More Signs of Anti-Muslim Sentiment

A number of disturbing incidents point towards increased anti-Islam hostility in the United States.

In addition to the disgusting, bigoted spectacle of the opposition to the “Ground Zero” Mosque (which is not at Ground Zero, is not a mosque, and is being built, in fact, with the goal of helping Muslims integrate into American culture), there are two other instances of anti-Muslim bigotry that are worthy of note:

First, there’s the Dove World Church sponsoring “International Burn a Koran Day”:

On Sept. 11, Terry Jones’ Dove World Outreach Center will hold the first “International Burn a Koran Day” ceremony on the steps of his church in Gainesville, Fla. According to the church’s website, the event was organized “in remembrance of the fallen victims of 9/11 and to stand against the evil of Islam. Islam is of the devil!”

Thankfully, this one doesn’t seem to be picking up steam, and the National Association of Evangelicals has issued a statement condemning the event. Still a disturbing sight nonetheless.

Equally disturbing are the calls against Six Flags because they’re hosting an “Islamic Family Day.” Notably, the blog on the Tea Party Patriots website. The post features cheerly language such as this:

Be aware that the Qur’an teaches ‘believers’ (muslims) to lie to ‘infidels’ (you) about their inner thoughts when they are outnumbered….which they are, in the US. So any ‘peace loving’ friends who were ‘just as appalled’ as you at 9/11 events…..are either bad Muslims or lying to you. Because in the Qur’an, if the believer lies to the unbeliever, but the believer’s heart does not believe the lie, then they have not sinned. It is only if they lie to you (say they are appalled) and believe that (actually are appalled) that they are sinning. So Islam tells people it is OK to be two-faced liars. How believable are ‘moderate’ Muslims now?

And this:

STOP placating them – in addition, there is no such thing as a moderate muslim, regardless of what you’ve heard – from the mouth of the son of a well known Imam. Islam is as Islam does. And Regardless of what you might think, there is no such thing of a ‘mild’ muslim, even the ‘quiet’ ones who live on the street corner, drive the BMW and work in the dr’s office…they go to mosque, satisfy the pillars, pray, etc…and the money they are giving, that is funding terror.

I am hoping that this type of anti-Muslim sentiment stays confined to the fringe, but the prominent people lining up against the Cordoba Institute in New York gives me a great deal of pause. In tough economic times, it’s pretty common for cultural and ethnic scapegoating to occur on a pretty big scale, and I think we all have an obligation to head this kind of nonsense off at the pass.

I defer to the wisdom of the Founding Fathers on this one:

“But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no God. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.”
-Thomas Jefferson

“The Citizens of the United States of America have a right to applaud themselves for having given to mankind examples of an enlarged and liberal policy: a policy worthy of imitation. All possess alike liberty of conscience and immunities of citizenship It is now no more that toleration is spoken of, as if it was by the indulgence of one class of people, that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights. For happily the Government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens, in giving it on all occasions their effectual support.”
– George Washington

Image Credit: pcorreia’s photostream

FILED UNDER: Crime, Religion, US Politics, , , , , , , , ,
Alex Knapp
About Alex Knapp
Alex Knapp is Associate Editor at Forbes for science and games. He was a longtime blogger elsewhere before joining the OTB team in June 2005 and contributed some 700 posts through January 2013. Follow him on Twitter @TheAlexKnapp.

Comments

  1. matt says:

    I’ve been saying this since 9/11 that muslims are the new blacks…

  2. Zelsdorf Ragshaft III says:

    Alex, people like you would be OK with a Shinto temple at Pearl Harbor.  Outside of the fact virtually every terrorist attack upon us was perpetrated by a follower of Islam.  Not to mention the goal of Islam is to convert the whole world to their religion.  Do you deny they wish to replace our constitutional law with Sharia?  I will be for muslims building what ever close to gound zero when they allow a Christian church, Buddist Temple, Jewish place of worship in Mecca and Medina.  Alex did you know with was the practice of Islam to build on the site of a triumph?  Notice the Mosque on the very ground one occupied by Solomons Temple.  There is religious tolerance for you.  Only something lower than pond scum would vilify those who blow the trumpet of warning this building and this belief represents.  Alex, where is the money comming from to build this monument to the attacks of 9/11?  Go live in a Muslim country and try to practice what ever your faith is.  If you have none, let that be known and see how long you live.  Alexs, FOAD.

  3. Rick DeMent says:

    Not to mention the goal of Islam is to convert the whole world to their religion.

    ah, the goal of every religion is to convert the whole world to their religion. It is a well documented fact that religions throughout history are tolerant of other religions only when they are not the dominant religion.  Once a religion starts to feel as if they are the overwhelming majority religion other religions begin to start grating on their nerves.

