#41457 - 08/05/10 05:52 AM
Re: Gut Check: Mosque at Ground Zero?
[Re: William Wright]
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XiaoGui17
member
Registered: 10/21/09
Posts: 310
Loc: Austin, TX
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Legal considerations aside, I agree that the move to build a mosque near Ground Zero is incredibly tacky. I mean, of all the places in New York to build, why there? A group truly committed to reconciliation would take the hint and build somewhere else. If the group made a public statement that they were voluntarily moving the location out of respect for those killed on 9/11, it would cast American Muslims in a more positive light in NY and around the country. As it is, they’re creating a PR disaster.
Exactly. Daisy is either being insincere about her desire for reconciliation or she's thicker than a brick.
One might wonder if there’s something more dastardly here than a simple “it’s private property, we can build here if we want." Perhaps the group wants retaliation, be it in the form of bacon or planes or whatever, because it perpetuates the idea of jihad. If so, then they may just get their wish.
I can definitely see that being the case. A lot of groups with victim mentalities seem to go out trying to provoke people so they can whine about how everybody's out to get them. You may be on to something here. I can totally see Daisy working up some crocodile tears with a liberal news org after someone throws a rack of pork ribs at them.
...OK the image of a rack of pork ribs sailing through the air just made me chuckle.
On that note, I think the Jack in the Box supreme croissant has both ham and bacon on it, right?
_________________________
'Tis only daylight that makes us sin.
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#41486 - 08/05/10 05:07 PM
Re: Gut Check: Mosque at Ground Zero?
[Re: 6Satan6Archist6]
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Jake999
senior member
Registered: 11/02/08
Posts: 2174
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Seems to me that if the 1st Amendment doesn't work for one, it doesn't work for all. And Freedom of Speech was championed precisely for incidents like this.
It wasn't for all people's benefit all of the time... although it IS applicable to all of the people all of the time... but for those instances where those in the minority, no matter how onerous that minority might be, might be silenced or sanctioned because of government disfavor or because they don't represent what the "core beliefs" of the society might be.
We endure hate speech and inappropriate presence daily and at times there have been years of litigations and in some cases eruptions of violence. We tolerate the KKK and Neo Nazi groups hate speech... and protest loudly against it... because they have a right to their opinions, just as we have a right to ours. We tolerate the asinine and highly inappropriate insertions of people like the Reverend Fred Phelps and his obnoxious behavior at the funeral services of US soldiers, claiming that their deaths are somehow related to tolerance of homosexuality. Street corner nut-job preachers, televangelists on cable where presumable we pay to allow things we want to watch into our homes... the list could go on and on.
Now granted, the idea of a mosque this close to a place that has become almost sanctified in its historical importance to the cultural psyche of the nation is a BAD idea. But it's private property and it's a religious organization that has all of the same rights and privileges as any other within the United States. And yes, I know that it's a slap in the face to 3,000 people killed at the hands of suicide bombers. I'll grant you that. And I'll say that I'm dead against it on a personal level.
But if the United States is going to be what it purports itself to be and not just some hollow words on a document from 234 years ago, we have to put our money where our mouth is, even if it leaves a bad taste in our mouth. We don't HAVE to like it. We don't HAVE to support it, but if we ARE "the home of the brave and the land of the free," we'll have to tolerate it.
That's not to say that every man, woman and child in America doesn't have the right to protest in front of the mosque 24 hours a day, so long as they stay within the letter of the law. That's not to say that every building and city code should not be checked, and that each "i" must be dotted and "t" crossed. That's not to say that noise abatements cannot and should not be enforced when the calls to prayer are blasted from loudspeakers, or that parking shouldn't be strictly enforced, or that any number of city ordinances be applied, just as they would be for anyone else.
And that's not to say that we shouldn't commandeer and establish the building next door for an FBI field office, brightly lit... with security cameras that catch the image of people coming and going. There are sensors these days that can detect nitrates and other bomb equipment from outside of buildings...
But we ARE a nation that champions freedom of religion and freedom of speech. We can't allow ourselves to deny it to others without denying it to ourselves.
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Bury your dead, pick up your weapon and soldier on.
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<----Oh hey look, it's Mohamed choking on a piece of bacon!!
