If I had the opportunity, I would like to ask Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf -- the man behind the building of the new mosque in New York City -- a few questions.
Why would the mosque be named "Cordoba" after a mosque in Spain, which was changed from a church to a mosque when the Muslims defeated the Christians? If the mosque is to be built, why not name it "Daisy," after his wife? The Cordoba mosque in Spain was named after the conqueror's wife.
Why does a mosque have to be erected less than 600 feet from Ground Zero? Why are you trying to erect the mosque on the 10th anniversary of 9-11?
Why did Rauf say that the United States' policies made us partially responsible for the mass murder of our own citizens?
If Rauf wants to build bridges, why doesn't he help rebuild the Greek Orthodox church that was totally destroyed on 9-11? It still has not been rebuilt, and the government of New York City is virtually silent about it.
Cindy Fuller
Beech Island, S.C.
Why is, according to faux news, the second largest investor behind faux and murdoch's media empire helping to fund the culture center (i.e. Kroc Center)?
What a confusing post, sjgraci. What's your beef with the Kroc Center?
Btw the cordoba mosque was converted to a church when the christians expell the "Los Moros" out of Spain.
All Americans should be required to convert to islam and stop questioning anything
And now we find out that Imam "Fuzzy" has had his apartment declared as a worship area so that he does not have to pay taxes on it. If we Christians pray in our homes, can we have them declared worship areas and forego paying taxes on the homes/worship areas?
this country was founded on the freedom of religion, not on one religion. this mosque was planned for quite awhile, and it is a shame that the building of this project, which will occupy a rundown building and provide services to many, is being used as a political agenda. there are at least two other mosques within the same geographical area as this proposed one. get real people. and get off of you repub agenda
If there are two other mosques in the same area, why build yet another one? By the way, noone has any objections to anyone practising their religion as long as it doesn't infringe on others or call for the murdering of others. Are you just as concerned and supportive of the Greek Orthodox church that actually was destroyed on 9-11 yet still cannot rebuild because the city refuses them permits? If you're not, your bluster about freedom of religion is hypocritical.
Readers might be interested in a blog post from Got Medieval entitled Professor Newt's Distorted History Lesson.
Excerpt:
Notice how carefully [Gingrich has] phrased his claim to give the impression that during the medieval conquest of Spain the Muslims charged into Cordoba and declared it the capital of a new Muslim empire, and in order to add insult to injury seized control of a Christian church and built the biggest mosque they could, right there in front of the Christians they'd just conquered, a big Muslim middle finger in the heart of medieval Christendom. Essentially, they've done it before, they'll do it again, right there at Ground Zero, if all good Christians don't band together to stop them.
We should all ask ourselves one question what does the 1st amendment say?
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
What's your point? Is Congress making laws to prevent a free exercise of religion here?
Other "churches" have been denied status when they were proven to be tax dodges. This guy has declared his ONE BEDROOM apartment a church and claims 500 people worship there. The property and all of the money raised under his "church" is non-taxable and they do not have to report where the money is spent. This guy is also a tax evader and a supporter of terrorist organizations who owns slum rental properties and makes his tenants pay in cash or by money order......NO CHECKS. It is correct to expose this guy for what he is and to question why a slum landlord wants to build a $100 million dollar mosque when his rental tenants have sewer pipes leaking into their apartment and he tells the tenants he cannot repair the leaks because he has no money. Sure, the constitution says he can build the mosque but that does not mean that his motives and his source of money cannot be questioned and exposed. The imam's facade of a peace loving, bridge building, "can't we all just get along" muslim is erroding rapidly as the money trail is followed and exposed and when the IRS comes to visit he will eventually back off. We will give him his constitutional rights including the right to pay taxes. Thank FOX news for exposing his "one bedroom apartment" tax free church and his "cash only" slumlord rental apartment buildings. Get him IRS!!!!! They should be interviewing his tenants and comparing that info against his reported income as we speak. Do you think the Obama administration will let the IRS investigate the imam? Not a chance unless FOX nails him to a wall publicly on TV with the "rest of the story".
Thanks dichotomy...this was my question initially too...where's the money coming from?....who's behind all this?....why is he on a "beg for money tour" overseas on our tax dollars?...something stinks here and it's not just his slum apartments spewing sewage.
