A Stupid Idea?

[History]

In what way have I treated you unequal in discussing our different beliefs?

 

I think you are taking yourself a bit too seriously here RM.

[Run To State]

The conversation has evolved.

If regressing equates to evolved....OK.... :lol:

[cammando]

more... http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100817/ap_on_re_us/us_ground_zero_mosque_paterson

[True blue (and gold)]

I don't have a 'side'. I'm an American, I believe in freedom of religion, freedom of speech, the right to a speedy trial, and a jury of my peers, among many other things. I refuse to succumb to fear mongering and refuse to treat people who are different than I by belief system, skin color or gender as anything but equal.

 

:thumb:

 

BTW, I am in my 15th year of teaching public high school and kids have always wished each other "Merry Christmas." They also wear cross necklaces, FCA t-shirts, and read the Bible in their free time.

[woodsrider]

If regressing equates to evolved....OK.... :lol:

 

In response to your original question, yes I think it is a stupid idea and I don't like it. However this is America and if it's legal then they should be allowed to build it.

[woodsrider]

I think you are taking yourself a bit too seriously here RM.

You may want to take a gander in the mirror.

[Habib]

This is one of the most cogent responses to the backlash against this development and one I agree with in full, from a conservative perspective no less: A Very Long Post on Cordoba House. It's certainly worth reading the whole piece.

[SKINPIG]

A few questions for those that don’t think it’s a bad idea to build the mosque at or near the site of the World Trade Center attacks. Would you build something in a community where a vast majority of its citizens opposed it, and it’s not your livelihood? If you could build the same exact thing in another location and it makes most of those opposed happy, would you? If you knew it would fester and continue to divide people from that community and across an entire nation would you still build it, even if you thought those opposed were wrong? For what reasons would you continue building…The “hope” that those opposed would change? Would you continue building for spite, or just because you have the right? Or would you simply be humble and move to another location while hoping you could avoid hurting those that lost loved ones so near to the site?

 

They have the right to build it and I think those opposed will be strong enough to get over it in time. I just can’t for the life of me figure out why they don’t avoid all this by picking another location, that is if peace, love and harmony is what they are about. Whether I thought those so adamantly opposed or hurt by something I was building was right or wrong, I think I would just move it somewhere else and be done with it, unless I was interested in antagonizing.

 

I think it’s a bad idea. Who thinks it’s a good idea?

[75center]

Great post Skin.

[True blue (and gold)]

A few questions for those that don’t think it’s a bad idea to build the mosque at or near the site of the World Trade Center attacks. Would you build something in a community where a vast majority of its citizens opposed it, and it’s not your livelihood? If you could build the same exact thing in another location and it makes most of those opposed happy, would you? If you knew it would fester and continue to divide people from that community and across an entire nation would you still build it, even if you thought those opposed were wrong? For what reasons would you continue building…The “hope” that those opposed would change? Would you continue building for spite, or just because you have the right? Or would you simply be humble and move to another location while hoping you could avoid hurting those that lost loved ones so near to the site?

 

They have the right to build it and I think those opposed will be strong enough to get over it in time. I just can’t for the life of me figure out why they don’t avoid all this by picking another location, that is if peace, love and harmony is what they are about. Whether I thought those so adamantly opposed or hurt by something I was building was right or wrong, I think I would just move it somewhere else and be done with it, unless I was interested in antagonizing.

 

I think it’s a bad idea. Who thinks it’s a good idea?

 

I think that the easier choice would be for it to be put elsewhere. But, does easier mean that it is the right thing to do? I believe that back in our nation's history there were neighborhoods in which the majority of the residents didn't want blacks to move in, for whatever (silly, to put it mildly) reasons. It certainly would have been easier for no blacks to move in, however, in many cases they did. Maybe they wanted better schools or access to certain areas. It doesn't matter what their reasons were for choosing to not take the easy road and move in a "black" neighborhood. It doesn't matter why others were opposed to it. They had the right to do so.

 

Personally, I have made no determination whether it is a "stupid" idea to have this Islamic center two blocks from Ground Zero. I can see why some people are offended by it, but I don't think that makes them right. I can see why those wanting to build it there do so. I am not one of those that assign nefarious reasons to all Muslims (nor all Christians, Jews, Hindu, atheists, etc.). I think each person should be judged on his/her own merit, not on what broad religion that they belong to.

 

Lastly, they have the legal right to build it. That's the most important thing.

[cammando]

More.. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_ground_zero_mosque_us_muslims

[SKINPIG]

I think that the easier choice would be for it to be put elsewhere. But, does easier mean that it is the right thing to do? I believe that back in our nation's history there were neighborhoods in which the majority of the residents didn't want blacks to move in, for whatever (silly, to put it mildly) reasons. It certainly would have been easier for no blacks to move in, however, in many cases they did. Maybe they wanted better schools or access to certain areas. It doesn't matter what their reasons were for choosing to not take the easy road and move in a "black" neighborhood. It doesn't matter why others were opposed to it. They had the right to do so.

 

Personally, I have made no determination whether it is a "stupid" idea to have this Islamic center two blocks from Ground Zero. I can see why some people are offended by it, but I don't think that makes them right. I can see why those wanting to build it there do so. I am not one of those that assign nefarious reasons to all Muslims (nor all Christians, Jews, Hindu, atheists, etc.). I think each person should be judged on his/her own merit, not on what broad religion that they belong to.

 

Lastly, they have the legal right to build it. That's the most important thing.

 

Best case scenario, they build somewhere else. Worst case scenario, some form of our government tells them they can't build.

[True blue (and gold)]

Best case scenario, they build somewhere else. Worst case scenario, some form of our government tells them they can't build.

 

This would be a very sad worst case scenario. The slope of religious intolerance is too dangerous.

[True blue (and gold)]

I thought that this 9/11 widow had an interesting perspective on this issue.

 

Now I wanted to be a part of a new and more positive outlook, one that would embrace memory, yes, but also vision. Where before there were ungainly monuments to finance, there might be a university or an educational facility, perhaps some sort of journalistic enterprise, a cultural center, even a museum of tolerance and understanding—because to understand was not to accept terrorism but to seek its opposite.

 

http://open.salon.com/blog/1womansvu/2010/08/19/not_my_ground_zero

[rockmom]

I found this to be an interesting read in the NYT today.