Mosque Being Built 2 Blocks Away From Ground Zero... What Do You Think?

[Storm613]

So one of my Facebook Friends posted something about this and it seems to be a pretty hot topic right now. There are opinions on both ends of this, and I'd like to see what you guys think.

As for me, I think they should be free to build it. Here's Why:

• The Mosque would be built two blocks away from the site of the attack. Not ON ground zero. It's not the same.
• Isn't this one of the things our country is build upon? The right for people to worship who they want, when they want, and where they want?
• Not all Muslims are extremists like the Taliban.
• Let's compare Adolf Hitler to Osama bin Laden. Hitler called himself a Christian. bin Laden calls himself a Muslim. People do not tell Christians where to build their Churches just because Hitler was a VERY EXTREME christian. Why should people tell Muslims where to build their mosques just because Osama bin Laden is a VERY EXTREME Muslim?
• An extension to that point - There are atleast two churches within two blocks of Ground Zero. Hitler was christian. Why aren't people complaining about them?
• Saying it is wrong to build a Mosque two blocks away from Ground Zero is like saying it is wrong to build a Mosque in New York City period. You might think its not the same, but where would you draw the line?
• They want to build the Mosque on a PRIVATE LOT two blocks away from Ground Zero. Not a Public Location. Who are we to tell people what to build on a private lot?

Now before you go cursing people out here, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Please respect the opinions of others.

Aaaaaaand... GO!

 

[Swizz]

People have too much time on their hands. They have to fill this void by lashing out at groups of people. It's the Muslim's turn right now. Fortunately, this group of "outraged and insulted" people are a very small percentage. Unfortunately, they are really friggin loud, making it appear that they are the majority.

Eventually, they will run out of steam and move on to the next event that is a crime against honest Americans, or whatever their mantra is. If we ignore it, and stop posting facebook crap about nonissues, it will go away sooner.

 

[Foxgguy2001]

I don't care what they do... if the land is available and they can afford it... build away.

 

[Member138406]

This was being discussed in the Politics sub category, but pretty much what you said. No reason a Mosque should not be allowed to be built there because of an extremist party. I would think they would have shyed away from it to avoid the backlash tho..

 

[byteware]

Here's my thoughts (They are a little nuanced, so please read carefully):

1) I believe that they have EVERY RIGHT to build the mosque there.

2) I believe that they SHOULDN'T build the mosque there.

3) I cannot believe that the controversy didn't occur to them before they decided to build the mosque there.

4) I cannot believe that they don't understand that the "COMPASSIONATE" thing to do, would be to build the mosque elsewhere.

5) I believe that they are trying to make some kind of statement by building the mosque there.




So, I believe that they have every right to do what they are doing, but I view them like I would a banker who forecloses on an orphanage, and kicks the kids out on the street. It's legal, it's constitutional, but that doesn't make it morally right.

 

[hakr100]

There's a mosque inside the Pentagon, dedicated years after 9-11. The Pentagon was Ground Zero in the Washington, D.C., area.

The Republicans think they have an issue with Obama's support of Moslems who want to build a house of worship.

The mosque in the Pentagon was built and dedicated during the terms of George W. Bush.

Will the Republicans be protesting the Pentagon mosque?

Doubtful.

 

[byteware]

There's a mosque inside the Pentagon, dedicated years after 9-11. The Pentagon was Ground Zero in the Washington, D.C., area.

The Republicans think they have an issue with Obama's support of Moslems who want to build a house of worship.

The mosque in the Pentagon was built and dedicated during the terms of George W. Bush.

Will the Republicans be protesting the Pentagon mosque?

Doubtful.

You are comparing the government building worship facilities for the military (something, I'm fairly certain that they are required to do by law), to this controversy?

It seems a little ingenuous.

The Chaplain who operates that mosque was already stationed at the pentagon and ministering to the Muslims who were serving there, when the attacks happened on 9/11.

There was a need for religious facilities for those service members, and those facilities were provided.

I'm sorry, you can't compare the decision to provide worship facilities to service members, to this decision.

One is fulfilling an organizational need, and the other is specifically to inflict pain on survivors.

I don't see how you can really compare the two.

 

[Zenze]

To me its not a big deal. However, to not allow them to build it would be a violation of the constitution.

 

[electric monk]

"the other is specifically to inflict pain on survivors."

That's a strong statement. Any objective proof to back it up?