  4. sam says:

    Well on the bright  side, Annie whatsherface, the “authoress” of that Six Flags slime, got her fanny slapped repeatedly in the comments to that post (when I read this am).
    <i>Zelsdorfo refudenda est</i>

  5. PD Shaw says:

    Knowing Terry Jones’ work going back a long time, I’m sure this stunt is largely satirical.  Like lampooning the threat from the Spanish Inquisition.

  6. ponce says:

    For many Americans, having a proscribed group of people that they can freely hurl their hatred at just feel right.
     
    As most blog commenters know, you can post the vilest things about Muslims without any fear of getting banned on most right-wing blogs.

  7. PD Shaw says:

    This Spring I was at the Indianapolis Children’s Museum and saw it’s display on what it’s like to live in Egypt today, which included background on Islam and I believe it was partly sponsored by CAIR and had Muslim volunteers.  This is a fairly conservative city with more military monuments per city block than probably anywhere else in the U.S.

    I sadly report nothing was burned and we weren’t accosted by anti-Muslim groups with fliers.  I saw nothing to report.

    http://www.childrensmuseum.org/takemethere/index.php

  8. wr says:

    And just think of all those black churches in the south that weren’t burned in the 60s. And all those black men who weren’t lynched. Clearly there was never a problem.

  9. Dave Schuler says:

    CAIR found fewer than 200 hate crimes against Muslims in 2009; in the same year the ADL noted more than 1,200 hate crimes against Jews.  I oppose and denounce hate crimes against anybody.
     
    Doesn’t proportion require us to devote attention to a greater problem rather than a lesser?

  10. Drew says:

    It seems to me that you have an awfully tin ear to the reality of what occurred on 9/11. I understand it’s factually correct that it’s not literally at ground zero nor is it a mosque; rather it’s a community center. But it seems to me to be academic parsing, without a point. 
    I lived in the New York City metro area at the time of 9/11. In fact my partner and I had a breakfast meeting in Rye New York that morning. As we left the meeting we looked across the sound and saw flames. We had no idea what was going but quickly made phone calls and went on to the office. Obviously by time we got to the office we knew what was transpiring. If you lived in the area at that time you knew people who didn’t come home. Whether it was Cantor Fitzgerald folks, or the policemen and firemen from Brewster New York etc.  This was a very, very visceral and emotional moment for New York metro area people. I’ve often wondered whether people who live elsewhere in the country truly got it. Now that I’ve moved back to the midwest I realize although some do, and all say they do, many really don’t.
    The real issue here is that it’s fine that we are tolerant and intellectual in our views, that we find venues for Muslims to integrate into the community. But the fact of the matter is this is a complete and total, and unnecessary, poke in the eye to people in the New York metro area for a ruthless once in a lifetime event. There are plenty of venues for construction of the contemplated site, but yours is simply a defense of a grotesque proposition.

  11. floyd says:

    Are we to believe that zoning is a sure sign of bigotry?
    I can see making a case for this when I read the covenants in some of the subdivisions around here, but still it’s probably not the case.

  12. Christopher says:

    An Islam appreciation day???  WTF!  Oh-and thanks for letting me know.  I will NEVER go to a six lags again! 

    Muslims are the dirtiest trash on the planet.  And Alex wants to defend them???  I would never treat them bad, I am an honorable person.  But letting them build at ground zero?  Thats a big NO-don’t even have to think about it.  Doesn’t anyone have any principles anymore???

  13. tom p says:

    Muslims are the dirtiest trash on the planet. 

    and

    I would never treat them bad, I am an honorable person. 

    Where is the “honor” in treating dirty trash as anything other than what it is? Give it up Christopher, you are beyond help
    (f)(this f won’t go away) (thanx for the upgrade on the comments James… tho I can’t seem to get blockquotes to work)

  14. wr says:

    Drew — It’s not New Yorkers who are opposed to this community center. It’s politicians from Georgia and Alaska, who spend most of their time claiming that New Yorkers aren’t actually real Americans. And it’s people like your new friends in the Midwest who have never set foot in the city.

