I spent two hours of my life last night watching CNN, hearing all of the discussion regarding the proposed New York City mosque near “Ground Zero.” First, I listened carefully as the Imam (pictured below) sidestepped just about every pertinent question asked by the Larry King Live guest host, Soledad O’Brien; who by the way I felt did a terrific job with the interview. During the next hour, which was quite ponderous, I watched Anderson Cooper, who comes across really well but never renders an opinion on anything, propose a series of questions to several guest panelists. Once again I listened carefully to all the discussions, the different points of view, etc.
I have only one question for the Imam, or any other Muslim for that matter. It is a two-part question that given the opportunity I certainly would have presented yesterday evening: How would the Muslim world respond to the United States building a Christian church in Mecca; further, how would the Muslim world respond if the U.S. had destroyed the Grand Mosque in Mecca, and wanted to build a Christian church in the vicinity of the mosque’s former location? Simple question, don’t you agree? I mean if the Muslim world doesn’t feel that Americans, especially those living in New York, should have a problem with a mosque being built in the vicinity of the former World Trade Center location, they certainly wouldn’t oppose that Americans build a Christian church adjacent to the Grand Mosque in Mecca. Seems fair to me.
The reason I would have posed this question is simple; we Americans are always expected to be receptive to everything thrown our way. We’re never on even ground with any other country; their politics, ideologies, war strategies, etc. We’re always on the defensive. This nonsense has to stop. If we continue to conduct business with the rest of the world using a higher standard than that applied to us we will always end up getting screwed.
I’m not a religious person at all (quite the contrary) yet nevertheless, I find it appalling that this Imam, or anyone else for that matter, would even remotely consider building a mosque near Ground Zero. Yet what is even more remarkable is that the politicians and the media in this country have given this man so much as the time of day, let alone having him on national prime-time television; and worse, that these people are actually receptive to his proposal and want to seek out a compromise!
The United States is headed in a downhill spiral, and fast. TGO
Refer to story below. Source: Associated Press
Thu Sep 9, 4:14 am ET
NEW YORK – The imam behind a proposed Islamic community center and mosque near ground zero cautioned Wednesday that moving the facility could cause a violent backlash from Muslim extremists and endanger national security.
Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf told CNN that the discourse surrounding the center has become so politicized that moving it could strengthen the ability of extremists abroad to recruit and wage attacks against Americans, including troops fighting in the Middle East.
“The headlines in the Muslim world will be that Islam is under attack,” he said, but he added that he was open to the idea of moving the planned location of the center, currently two blocks north of the World Trade Center site.
“But if you don’t do this right, anger will explode in the Muslim world,” he later said, predicting that the reaction could be more furious than the eruption of violence following the 2005 publication of Danish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.
Opponents say the center, which would include a Sept. 11 memorial and a Muslim prayer space, should be moved farther away from where Islamic extremists destroyed the World Trade Center and killed nearly 2,800 people. Supporters say religious freedom should be protected.
Rauf, 61, has largely been absent since the debate over the center erupted earlier this year. He has been traveling abroad, including taking a State Department-funded 15-day trip to the Middle East to promote religious tolerance.
In the interview with CNN’s Soledad O’Brien, his first since returning to the U.S. on Sunday, Rauf responded to a number of questions that have been raised about the project.
He said money to develop the center would be raised domestically for the most part.
“And we’ll be very transparent on how we raise money,” he said, adding that no funds would be accepted from sources linked to extremists.
Rauf said that, in retrospect, he might have chosen a different location for what he described as a multifaith community center.
“If I knew this would happen, if it would cause this kind of pain, I wouldn’t have done it,” he said.
Soledad should have talked to you before the interview, what a brilliant question!!!!!