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Ground Zero Mosque


Karlis

Shold the mosque be approved? Or not approved?  

87 members have voted

  1. 1. Should the building of a mosque be approved?



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There are differing opinions regarding the question of having a mosque built not too far from 'Ground Zero'. Below are two opposing aspects regarding this issue. The article proposes that the mosque should be allowed to be built; the video proposes that such a mosque should be banned. What is your opinion? Feel free to discuss the pros and cons from both viewpoints.

Karlis

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Ground Zero Mosque and Religious Freedom in America

The core American ideal of religious freedom has been put at risk. News of Park51, the proposed Muslim community center in lower Manhattan, has spawned protests against a religious group that simply seeks to create a meeting place and has gone out of its way to make clear that the space will be open to the entire New York community.

These protests, diatribes, and campaigns against Park51 violate the ideals of religious freedom to which our country has long aspired. The First Amendment of the Constitution states explicitly that

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 of the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

The local government has so far done its part to uphold and apply these Constitutional rights. The Community Board of Lower Manhattan approved the building project 29 to 1, with 10 abstentions, and Mayor Michael Bloomberg voiced his strong support.

But individuals have taken the application of this freedom into their own hands. It would appear that more extreme voices want this right to apply only to their own religious communities, and not to others. But when one group's freedoms are threatened, the religious freedom of all Americans is at stake.

Source

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The Center for Security Policy unveiled a powerful 1-minute video opposing the construction of a 13-story, $100 million mega-mosque near the hallowed ground of the World Trade Center.

© Newsmax. All rights reserved.

Source

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From a Q&A with Sharif el-Gamal, CEO of SoHo Properties and lead developer of the Park 51 project...

2. Why must the project necessarily include a mosque? Wouldn't a general prayer area, which could be reserved in advance by any religious group, be more appropriate and compatible with the community-centric interfaith mission of the project?

We will include a September 11th memorial and quiet reflection space where people of different faith traditions and beliefs, sacred and secular, can find quiet time and solace. Park51 will also include general spaces and world-class facilities for all New Yorkers to benefit from, whether that's a Hebrew class meeting weekly or a yoga studio looking for space on a regular basis. We'll have an auditorium to engage large audiences, and sophisticated classroom space as well.

With respect to the mosque, which will take up only a small portion of the final space, it's a question of meeting a need. This mosque will be open to all. There are probably one million Muslims in the tri-state area and several hundred thousand in New York City. We should understand that Muslim New Yorkers are part of the city and have been for a very long time. Just a few days ago, I stopped to pray at a midtown mosque, and the congregation was led by a New York City Police Officer. He was a Muslim serving our city, keeping us safe.

There's hundreds of thousands of Muslim New Yorkers like him. We're doctors, lawyers, businessmen, cab drivers, teachers and students. That's what people need to know.

http://blog.beliefnet.com/cityofbrass/2010/07/qa-with-sharif-el-gamal-about.html

Ultimately, it's up to the community, imo.

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i saw someone mention in another thread that the best thing to do would be to build 1 of each type of religion (the abrahamic faiths in particular, i believe). i think that would be the best idea, personally, but if the people of the US don't want to feel like 'islam is getting one over on them', then they should embrace it. of course that would first require them gaining an understanding that islam was not responsible...

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Personally speaking, I think it would be a far, far better idea to keep all religious buildings off of ground zero. Like it or not, those that perpetrated the 911 attacks were radical Muslims...most people are not going to be able to get past that. To build a mosque on the scene of the attack would simply not be a good idea. In order to maintain equal treatment under the law no religious structures should be constructed on ground zero IMO.

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NO Mosque. No Sharia victory shrine in the shadows of radical Islams attack on America.

We are showing our true yellow-bellies and cowardice to terrorists if we allow this insult to happen.

Why don't we just roll out the red carpet for Sharia Law and go ahead and welcome it with open arms ?

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Quick check on Google Maps shows that there is already a mosque three and a half blocks away from it now. Masjid Manhattan.

My personal opinion was posted in another thread. If we HAVE to have any religious buildings nearby, put them all in one but since that isn't likely to happen, let them build it.

Nibs

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Personally speaking, I think it would be a far, far better idea to keep all religious buildings off of ground zero. Like it or not, those that perpetrated the 911 attacks were radical Muslims...most people are not going to be able to get past that. To build a mosque on the scene of the attack would simply not be a good idea. In order to maintain equal treatment under the law no religious structures should be constructed on ground zero IMO.

Well, to be pedantic, it's not actually on Ground Zero.

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A question, if you have 4 kids and one of them broke a lamp because they were mad at you but all 4 of them are mad at you and none of them are telling you which kid broke it, who do you punish? All 4 or none of them. Personally, I'd ground all 4 until they were 30.

I'm not in favor of any religious building going up anywhere near the twin towers sight.

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Like I said in another thread: No good can come from it, its a sign of victory for those who believe such things , and a sign of defeat for those who believe such things. It's antagonistic (intentionally or not) and will do nothing but cause more problems (intentionally or not) .

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Like I said in another thread: No good can come from it, its a sign of victory for those who believe such things , and a sign of defeat for those who believe such things. It's antagonistic (intentionally or not) and will do nothing but cause more problems (intentionally or not) .