    Talk about a tin ear — the people who are objecting to this are doing it solely to score political points. And from your vantage point in the Midwest you are unable to hear this…

  15. TangoMan says:

    <i> The post features cheerly language such as this:

    <blockquote>Be aware that the Qur’an teaches ‘believers’ (muslims) to lie to ‘infidels’ (you) about their inner thoughts when they are outnumbered….which they are, in the US. So any ‘peace loving’ friends who were ‘just as appalled’ as you at 9/11 events…..are either bad Muslims or lying to you. Because in the Qur’an, if the believer lies to the unbeliever, but the believer’s heart does not believe the lie, then they have not sinned. It is only if they lie to you (say they are appalled) and believe that (actually are appalled) that they are sinning. So Islam tells people it is OK to be two-faced liars. How believable are ‘moderate’ Muslims now?</blockquote><i>

    The issue of the “cheerly” language is akin to a buried lede, in that the substance of the statement must be either true or false, and if false, then you have grounds to attack the author(s) for promulgating lies and calumny against Muslims, but if the substance of the statement is true, then where does your argument stand? Is that why you focused on the “cheerly” language? Are you really prepared to go all Canadian here and advocate that true statements should be criticized and driven from the public sphere because they’re not spirit affirming?

  16. An Interested Party says:

    Actually, there is a Shinto Shrine near Pearl Harbor…

    http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=1437

    And to echo something the author proudly notes, only in America, where religious freedom is guaranteed, could such a thing happen…some of the comments here serve to justify the very point that Alex Knapp has made…it’s so nice to know that the very same bigotry which led to the internment of American citizens of Japanese descent during World War II is alive and well today, only directed at the latest bogeymen, people of the Muslim faith…

  17. libhomo says:

    Religion is the root of most evil in the world.  Christianity is just as awful as Islam.

  18. Jim Henley says:

    “Their religion tells them they can lie to unbelievers without sin” is a vile lie, but it’s also evergreen. Catholic Inquisitors said it about the Jews. English protestants said it about Catholics. And now American Islamophobes say it about Muslims. In each case the bigots claim to base their canard on the official texts and doctrine of the religion in question. In each case the real function is to impose a no-win situation on the despised group. As we all know, you can’t prove a negative. The canard lets the bigots paint every single member of the despised group as an enemy by definition, and, to the extent anyone is stupid or mean enough to buy the canard, it leaves the members of the despised group no exit from stereotype. (The paras that Alex quotes demonstrate this precisely.)
    So, disgusting and evil – and several commenters don these descriptors willfully – but very unoriginal.

  19. floyd says:

    Libhomo;
     Your statement is by definition correct, but by apparent intent, just mean, ignorant and wrong.
     Apparently , your religion allows for the practice of outright bigotry and hate speech….

    Religion:A body of persons adhering to a particular set of beliefs and practices.

    There are certainly plenty of Sectually deviant persons of your ilk to meet the definition.

  20. floyd says:

    Libhomo;
     “Your statement”  refers only to your first statement, excuse me.

  21. mpw280 says:

    libhomo says:
    Sunday, August 1, 2010 at 07:40

    Religion is the root of most evil in the world.  Christianity is just as awful as Islam.
     
    Except that if you are what your screen name suggests, all Christian religions would allow you to be what you are, they may not condone and accept but you could continue to be all you want to be. Though in a Muslim/Islamic society, you would be taking a dirt nap without your head. So equivocation of Christian and Muslim is BS. If you want to prove me wrong go to Saudi Arabia and be gay and proclaim so, then report back and tell us how you were treated if you can.
    mpw

  22. Alex Knapp says:

    Zelsdorf,

    <blockquote>Alex, people like you would be OK with a Shinto temple at Pearl Harbor.  </blockquote>

    There is a Shinto Temple at Pearl Harbor.  But you’re right–it doesn’t bother me when my fellow citizens exercise their freedom of religion.

    <blockquote>Outside of the fact virtually every terrorist attack upon us was perpetrated by a follower of Islam.</blockquote>What about the Oklahoma City bombing?  What about the KKK?  What about the bombing of a mosque in Florida a few weeks ago?  What about the terrorist attacks in the US perpetrated by environmentalist radicals?  Or by Puerto Rican nationalists? Or by the Weather Underground? Or by the Jewish Defense League?  Or by the Unabomber? Or what about abortion clinic bombings?  Or the Olympic bombing?   Or the Ludlow Massacre?   Or the Austin IRS attack?  Or the Holocaust Museum shooting?  Or the anthrax attacks?

    <blockquote>Not to mention the goal of Islam is to convert the whole world to their religion. </blockquote>You do know that there’s no central organized Islam, right?

    <blockquote>Do you deny they wish to replace our constitutional law with Sharia?</blockquote>I would say that most Muslims in the United States oppose this, yes.  Sure there are fringe radicals, just like there are fringe radicals who want to replace Constitutional Law with Christian principles.

    <blockquote>I will be for muslims building what ever close to gound zero when they allow a Christian church, Buddist Temple, Jewish place of worship in Mecca and Medina. </blockquote>What relevance does that have?  The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States forbids the government from preventing the free exercise of religion.  You claim to prize Constitutional Law so highly–so why do you want to abrogate the First Amendment?