I think that this imam is just like other religious people, he's in it for the business/profit. That's why we need to start taxing every religious organization in this country.
More ignorant bigotry. The Imam has already changed the name out of respect for non-Muslim's concern with the name. What is the proper number of feet? And if a community center is so egregious, what of the strip joints? Is it because there are no Muslim strippers there that make the strip joints ok? Radicals take down the Twin Towers and so all Muslims are branded terrorists? If the quote of the Imam is real and complete, I would not go so far as to blame the victim, but it is bigotry and ignorance like that of the letter-writer which present a xenophobic and arrogant face to people of different faiths and cultures. The last paragraph is so stupid that it should be self-evident to any reader who can think without the help of Fox News (sic).
This imam really doesn't have to answer anything anymore. With this Ground Zero mosque issue, muslims have just been elevated to a new "protected" class that you are not allowed to question or criticize lest you be called a racist or an angry white man (even if you aren't white or male).
He has the governments full backing - from the local level all the way up to obama.
Answer questions from us peons? I think not.
Thank you, Cindy Fuller, for a pertinent letter, that speaks for most of us, as we too would like to ask this radical imam a few questions.
However, I want to ask just one. Just one question that sums up everything for me. Just one, that nobody has asked him, and recieved a straight answer.
Question:
"Mr. Rauf, in light of the brutal, cold blooded murder of four innocent citizens in Israel yesterday, including a pregnant woman, by Hamas, who immediately claimed the credit, will you now denounce this organization as a terrorist group, bereft of any further support or verbal defense?"
The answer to this question should put the ground zero mosque issue to rest, for once and for all.
The answer to this question should then label him with the truth, instead of the rhetoric.
The question that will, most likely, never be asked.
Yes, thanks dichotomy, for that great information! Oh, wait, you'd actually need to cite some credible sources before you get taken seriously by anyone with a brain. Let me just go ahead and assume that you don't *have* any credible sources, because none exist to back up your ludicrous statements. And it's not a mosque they want to build, it's a recreation center, with a prayer room within it. They've already changed the name by the way, so you can all stop ranting about that, as it's a moot point. It's called "Park 511" or something similar.
I do agree with GAterp as well - *all* religious institutions should be taxed if they want to participate in the political process. Otherwise, no taxes, no politics. That's the way it works in our *secular* country.
My hope is that the Muslims never get to the (rumored) place they are in in other counties. Cutting off the nose of a teenager, stoning a woman, sending schoolgirls back into a burning building to get their head coverings. None of these charges might be true, but if they are true, I personally want no part of it.
Let me see we have tea partiers holding racist signs at events with a few thousand people and they say don't label them racists. Yet the acts of less than 20 hijackers wants you all to ban the most practice religion in the world from NYC.
Now concernednative, with 100 mosques in NYC, most of which have been built since 1970, it's pure bull to say that we (they) are wanting to ban the religion of Islam.
And you know the real reason for asking the question as to where the funding for the mosque near ground zero is. It goes to the heart of the reason for putting it in that particular place. If funding is coming from Anti-American Muslims, then you know darned well what the motive behind its placement is, and it isn't what the imam is currently saying it is.
Fact: The Imam is Sufi. Not a radical. He's a pacifist.
Fact: The Imam is American, believes in Western ideals, and wants a more moderate Islam.
Fact: The Imam is one of America's best tools for communication with the Islamic world. He has repeatedly shown his worth by spreading the message of peace, not war. This may explain his opposition to certain American activities, as well as his opposition to certain Middle Eastern activities.
Fact: Moderate Muslims are at war with Islamic extremism. They're fighting for control of their religion. Sufis have been bombed because their vision of Islam counters the more extremist views of Al-Qaeda and the like.
Fact: This debate has turned from "I don't think a Mosque (COMMUNITY CENTER WITH A PRAYER ROOM!!!) at Ground Zero is a good idea" to "The Imam wants to build a Mosque to gloat over Islam's victory" to "Its a terrorist plot!!!" The opposition hasn't been able to suppress their emotions and the result is plenty of yelling and little substance.
