Local (Houston) Talk Radio Host Calls for Blowing Up of Mosque

That is a valid concern but the area around the former WTC is heavy with security. I can only imagine them increasing security with a mosque nearby. Also, there is going to be a big transit hub completed there soon so there will probably be a permanent police station on the premises. Maybe in 20 years when we let our guard down something will happen but in the next decade, the financial district in Manhattan is pretty darn safe. If another major terrorist attack hit NYC or anywhere in the USA, then I would fear for the mosque's safety because it is hard to stop an angry mob.

 

LOL @ ATW.

 

Why? It's being built(or intended on being built) to show people that Muslims were greatly affected by the attacks and to educate others that the terrorists do not represent Islam, while the worshipers at the mosque do represent Islam. If anyone has any doubts or questions about Islam, they have easy access to a mosque which can answer all their questions.

As a side note, I would recommend ATW, DD, and anyone else who have genuine curiosity about Islam to go visit a local established mosque and ask all the questions in the world to them if you want the most accurate responses. I can pretty much guarantee they won't drive you away but they will welcome you in with open arms and will have a genuine dialogue with you.

 

BB99, thanks for the offer, but I am not interested in becoming a Muslim, so why would I go to a mosque. There is plenty of information in the public domain.

 

The site or the mosque is not on the actual site of the WTC. It's a few blocks down which I don't see a need for getting the victims consent. Sure, they could do it out of common courtesy but I it doesn't seem necessary or disrespectful if they didn't.

 

In support of this, I think it is actually a big "F You" to al Qaeda. Their goal is to create a giant holy war between Christianity/Judiasm and Islam. A mosque on ground zero says to al Qaeda, "The biggest, most impressive attack that you could come up with, it failed miserably. It just made us more determined to make sure people of different faiths can all get along and live forever." I think if Americans freak out and prevent a mosque from being built, that is exactly the bad guys want. It brings them closer to their goal of international religious holy war.

I understand the emotional reaction against it, but I would hope that with a bit of reflection the opinion would change.

 

lol I'm just saying thats the place where you will get the most accurate info and the best place for any questions to be answered. No one will force conversion or try to persuade you into believing what they say. I've seen nonmuslims come in mosques out of curiosity and have sat in during Friday prayers just to get a feel of what majority of Muslims are actually like. They can explain Islam a hell of a lot better than posters on this site and in some questionable online sources. They won't go in detail to confuse, it'll be kept simple. You don't have to if you don't want, but that's the place with the best answers to any questions.

 

It depends on what is in the mosque and how people in the mosque "live it". There are mosques with hate preachers in them and there are mosques with preachers who preach love in them.

I want to know what people think of this Rabbi's suggestion:

I have a simple, elegant, and deeply moral solution. Let the Islamic Cultural Center be built. Let the mosque be included. But, the Muslim organizations building it should commit right now to making the principal focus of the building a museum depicting the rise of Islamic extremism, its hate-based agenda, and how it is an abomination to Islam. The museum would feature exhibits showing the major fomenters of Islamic hatred worldwide and the cultural and religious factors that have gained them so wide a following. It would have exhibitions on some of the terrible atrocities committed by these Islamic fundamentalists, focusing specifically on the slaughter at Ground Zero on 9/11. The Islamic Center would have a major exhibition on the evil of Osama bin Laden, detailing his crimes against humanity and the number of innocent people he has killed. Most importantly, the museum would repudiate these haters by showing how their actions are an abomination to authentic Islamic teaching and how every G-d-fearing Muslim has a responsibility to spit them out.

Who could possibly object to Muslims coming together to create a museum condemning growing Islamic intolerance and call Osama bin Laden, Hamas, and Hezbollah what they are - perversions of Islam that are defiling and destroying a great world religion.

If the groups building the Cultural Center and mosque are prepared to make this its focus they will have proven that they are not only enormously sensitive to the families of the victims who lost loved ones there, but that they are courageous voices who wish to take back their religion from the fiends who purport to represent it.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rabbi-shmuley-boteach/is-a-giant-mosque-at-grou_b_578195.html

If that is what the mosque contains, then I can believe that it is about doing a big "F*** you" to Al Qaeda.

If it is just a mosque that preaches superiority of Islam over everything else - then it is more like planting a flag in conquered land.

 

ATW, this is an odd response lol.

You don't need a mosque to convert + mosques are not for conversion. It just so happens that there would be a knowledgeable person there who can answer questions more precisely and clearly than your average website.

 

BB99, I'll think about it - seriously. Thanks for the idea. If I do it, I'll report back here.

 

Not as odd as you would think - I'm not sure I want to personally visit houses of prayer of all the religions that are out there and enter into a deep conversation with believers of each religion. It's more than I can take, I'm afraid.

 

A basic belief in Islam is that this world we are living in is a test/trial. Muslims should abide by the rules of Islam and resist the temptations of this world(alcohol/wine, etc) and they will get to enjoy stuff in the hereafter which were prohibited in this world except that the heavens will have much better to offer than in this life. As I said in a previous post, if you want these contradictions that you believe to be explained, a local established mosque will provide the best answers. Just a suggestion.

 

I want DD, ATW, or any others to bear in mind first and foremost there is no "best" answer or a middle-man/clergy to give you authoritative responses. Instead, their remarks should be guiding tools at most so you can get a gist of the issue, so don't get bogged down in semantics. It's all about individual pursuit of knowledge with good intentions and honest/peaceful discussions with people of other beliefs.

 

As shown by his previous history of posting, it is clear that DD isn't really interested in getting logical explanations for things he wonders about. Instead, he would rather sink deeper in his ignorance and blind hatred toward everything pertaining to Islam.

 

I think denying a mosque here is in fact a type of bigotry that's being washed away as something else.

It's blatant generalization to say that because 19 people committed a heinous crime in the name of a religion that the other 1 billion followers of that religion should be punished too.

Because of what 19 did, we must deny the other 999,999,981 Muslims the right to worship at the scene of a devastating massacre. Because it might "offend" some people. Deny those 999,999,981 because of what 19 did to offend people. This is a message of intolerance. This is basically saying, if anyone in your group commits a scaring crime, then the whole group is associated with that one person.

Denying a mosque here is basically saying, "This is offensive because anyone who is Muslim offends me" It really teaches a wrong message and I question anyone's freedom of bias who doesn't see that. It basically is a condemnation of Islam as being responsible for 9/11 and there for it's no longer accepted as a legitimate religion now. You can't build a mosque here, but you can build a temple or a church???? That's not discriminatory?

It's awesome that the local community and New Yorkers support this and only those tea bag type who do conservative jock radio are the ones showing us their true colors.

 

If a Muslim cleric had advocated blowing up a church or any other civilian building in the U.S. that person would be arrested and on a terrorist watch list.

I can't believe this host who lives in America and supposedly believes in the American way would advocate destroying a building because of someone's religious belief.

People who claim the rights of citizenship should be better than that.

 

/thread

 

I find it interesting that none of the proponents of the mosque in this thread cares to voice any opinion on this.

For those who really want that mosque, is it just about having a mosque there, or are you also in favor of the mosque/cultural center focusing on denouncing Islamic extremism (which is what the proponents of the mosque say is the purpose of the initiative)?

 

If that's what they want to put in their mosque great. If it isn't, I don't really care. It's their mosque, and I won't presume to tell them what to put in it, and what not to.

 

Logical?

Yeah, that is one thing religion is all about....Logic....

Thanks though......and I dislike all religion, think it is one of mankinds biggest flaws.....but that is another story.....

DD