Racist anti-muslim protesters mistake black person for muslim in new york

Iman Rauf has himself referred to it as the Ground Zero Mosque so now it's not ok for those against it to use the exact same title?

As for those who though Obama was Muslim, maybe that's because of his statements about his Islamic childhood in Indonesia, the call to prayer being the most beautiful sound in the world etc, the fact that he has recited the Muslim call to prayer all things that could possibly explain why some people thought he was Muslim.

Some Muslims will see it as a symbol of triumph, of course not all will but the mere fact that some will makes it insensitive to build in that particular area where it is not required imo.

The Guardian opinion piece is all well and good, but with the Saudi's financing it then there is every possibility that they will try to teach their strict interpretation of Islam and Sharia.

 

islam build mosques at sites of their conquests and victories?

what the *..i mean how..where the * do these dickheads get these odd punchlines from..

typical yankee right wing scum, can't point to afghanistan on a map but profess to be self styles experts on a religion most of them only ever hear in the tabloids

 

bin laden lol

 

Been seeing this story on the Daily Show/Colbert Report last week, some of the stuff people come out with is just maddening, fox news is just beyond a joke, they shouldn't be allowed the have the word news in their name they spend so much time just stirring up hatred.

Pretty sad that so many people think Muslim = al qaeda, therefore all muslims are terrorists, so a mosque must be a terrorist training ground.

It's like saying your local catholic church is actively recruiting for the IRA.

As has already been mentioned, it's not even really a mosque, and it's not actually at ground zero. An old coat factory is hardly too important a site to takeover is it.

It's religious discrimination no question, there's no reason it shouldn't be built, nobody would be screaming if it was a church, or anything not Islamic. Not like the muslim community is going to be sitting celebrating in victory that there's a now a mosque near ground zero, like they've attacked and now they're taking over, it wasn't just white christians that died in the towers.

 

What about building a mosque on top of the holiest site in Juddaism, or turning the Hagia Sophia into a Mosque after renaming Constantinople, or what about seizing Joseph's Tomb, or Cordoba in Spain, or how about turning churches into Mosques in Europe, Asia and the Middle East, or even the ethnical cleansing from Mecca so that even today non-Muslims are not allowed to enter the city? Is none of that examples of where mosques have been built at the site of their victories, or did none of that actually happen?

 

Come on now, Islam is hardly the only group to build on and reappropriate sights of significance for their own ends throughout history, you're demonising them.

Christianity/Western Culture has been as bad as anyone for those type of shenanigans.

 

I didn't say they were the only group that does this the other poster said this doesn't happen and I gave examples of how it has and continues to happen, my point is that some Muslims will see it as a symbol of triumph, and to me that is what makes this particular site insensitive.

Why not build the mosque in an area with a Muslim community?

Why not provide full transparency of who is financing it - in one report Imam Rauf is saying it's American Muslim donators in another it's foreign groups and countries, if it is going to be financed by groups linked to extremism then I don't think it should be built at all never mind on that particular site.

 

im not too clue about jerusalem..but it was a church, synagogue and a mosque i think..that place changed hands so many times.

Hagia Sophia? well it was a orthodox cathedral..the turks never desecrated or sacked it unlike theose scumbags the 4th crusade..actually the turks just tweaked hagia didn't actually "convert it into a mosque"

turning churches into mosques? why would they want to when alot of or fair numkber of arabs are christian.. isn't parts of jerusalem segregated into orthodox,catholic, jews and muslims they all share the same city pretty much a bit like acre. Have their been any churches turned into mosques in the present day?..theres thousands of churches in the east, why aren't they mosques?

"mosques built at sites of victories" thats quite a problematic statement in itself..i mean if such a statemenmt was true there would be a mosque at kosovo...

 

Are there any churches or synagogues in that district? If yes, than I see no problem with a mosque being there.

 

History is littered with example of the Catholic Church doing the same and worse. Indeed, Spain under Moslem control was for the most part a shining example of religious tolerance - to the extent that many Jews moved there, to escape persecution at the hands of the Christians.

This image of Islam as intolerant is largely spin as far as I can see. The basic philosophy of the Quran - don't attack other people, but if they attack you then you can pretty much slaughter them - derives from exactly the same Semitic rules of hygiene and conduct as the Bible. In fact it includes caveats designed to moderate the worst aspects of Biblical teaching (stuff like how to shave the heads of captured female slaves before having intercourse with them - Deuteronomy 21)

Incidentally, the proposed Ground Zero mosque is not a mosque at all, nor is it at Ground Zero. That's just one more example of spin.

 

It's not even a mosque, but ''Islamic Community Centre that is open to the public and is 300 yards away from ground zero'' is not anywhere near as catchy as ''9/11 mosque''.

 

Aye, it will have a swimming pool and a basketball court, and they've said they're hoping it will be a focus point for inter-faith dialogue.

