so they want to build a new community centre with a prayer room. So what?

[Graham Kennedy]

Okay, question to anybody who doesn't think this 'mosque' should be built.

At what distance from the WTC site IS it okay to build a mosque? A hundred feet? Half a mile? A mile? Five miles?

And how is that distance determined?

[Nickswitz]

Okay, question to anybody who doesn't think this 'mosque' should be built.

At what distance from the WTC site IS it okay to build a mosque? A hundred feet? Half a mile? A mile? Five miles?

And how is that distance determined?

Build it right next to it for all I care, the distance IMO doesn't matter. They aren't terrorists, they aren't radicals, hell, they are the most liberal form of Islam that is out there, and the Imam is one of the most liberal in the opinion of two Presidents. I don't care where it is, to me it's not location that matters, it's the reason behind it that does.

[stitch626]

IMO, its been 9 years. So no problem.

If this was still 2002, I could understand the outrage (not agree with, but understand). At this point, its plain racism/stupidity.

[Tyyr]

However understanding why people are upset rather than a knee jerk "what a bunch of bigots" reaction seems to be anethema to many on this board.

No, we get it. They're either ignorant or bigots. Those are the options. They either have no idea about the religion making them ignorant, or know and still hate them or don't care to know making them bigots.

We understand why they're upset and it's stupid fucking reason to be upset. A STUPID FUCKING REASON.

[Captain Seafort]

They're either ignorant or bigots. Those are the options.

There's always option 3: both.

[Sionnach Glic]

I'm curious, is the group building this mosque/community centre even of the same denomination of Islam as Al-Qaeda? Because if not then it's as stupid as blaming the Mormons for the Spanish Inquisition.

[Reliant121]

I'm curious, is the group building this mosque/community centre even of the same denomination of Islam as Al-Qaeda? Because if not then it's as stupid as blaming the Mormons for the Spanish Inquisition.

Nein. Al-qaeda are a wako group associated with...Sunni I think from Kendalls earlier post.

The mosque-builders are sufi, long regarded as the most peaceful and open-minded.

[Captain Seafort]

Nein. Al-qaeda are a wako group associated with...Sunni I think from Kendalls earlier post.

The mosque-builders are sufi, long regarded as the most peaceful and open-minded.

Both AQ and the lot building this place are Sunni, but so are the great majority of Muslims. There are some differences in that the group in question are Sufi, while AQ is mainly Wahabbi.

[Reliant121]

I stand corrected.

[Tyyr]

This is going well.

Rallies over mosque near ground zero get heated

By VERENA DOBNIK, Associated Press Writer Verena Dobnik, Associated Press Writer - 56 mins ago

NEW YORK - Hundreds of impassioned demonstrators - all waving American flags, but separated into two groups by police - descended on the site of the proposed mosque near ground zero, with opponents chanting, "No mosque, no way!" and supporters shouting, "We say no to racist fear!"

The two leaders of the construction project, meanwhile, defended their plans on Sunday, though one suggested that organizers might eventually be willing to discuss an alternative site. The other, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, said during a Middle East trip that the attention generated by the project is actually positive and that he hopes it will bring greater understanding.

The rallies took place around the corner from the cordoned-off old building that is to become a 13-story Islamic community center and mosque. There were no reports of physical clashes but there were some nose-to-nose confrontations, including a man and a woman screaming at each other across a barricade under a steady rain.

Opponents of the $100 million project two blocks from the World Trade Center site appeared to outnumber supporters. Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA" blared over loudspeakers as mosque opponents chanted, "No mosque, no way!"

Signs hoisted by dozens of protesters standing behind police barricades read "SHARIA" - using dripping, blood-red letters to describe Islam's Shariah law, which governs Muslims' behavior.

Steve Ayling, a 40-year-old Brooklyn plumber, said the people behind the mosque project are "the same people who took down the twin towers."

Opponents demand that the mosque be moved farther from the site where more than 2,700 people were killed on Sept. 11, 2001. "They should put it in the Middle East," Ayling said.

On a nearby sidewalk, police chased away a group that unfurled a banner with images of beating, stoning and other torture they said was committed by those who followed Islamic law.

A mannequin wearing a keffiyeh, a traditional Arab headdress, was mounted on one of two mock missiles that were part of an anti-mosque installation. One missile was inscribed with the words: "Again? Freedom Targeted by Religion"; the other with "Obama: With a middle name Hussein. We understand. Bloomberg: What is your excuse?"

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has fiercely defended plans for the proposed mosque, saying that the right "to practice your religion was one of the real reasons America was founded."

The mosque project is being led by Rauf and his wife, Daisy Khan, who insist the center will promote moderate Islam. The dispute has sparked a national debate on religious freedom and American values and is becoming an issue on the campaign trail ahead of the midterm elections. Republicans have been critical of President Barack Obama's stance: He has said the Muslims have the right to build the center at the site but has not commented on whether he thinks they should.

Rauf is in the middle of a Mideast trip funded by the U.S. State Department that is intended to promote religious tolerance. He told a gathering Sunday at the U.S. ambassador's residence in the Persian Gulf state of Bahrain that he took heart from the dispute over the mosque, saying "the fact we are getting this kind of attention is a sign of success."

"It is my hope that people will understand more," Rauf said without elaborating.

Democratic New York Gov. David Paterson has suggested that state land farther from ground zero be used for the center. Khan, executive director of the American Society for Muslim Advancement, expressed some openness to that idea on ABC's "This Week with Christiane Amanpour," but said she would have to meet with the center's other "stakeholders" first.

"We want to build bridges," Khan said. "We don't want to create conflict, this is not where we were coming from."

But Khan also said the angry reaction to the project "is like a metastasized anti-Semitism."

At the pro-mosque rally, staged a block away from opponents' demonstration, several hundred people chanted, "Muslims are welcome here! We say no to racist fear!"

Dr. Ali Akram, a 39-year-old Brooklyn physician, came with his three sons and an 11-year-old nephew waving an American flag. He noted that scores of Muslims were among those who died in the towers, and he called those who oppose the mosque "un-American."

"They teach their children about the freedom of religion in America - but they don't practice what they preach," Akram said.

Rauf, in an interview with Bahrain's Al Wasat newspaper, said America's sweeping constitutional rights are more in line with Islamic principles than the limits imposed by some Muslim nations.

"American Muslims have the right to practice their religion in accordance with the Constitution of the United States," Rauf said. "I see the article of independence as more compliant with the principles of Islam than what is available in many of the current Muslim countries."

Sauce

[Mikey]

Vic - you keep saying that we should understand the POV of the people who are protesting the mosque - that we may not agree with it, but you are trying to show us from where they are coming. Well, I understand their POV all too well - idiocy, ignorance, bloody-minded bigotry, and the most un-American type of display of denial of a smaller group's rights. These people who are protesting the Islamic center are the ones who make a mockery of my country, not the Islamic group.

[Reliant121]

Steve Ayling, a 40-year-old Brooklyn plumber, said the people behind the mosque project are "the same people who took down the twin towers."

Vic, this says it all. End of argument. There is just no way out of this that they are simply plain wrong. One of two reasons for this: Ignorance in that they didn't know, or they are religious bigots in that they know and don't care since it involves muslim in any way, its obviously a source of evil.

I can understand a degree of sensitivity but its nearly 9 years on. Frankly, I couldn't care less that the public are complete morons that just want to bash something because it comes from the middle east. They need to either wise up, or get off their high horse and grumble to themselves at home.