 

[avacomputers]

I think it's small minded, racist people that think it's a bad idea. Every person in this country is allowed to choose his or her religion. Yes muslims did carry out the attacks on 9/11. But that was a small group, it doesn't mean that all muslims are bad. They should be allowed to build there if they can afford it. We cannot discriminate based on religion or national origin.

 

[Crude]

http://androidforums.com/politics-current-affairs/130741-you-knopw-things-bad-when.html

 

[imtoomuch]

I can't believe you people! Two buildings were destroyed and thousands of people were killed by a couple of Muslims and you think it's OK for that religion to build a mosque in that area? WTF?!

So if some biker from the Warlocks comes in and rapes and kills your mother/wife/daughter and then the Warlocks decide to build a clubhouse right down the road from your house you'll be OK with it, right?

This country is filled with soft idiots who are afraid to offend anybody!

 

[hakr100]

I can't believe you people! Two buildings were destroyed and thousands of people were killed by a couple of Muslims and you think it's OK for that religion to build a mosque in that area? WTF?!

So if some biker from the Warlocks comes in and rapes and kills your mother/wife/daughter and then the Warlocks decide to build a clubhouse right down the road from your house you'll be OK with it, right?

This country is filled with soft idiots who are afraid to offend anybody!

That religion did not bring the towers down...some crazed followers of that religion did.

You apparently are unaware of the atrocities committed over the centuries by the followers of jesus...

 

[vistauser]

If you say that the mosque should not be built, what you are saying is Muslim = terrorist.

This is clearly wrong. Hence there should be no reason why the building should not go ahead.

A couple of other points, a community centre will be built. In the community centre there will be a room where people will be allowed to pray. The building will not be an out and out mosque, in the traditional sense.

People like Sarah Palin, is using the 9/11 tragedy to further her political career. Ironically, the building of the community centre is more popular amongst New Yorkers than Sarah Palin

 

[Zlanu]

What I don't understand are the people saying that it is "morally wrong" to build that Mosque.

How is it morally wrong? Just because Muslim extremists went and blew up the Twin Towers? Yes, 3000 people did die and that is a tragedy and the only other great tragedy of a foreign attack I can think of is the whole Pearl Harbor incident. There are tons of Japanese living in America and they can build their Japanese things around Pearl Harbor and the rest of USA and no one has a problem with that. I know, not the best of examples...but yeah.

Let's not forget that America helped Afghanistan against the Soviets. Literally supplied weapons to Bin Laden and the Taliban to fight the Soviets. Worked together with them! If Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda truly believed in what they are saying now, they would have refused to work with "infidel" Americans back then.

It's all political what they're doing. Carve a name out for yourself and strike fear into the hearts of the strongest nation in the world. They're only using Islam as a front for their heinous acts. They could have chosen any other religion but it was the religion they were raised with and it's the easiest to manipulate their own people with. So they use it. But it's not Islam that's attacking, it's Al-Qaeda and Bin Laden and they don't represent Islam.

What does represent Islam is the Mosque that is being built 2 blocks away from Ground Zero, on private land, for the benefit of everyone there. So let them build it, I say. It's going to go through a lot of trouble. Once the building is built, I foresee a lot of protests and picketing and maybe some violence but if the Muslims are willing to put up with it and willing to defend their turf, then they definitely deserve to build their Mosque there.

It's sad that history is forgotten so quickly and that this issue is being turned into Islamophobia but those are the times we live in.

 

[Storm613]

I can't believe you people! Two buildings were destroyed and thousands of people were killed by a couple of Muslims and you think it's OK for that religion to build a mosque in that area? WTF?!

So if some biker from the Warlocks comes in and rapes and kills your mother/wife/daughter and then the Warlocks decide to build a clubhouse right down the road from your house you'll be OK with it, right?

This country is filled with soft idiots who are afraid to offend anybody!

So if the biker was a Christian, it would be bad for a group of Christians completely unrelated to said Christian biker to build a Church down the road?

Think about it. The Taliban represents a very very very minuscule portion of the Islamic community. This biker would represent a very very very very minuscule portion of the Christian (and biker) community. Why should the very very very minuscule portion of the community affect how people see the community as a whole?

 

[A.Nonymous]

A better example is this: George Tiller was a nationally famous abortion doctor. He was murdered by a guy who claimed to be a Christian and did it because God (allegedly) told him to. Would it be morally wrong to build a church two blocks from the Tiller clinic?

9/11 was perpetrated by a group of men who claimed Allah told them to do what they did. How is it any different than my example?