Unfortunately, as far as the Christian Right are concerned, "inter-faith dialogue" is somewhat akin to inter-race marriage.

 

Yes. I hear those examples from a lot of liberals worldwide. At the time the Christian nations could indeed learn a lot about tolerance from the islamic nations.

But today it's the other way round. I don't care about Jews escaping to Islamic Spain hundred's of years ago, because today thousands of people have to escape to the tolerant, Christian nations from a lot of intolerant islamic regimes (Iran, Lybia, Syria, Saudi Arabia etc.)

So don't come up with what happened a long time ago. It isn't relevant in today's view on Islam.

 

No one is building a Mosque at Ground Zero. It's just not happening. It's not true. It's a lie, one perpertrated by people who want people to feel hurt, upset, afraid and staggering amounts of racist stupidity. It's in an abadonded factory several blocks away.

So, is the argument against any EVEL MOSLIM TERORIST HIDEOUTS in lower Manhattan? Nope! Because it's not even a Mosque.

A Mosque, by definition, is a purely religious structure. What they are building is a public community centre that will contain, among other things, a Basketball court. Yes it'll have a prayer space, but you don't call a Hospital a Chapel just because it has an alter inside it somewhere, do you?

So, a community centre in the lower Manhattan area has been stirred up into 'TERRORISTS AT GROUND ZERO!! VOTE FOR SARAH PALIN!!!'

I leave it down to you, the reader of this post, to assess the stu-*-pidity of this whole thing.

 

Wait, what? A community centre is preventing someone else from expressing their faith?

I take it then you object to the 100m CATHEDRAL that neighbours the Rockefeller Plaza?

 

Legally speaking, they have every right to build it there.... but that doesn't mean doing such a thing is in good taste either.

 

Where did I say that, I said that the Muslim faith also has to show tolerance to others, if I go to some Islamic countries I can not practice my faith as it is against the law, my point is they cry for religious freedom in the west while denying that same freedom to others. Where is the religious tolerance of the Islamic faith when the punishment for converting to a different faith is death?

If it was getting built today in an area where it wasn't required then yes I would object to it for being a complete waste of money.

As I've already stated I have two main reasons for opposing this, firstly it's insensitive to build an Islamic centre in the shadow of an atrocity that was carried out in the name of Islam. I am not saying all Muslims are terrorist, however, the terrorist carried out their attack in the name of their religion therefore it's understandable why some people would be upset that a centre for the promotion of that faith was built so close to where their loved ones died because of extremists within that religion.

Secondly, I would like to know exactly who is financing the $100million building as if it is groups linked to extremist or countries such as Saudi Arabia then I don't think that's right as putting that much money into a project they'll certainly want to excerise some control over what is preached.

Is the mosque really needed when there already over 100 Mosques in NYC (I have seen it described as an Islamic Centre with a Mosque in it by Imam Rauf himself, so is it ok for those in favour to refer to it as a mosque but not those opposed?)

 

what islamic countries might they be? jesus lived in the middle east all of his life, there are churches in downtown lebanon, syria, israel e.t.c

because a few saudi wahibbi scumbags carry out attacks in their self proclaimed name of islam, doesn't mean to say terrorism is endorsed by islam itself.

what about all the innocent people killed by amerikan bombs..or america trumping around the world giving out 'democracy' to foreign countries only to set various factions upon each other..american soldiers commiting war crimes in afghanistan / iraq...

 

It doesn't really matter what happens in far away countries, we're talking about America, freedom of religion is in the their constitution.

The fact that other countries that happen to be Islamic are rife with intolerance doesn't excuse showing intolerance to followers of Islam there, here or anywhere.

You tolerate other people's beliefs because it's the right thing to do, you don't pick and choose based on what happens elsewhere.

 

What do Islamic nations have to do with the fantastic bigotry appearing over a community centre in downtown Manhattan?

By that same logic, any American monument, flag, insignia or McDonald's anywhere in Manhattam is an offense to what remains of the Lenape people.

In other words, insane guilt-by-association logic.

You're not saying that all Muslims are terrorists, but you're claiming to understand people who are saying pretty much exactly that?

We're also back to our insane guilt-by-association logic. Who's standing up for the Lenape, huh?!

Because a community centre in downtown Manhattan MUST be financed by Wahhabi Terrorists. How else would a Mosque be involved? After all, every wealthy Muslim and/or Islamic group makes money from hating freedom. It's obvious.

It's a community centre with a prayer area in it. You could call it The Batcave if you want, it is what it is. A Hospital isn't a Chapel by virtue of having an alter in it.

People are just hearing the words "9/11" and "Mosque" and letting that bigoted undercurrent bubble up to the surface. It might be hidden under a guise of "USA! USA! USA!" and "DEFENDING THE FREEDOM OF [Heterosexual, Christian and preferably upper-class] AMERICA!" but it is what it is.