And Fed, the reason he doesn't call out Hamas as a terrorist organization is because he is a private diplomat. We need people like him to communicate with Hamas, a democratically elected governmental authority. I'm not defending Hamas, that organization is indefensible. But Imam Rauf doesn't need to denounce them. It would serve no purpose to his greater goal of greater Western-Middle Eastern dialogue.
ohhsweetconcord, So you will know the truth read up on Sharia law.
In his interview on Hadiyul-Islam by Sa'da Abdul Maksoud, Abdul Rauf was asked his views on Sharia (Islamic religious law) and the Islamic state. He responded:
Throughout my discussions with contemporary Muslim theologians, it is clear an Islamic state can be established in more than just a single form or mold. It can be established through a kingdom or a democracy. The important issue is to establish the general fundamentals of Sharia that are required to govern. It is known that there are sets of standards that are accepted by [Muslim] scholars to organize the relationships between government and the governed.
When questioned about this, Abdul Rauf continued: "Current governments are unjust and do not follow Islamic laws." He added:
New laws were permitted after the death of Muhammad, so long of course that these laws do not contradict the Quran or the Deeds of Muhammad ... so they create institutions that assure no conflicts with Sharia.
They want us to remain ignorant with our heads in the sand. They believe that it is ok to lie and cheat if in the end they help achieve a Muslim state.
It is amazing how short liberal's memories are; 9/11 was only 9 years ago. Wakeup people; are you really that stupid!
ohhsweetconcord, ‘He lists 5 qualities that represent Sharia compliance: The right to life, the right to freedom of religion, the right to family, the right to property, and the right to mental well being.’
He does list 5 but he believes in all of them. Read up on what Sharia compliance REALLY MEANS. Please read for yourself I could tell but you wouldn’t believe it.
The bottom line on this debate is not about the right to build a mosque or a church or anything else. It is about whether this is a good idea, given the social, attitudinal climate in American at this point in time regarding Muslims.
Even now, after all the events of the past 30 years of having Muslims across the world attack, murder, kidnap, bomb and hold hostage thousands upon thousands of Americans, simply because they are Americans, most of us are content to live and let live regarding Muslims in our own communities. It's not universally true, but the occasions even of protest are rare.
This mosque and the way the planners are approaching the issue of its placement, could hardly be more obtuse, or else they really are trying to poke us in the eye. Nobody in their right mind would think to set up a symbol so directly and intimately linked with the devils who attacked us on 9/11, and actually believe it would ever been viewed as a place for fostering greater mutual understanding.
Ground Zero and the near environs are sacred ground to Americans, just as Auschwitz and Gettysburg have been made sacred by the thousands of lives that were sacrificed and lost in those places.
If this dunce of an imam needs an example of the appropriate response, he need look no further than the example of John Paul II. He closed a convent of nuns because they located themselves near Auschwitz, something he considered an affront because the place is sacred primarily to Jews, not Christians.
The best article I've read on this issue is by Charles Krauthammer, an extremely balanced and intelligent man, conservative though he is. He is not religious, however.
Link to the Wapo opinion piece:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/12/AR201008...
Fact: The guarantee of religious freedom applies only to Judeo/Christian religions.
Fact: John Quincy Adams and other important early American political leaders saw Islam for what it truly is - a primitive and violent blood cult masquerading as a religion.
Fact: Winston Churchill noted that while individual Muslims may display splendid qualities, The influence of the religion impedes the social progress of those who follow it.
Fact: Nearly every Sura in the Koran is filled with verses which incite violence and contempt for Christians and Jews.
Fact: Followers of Islam viscously murdered over 3,000 Americans on 9/11. Muslims throughout the world celebrated the attack. Muslims, such as the Imam in question, attempt to blame this country for the attack.
The video of those planes hitting the towers should be shown daily on Tv and in every school. The pictures of those brave responders who died while trying to save their fellow Americans should be shown as well. On 9/11/01, Islam declared war on the United States. Apparently, some Americans and some of our political "leaders" haven't yet realized this.
9/11/01 - Never forget & Never forgive.
Jesus reads the hate filled posts on this forum and weeps.
Momster59, surely you are commenting on the obvious fact the supporters of Islam who have posted here are filled with hate.
Momster59, surely you are commenting on the obvious fact the supporters of Islam who have posted here are filled with hate.
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