Only for those people who actually believe that this is a holy war between muslims and Christians.

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Only for those people who actually believe that this is a holy war between muslims and Christians.

You are correct as far as the Americans go. For the Islamic extremists it is not about Islam vs. Christianity, it is about Islam vs. everyone else. It's funny how people on the left forget that the Islamic extremists HATE them even MORE than they hate Christians because of their lifestyles.

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A question, if you have 4 kids and one of them broke a lamp because they were mad at you but all 4 of them are mad at you and none of them are telling you which kid broke it, who do you punish? All 4 or none of them. Personally, I'd ground all 4 until they were 30.

I'm not in favor of any religious building going up anywhere near the twin towers sight.

i must be slow for i have no idea what exactly this is referring to...

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I don't think it's anti-islamic to not grant a permit for a mosque with in shouting distance of the WTC site. In a sense, for a lot of people, it'd be kind of like bulldozing a native American burial ground for a cowboy museum or something. Islam is just too closely associated with what happened there. Putting a mosque on those grounds would be the wrong thing to do right now....

Of course, I kind of have to wonder what the motives are of the people who proposed putting it there. The US is a pretty big place. I'm sure there are other, more affordable locations they can use. It's almost like they are trying to say the terror attack was a success or something.

Now, legally speaking, I don't think that there is any way to actually forbid it unless it would disrupt the lives of others in some way. (Impeding traffic flow, damaging a protected area, or cause some kind of risk to public safety). Of course, due to the risk to the people who attend that mosque, the law in New York might be able to prevent for THAT reason but, it'd probably be pretty shaky grounds. (You can't have that sort of thing here because it would put an undue burdon on law enforcement or pose a safety risk to visitors or "Hey, we can't protect you if you do that there").

I don't know. It'll be interesting to see how this one shakes out.

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Of course, I kind of have to wonder what the motives are of the people who proposed putting it there. The US is a pretty big place. I'm sure there are other, more affordable locations they can use. It's almost like they are trying to say the terror attack was a success or something.

There was already a community center there where a section of the Muslim population in the area met.

This will expand the community center, as well as adding a mosque for the Muslims who already frequent the place.

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i must be slow for i have no idea what exactly this is referring to...

Sounds like they're saying that they want to punish all muslims for the actions of a few. Although we know which muslims were responsible. It's not like they're granting permission for teh construction of a Taliban training facility or something.

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There are differing opinions regarding the question of having a mosque built not too far from 'Ground Zero'. Below are two opposing aspects regarding this issue. The article proposes that the mosque should be allowed to be built; the video proposes that such a mosque should be banned. What is your opinion? Feel free to discuss the pros and cons from both viewpoints.

It is giving me a "[#103148] You do not have permission to vote in this poll. " error. But, if I could vote, I would vote No. But, only if it is built right next to the Ground Zero. Even a couple blocks away would be fine, IMO. I do lean toward accepting what the local government has established is legal, but I thought that the Ground Zero was to be a monument or park. The only other point I think would be relevant is that it could become a focus of hatred and anger and thus would be the target of violence and prejudice. It would be better if it was built somewhere else closeby, but not within sight of the Ground Zero.

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Only for those people who actually believe that this is a holy war between muslims and Christians.

So that would be around 1 billion Muslims, plus some Christians and some others.

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So that would be around 1 billion Muslims, plus some Christians and some others.

one billion muslims think this is a holy war? when did you ask them?

sorry, but that's quite a ludicrous thing to claim. i actually laughed.

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I think if the people that intend to build the mosque, want to promote peace and harmony, they would understand what a controversy it would be and reconsider the idea.

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It is giving me a "[#103148] You do not have permission to vote in this poll. " error.

Apologies for that, we have a patch incoming soon that should resolve this error for you.

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Again this is just a percentage of the muslim faith that have carried this and other acts of terrorism around the world. Ok the idea of a mosque at ground zero does sound a little bit of a p*** take, but don't forget muslims died in that act of terrorism.

WIKI-The death toll of the attacks was 2,995, including the 19 hijackers.[3] The overwhelming majority of casualties were civilians, including nationals of over 70 countries.[
Edited by Belial
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Another aspect of it is this: If this place were to remain a community center for muslims...heck, if it were to expand and still be a community center for muslims...I would not have a problem with that, and I would defend their right to build there. It is only the inclusion of a mosque that I have a problem with.

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Would it be acceptable to put a Confederate Memorial right next to an African American church or cemetery? Even though there was a Confederacy there at one time, does that make it alright to put one there now?

Legally, there's no way that I know of to deny them the right to build there but, the truth is that a lot of Americans feel the same way towards a mosque at the WTC site as many Blacks would feel about a CSA Memorial on a traditional lynching site. Would we feel aright about building a Catholic Church on the grounds where witches were burned by Catholics? What about a museum to the greatness of Gen Custer on a Sioux Indian Reservation?

Is it legal? Probably. Is it moral? Nah, I kind of don't think so.

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Legally, there's no way that I know of to deny them the right to build there...

Legally, it's pretty easy. Just deny the building permit. There's dozens of reasons that building permits get denied, asides from actual violations; there's even an "offensive use" clause in a few states precisely for the scenario you posted above.

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