[Vision2020] Far from ground zero, opponents fight new mosques

[Ted Moffett]

This is perhaps off the topic of this thread, but during the controversy (
is this controversy over? ) over New Saint Andrews college in downtown
Moscow's CBD (Central Business District), which some claim was allowed to
occupy the Verizon building in violation of zoning law ( I found this
website on this topic just now: http://www.zonemoscow.com/ ), it was
suggested that if instead of a Christian college, that an Islamic oriented
college (for example, Islamic University of Minnesota:
http://www.iumn.net/English/EHome.aspx ) had aimed to move into the Verizon
building, the zoning restrictions would have been applied to block them.

And some would argue this is wise, given the point of view possibly behind
some of those who oppose a Mosque near the 9/11 WTC site, expressed by US
General Boykin as described below.  There is a sizable group of people in
the US who view the "War on Terror" in part as a battle between the one true
God of Christianity, and the false religion of Islam:

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/1016-01.htm

>From website above:

   *Published on Thursday, October 16, 2003 by the Los Angeles
Times<http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-general16oct16,1,3848628,print.story?coll=la-home-headlines>
*
 *General Casts War in Religious Terms
The top soldier assigned to track down Bin Laden and Hussein is an
evangelical Christian who speaks publicly of 'the army of God.'
*
 *by Richard T. Cooper*

Discussing the battle against a Muslim warlord in Somalia, Boykin told
another audience, "I knew my God was bigger than his. I knew that my God was
a real God and his was an idol."

"We in the army of God, in the house of God, kingdom of God have been raised
for such a time as this," Boykin said last year.

On at least one occasion, in Sandy, Ore., in June, Boykin said of President
Bush: "He's in the White House because God put him there."
-------------------------------------------
Vision2020 Post: Ted Moffett


On 8/9/10, Art Deco <deco at moscow.com> wrote:
>
>  Don't you just love the arrogance exhibited and the ignorance of both
> religion and constitutional law in:
>
> "They [Islam] are not a religion. They are a political, militaristic
> group," said Bob Shelton, a 76-year-old retiree who lives in the area.
> Shelton was among several hundred demonstrators recently who wore "Vote for
> Jesus" T-shirts..."
>
> Back to the inquisition!
>
> W.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> *From:* Saundra Lund <v2020 at ssl.fastmail.fm>
> *To:* 'Vision 2020' <vision2020 at moscow.com>
> *Sent:* Sunday, August 08, 2010 3:45 PM
> *Subject:* [Vision2020] Far from ground zero, opponents fight new mosques
>
>
> Given the absolutely shameful fear- and hate-mongering surrounding the
> Islamic Community Center in NY, I suppose we can't be surprised that the
> nonsense has spread  :-(  I suppose we can't be surprised, but I'm
> heart-broken nonetheless.
>
> Perhaps one of the greatest modern American tragedies is those so-called
> Americans who lack an understanding of the pivotal role the freedom of and
> from religion played in the founding of this great nation and our
> Constitution. When the shoe has been on the other foot, those same
> so-called
> Americans have shrilly demanded that people who disagree with them should
> leave the country. Would that they would follow that instruction themselves
> and choose one of the countries without religious freedom where they'd fit
> right in. I can think of a few places . . .
>
> Saundra Lund
> Moscow, ID
>
> Compassion is the basis of all morality.
> ~ Arthur Schopenhuaer
>
>
> http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38615800/
>
> Far from ground zero, opponents fight new mosques
> By TRAVIS LOLLER
> AP
> updated 2 hours 18 minutes ago
>
> MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Muslims trying to build houses of worship in the
> nation's heartland, far from the heated fight in New York over plans for a
> mosque near ground zero, are running into opponents even more hostile and
> aggressive.
>
> Foes of proposed mosques have deployed dogs to intimidate Muslims holding
> prayer services and spray painted "Not Welcome" on a construction sign,
> then
> later ripped it apart.
>
> The 13-story, $100 million Islamic center that could soon rise two blocks
> from the site of the Sept. 11 attacks would dwarf the proposals elsewhere,
> yet the smaller projects in local communities are stoking a sharper kind of
> fear and anger than has showed up in New York.
>
> In the Nashville suburb of Murfreesboro, opponents of a new Islamic center
> say they believe the mosque will be more than a place of prayer. They are
> afraid the 15-acre site that was once farmland will be turned into a
> terrorist training ground for Muslim militants bent on overthrowing the
> U.S.
> government.
>
> "They are not a religion. They are a political, militaristic group," said
> Bob Shelton, a 76-year-old retiree who lives in the area.
>
> Shelton was among several hundred demonstrators recently who wore "Vote for
> Jesus" T-shirts and carried signs that said: "No Sharia law for USA!,"
> referring to the Islamic code of law. Others took their opposition further,
> spray painting the sign announcing the "Future site of the Islamic Center
> of
> Murfreesboro" and tearing it up.
>
> In Temecula, Calif., opponents brought dogs to protest a proposed
> 25,000-square-foot mosque that would sit on four acres next to a Baptist
> church. Opponents worry it will turn the town into haven for Islamic
> extremists, but mosque leaders say they are peaceful and just need more
> room
> to serve members.
>
> Islam is a growing faith in the U.S., though Muslims represent less than 1
> percent of the country's population. Ten years ago, there were about 1,200
> mosques nationwide. Now there are roughly 1,900, according to Ihsan Bagby,
> professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Kentucky and a researcher
> on surveys of American mosques.
>
> The growth involves Islamic centers expanding to accommodate more Muslims -
> as is the case in New York, California and Tennessee - as well as mosques
> cropping up in smaller, more isolated communities, Bagby said.
>
> A 2007 survey of Muslim Americans by the Pew Research Center found that 39
> percent of adult Muslims living in the United States were immigrants that
> had come here since 1990.
>
> "In every religious community, one of the things that has happened over the
> course of immigration is that people get settled and eventually build
> something that says, 'We're here! We're not just camping,'" said Diana Eck,
> a professor of Comparative Religion at the Harvard University. "In part,
> that's because those communities have put down roots in America and made
> this their home."
>
> Before the demonstration in Murfreesboro, a fundraiser was held for the new
> community center. Children behind a folding table sold homemade wooden
> plaques, door hangers and small serving trays decorated with glitter and
> messages like, "Peace," "I love being a Muslim" and "Freedom of Religion."
>
> Mosque leader Essam Fathy, who helped plan the new building in
> Murfreesboro,
> has lived there for 30 years.
>
> "I didn't think people would try that hard to oppose something that's in
> the
> Constitution," he said. "The Islamic center has been here since the early
> '80s, 12 years in this location. There's nothing different now except it's
> going to be a little bigger."
>
> Bagby said that hasn't stopped foes from becoming more virulent.
>
> "It was there before, but it didn't have as much traction. The larger
> public
> never embraced it," he said. "The level of anger, the level of hostility is
> much higher in the last few years."
>
> The Murfreesboro mosque is one of three planned in the Nashville area that
> have drawn recent scrutiny.
>
> Zuhdi Jasser, president of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, a
> nonprofit that advocates for reform and modernization of Islam, said
> opposing mosques is no way to prevent terrorism.
>
> Neighbors didn't want his family to build a mosque in 1979 in Neenah, Wis.,
> because they didn't understand who Muslims were.
>
>
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