Mosque Protesters Protest Mosque Protesters

[Sionnach Glic]

At one point, a portion of the crowd menacingly surrounded two Egyptian men who were speaking Arabic and were thought to be Muslims.

"Go home," several shouted from the crowd.

"Get out," others shouted.

In fact, the two men - Joseph Nassralla and Karam El Masry - were not Muslims at all. They turned out to be Egyptian Coptic Christians who work for a California-based Christian satellite TV station called "The Way." Both said they had come to protest the mosque.

"I'm a Christian," Nassralla shouted to the crowd, his eyes bulging and beads of sweat rolling down his face.

But it was no use. The protesters had become so angry at what they thought were Muslims that New York City police officers had to rush in and pull Nassralla and El Masry to safety.

"I flew nine hours in an airplane to come here," a frustrated Nassralla said afterward.

The incident underscores how contentious - and, perhaps, how irrational - the debate over the mosque has become.

Oh those wacky racists.

[Tyyr]

1) You don't necessarily know they were right wingers.
2) Oh for fuck's sake...

[Sionnach Glic]

1) You don't necessarily know they were right wingers.

I was under the impression that most of those protesting the Mosque's placement were right of centre politicaly. Would I be incorrect in this assumption?

[Tyyr]

I know lefties who aren't happy about it either. I think it's one of those things that's not falling perfectly on party lines, it's more emotional than political.

[Captain Seafort]

1) You don't necessarily know they were right wingers.

They might not be far-right, but there's about as much chance of it as the Republican party putting mass nationalisation at the top of their election manifesto.

[Sionnach Glic]

I know lefties who aren't happy about it either. I think it's one of those things that's not falling perfectly on party lines, it's more emotional than political.

Alright then (I'll admit I don't know all that much about the matter), I'll change it to something a bit more accurate.

[Captain Seafort]

I know lefties who aren't happy about it either.

When you say "lefties", do you mean "lefties" or "slightly less far-righties"? This is the US after all.

[Tyyr]

Given that we're talking about the US I'm going by US standards, that much should be obvious.

[Vic]

I find it hilarious that the far left is screaming about religious freedom, I suppose that there is room for yet more hypocrisy from our politically motivated wackos on the Left. Do they have a right to worship there? Yes, absolutly. Is it sound judgement? No, absolutly. Clueless? Possibly. Idiotic? Maybe. Calculating? Oh yes!

[Tyyr]

I find it hilarious that the far left is screaming about religious freedom, I suppose that there is room for yet more hypocrisy from our politically motivated wackos on the Left.

...what the fuck are you on about?

Do they have a right to worship there? Yes, absolutly.

And that's the legal end of it right there. Nothing about what they want to do is illegal therefore they are free to do it if they so please. If you don't like it, tough.

[Captain Seafort]

I find it hilarious that the far left is screaming about religious freedom, I suppose that there is room for yet more hypocrisy from our politically motivated wackos on the Left.

...what the f**k are you on about?

Seconded

[Mikey]

Thirded. Since when is religious freedom a "far left wacko" position?

[Captain Seafort]

Thirded. Since when is religious freedom a "far left wacko" position?

Since it applied to anyone other than the objector's particular brand of Christanity, presumably.

[Mikey]

I suppose. Better question: for it to properly be labelled "hypocrisy," wouldn't it need to be the case the the far left was heretofore strongly against religious freedom? I don't remember that being the case, unless he's counting the USSR under Stalin as the American far left.

[Captain Seafort]

unless he's counting the USSR under Stalin as the American far left.

Given that Attila the Hun would count as "far left" in the US, I doubt it.