 

[hakr100]

A better example is this: George Tiller was a nationally famous abortion doctor. He was murdered by a guy who claimed to be a Christian and did it because God (allegedly) told him to. Would it be morally wrong to build a church two blocks from the Tiller clinic?

9/11 was perpetrated by a group of men who claimed Allah told them to do what they did. How is it any different than my example?

It isn't.

 

[Storm613]

A better example is this: George Tiller was a nationally famous abortion doctor. He was murdered by a guy who claimed to be a Christian and did it because God (allegedly) told him to. Would it be morally wrong to build a church two blocks from the Tiller clinic?

9/11 was perpetrated by a group of men who claimed Allah told them to do what they did. How is it any different than my example?

It wouldn't be morally wrong to build a Church two blocks from the Tiller Clinic because the members of the church would (most likely) be completely unassociated with the murderer.

Just because a wackjob uses God as an excuse to murder does not mean Christians are all murders.

The same goes for comparing The Taliban to all Muslims.

 

[Storm613]

Just saw this on AOL.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg Speaks Out Again in Favor of Mosque Near Ground Zero

 

[bugeyed]

I think all Americans should travel to the middle east or somewhere equally diverse & see that, for the most part, those who live there are much like us. They aren't the stereotypes that we read about & most Europeans that I know are better informed about our politics than many Americans. It would be a valuable lesson for those who believe that we are superior simply because we have the most powerful military. We see the rest of the world through the filter of our media & the more unlike us a culture is, the more we look down our noses at them. Some of us need to get off their high horses & learn something about the world. Maybe even study a bit of history. Oh, BTW I don't have a problem with the Muslim cultural center in NY.
Cheers,
kev
P.S. I am an American & a veteran & a patriot.

 

[Storm613]

I think all Americans should travel to the middle east or somewhere equally diverse & see that, for the most part, those who live there are much like us. They aren't the stereotypes that we read about & most Europeans that I know are better informed about our politics than many Americans. It would be a valuable lesson for those who believe that we are superior simply because we have the most powerful military. We see the rest of the world through the filter of our media & the more unlike us a culture is, the more we look down our noses at them. Some of us need to get off their high horses & learn something about the world. Maybe even study a bit of history. Oh, BTW I don't have a problem with the Muslim cultural center in NY.
Cheers,
kev
P.S. I am an American & a veteran & a patriot.

I thank you for your opinion, and your service in the military. What branch?

 

[ionekoa]

"i think anyone who dissagrees with me is a shallow, racist narrowminded bastard. if you dont think the same way i do you are obviously a lowlife piece of scum fueled only by hate and bigotry." ~ pro mosque argument.

no one has ever said that they dont have the right to build it there, the question is whether or not it would be prudent. the comparison between tiller and the trade center is not even close. george tiller =/= 3000+ people. bullets from a gun =/= large scale devastation.

i personally don't care one way or another, but the fact that people who are "for" the mosque without fail resort to ad-hominim attacks of racism, bigotry and xenophobia leads me to believe that they dont have much going for them.

 

[BobPaul]

What I find sad is all the comparisons being made to other religions when it is obvious that people are not educated about "why" they should fear Islam.

I hear it all the time, well the Muslims are just mad because of oil. What of the history that predates oil? Predates the U.S.?

I find it incredibly arrogant that so many American's believe they only pissed off the Muslims in the past decade or so. Most American's are arrogant and uneducated on this point. This crap was happening WAY before America even existed.

There is much history here folks, educate yourselves.

I wonder, to the Europeans herein, did you learn about Islam's goal of a Caliphate in
southern Europe, you know the one that started around 700 AD? Did you learn of the 700 years in Spain in you education? Very, very few American's studied this topic.

Go ahead, flame me.

 

[bugeyed]

Storm613
"I thank you for your opinion, and your service in the military. What branch?"

USAF. I spent time all over Europe. It was quite an education. Growing up I lived in Libya & Spain, so I had a somewhat open mind early on. I know a lot of people who haven't traveled much & I see shades of the stereotyping that is so common. It's a natural process, but one thing that I have learned is that no matter where you come from, it is your "home" & you are proud of it. It is a very interesting thing to consider the background some of these countries have. In Italy you can walk on a street that Leonardo DeVinci walked on & in Spain sit by a fountain that the Moors enjoyed over 800 years ago. That's actually pretty recent history for the area. My point is, the people of these countries have a lot to be proud of & it's important to keep that in mind.
Thanks for the thanks.
Cheers,
kev
P.S. Sorry to sound preachy, but I am enjoying thinking back about those places.