    <blockquote>Alex did you know with was the practice of Islam to build on the site of a triumph?  Notice the Mosque on the very ground one occupied by Solomons Temple.  There is religious tolerance for you.</blockquote>Christians did the same thing to Synagogues and Mosques.  Read up on the history of Spain sometime.

    <blockquote>Only something lower than pond scum would vilify those who blow the trumpet of warning this building and this belief represents.  </blockquote>The Cordoba Institute’s goal is to build a bridge of understanding between Muslims and non-Muslims.

    <blockquote>Alex, where is the money comming from to build this monument to the attacks of 9/11?</blockquote>It’s not a monument.  It’s a community center.  It will have a swimming pool and art classes.

    <blockquote>Go live in a Muslim country and try to practice what ever your faith is.  </blockquote>Well, in Indonesia, Turkey, Mali, and any number of other majority-Muslim countries, I’d be able to practice my faith just fine.

  23. bob says:

    Let them build their symbol of triumph five miels away and I will not object. Build it where is is a symbol of triumph at Ground Zero I am will vigorously object.

  24. Alex Knapp says:

    Zelsdorf,

    Alex, people like you would be OK with a Shinto temple at Pearl Harbor.

    There is a Shinto Temple at Pearl Harbor. But you’re right–it doesn’t bother me when my fellow citizens exercise their freedom of religion.

    Outside of the fact virtually every terrorist attack upon us was perpetrated by a follower of Islam.

    What about the Oklahoma City bombing? What about the KKK? What about the bombing of a mosque in Florida a few weeks ago? What about the terrorist attacks in the US perpetrated by environmentalist radicals? Or by Puerto Rican nationalists? Or by the Weather Underground? Or by the Jewish Defense League? Or by the Unabomber? Or what about abortion clinic bombings? Or the Olympic bombing? Or the Ludlow Massacre? Or the Austin IRS attack? Or the Holocaust Museum shooting? Or the anthrax attacks?

    Not to mention the goal of Islam is to convert the whole world to their religion.

    You do know that there’s no central organized Islam, right?

    Do you deny they wish to replace our constitutional law with Sharia?

    I would say that most Muslims in the United States oppose this, yes. Sure there are fringe radicals, just like there are fringe radicals who want to replace Constitutional Law with Christian principles.

    I will be for muslims building what ever close to gound zero when they allow a Christian church, Buddist Temple, Jewish place of worship in Mecca and Medina.

    What relevance does that have? The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States forbids the government from preventing the free exercise of religion. You claim to prize Constitutional Law so highly–so why do you want to abrogate the First Amendment?

    Alex did you know with was the practice of Islam to build on the site of a triumph? Notice the Mosque on the very ground one occupied by Solomons Temple. There is religious tolerance for you.

    Christians did the same thing to Synagogues and Mosques. Read up on the history of Spain sometime.

    Only something lower than pond scum would vilify those who blow the trumpet of warning this building and this belief represents.

    The Cordoba Institute’s goal is to build a bridge of understanding between Muslims and non-Muslims.

    Alex, where is the money comming from to build this monument to the attacks of 9/11?

    It’s not a monument. It’s a community center. It will have a swimming pool and art classes.

    Go live in a Muslim country and try to practice what ever your faith is.

    Well, in Indonesia, Turkey, Mali, and any number of other majority-Muslim countries, I’d be able to practice my faith just fine.

  25. Alex Knapp says:

    Dave,

    CAIR found fewer than 200 hate crimes against Muslims in 2009; in the same year the ADL noted more than 1,200 hate crimes against Jews.  I oppose and denounce hate crimes against anybody.

    Doesn’t proportion require us to devote attention to a greater problem rather than a lesser?

    When prominent politicians from one of America’s two major political parties begin raising money to stop a group of Jews from building a synagogue on their own private property, then I’d argue that anti-Jewish sentiment is a greater problem.

  26. Alex Knapp says:

    Drew,

    The real issue here is that it’s fine that we are tolerant and intellectual in our views, that we find venues for Muslims to integrate into the community. But the fact of the matter is this is a complete and total, and unnecessary, poke in the eye to people in the New York metro area for a ruthless once in a lifetime event. There are plenty of venues for construction of the contemplated site, but yours is simply a defense of a grotesque proposition.

    Nonsense.  It’s private property located over a half-mile from the WTC site.  There are already mosques in the same radius.  This is a community center with a goal of helping bridge the gap of understanding between Muslims and non-Muslims.  Furthermore, a majority of New Yorkers support allowing the center to be built.

    This is the United States of America.  We don’t forbid the free exercise of religion on private property because someone, somewhere might be offended by it.


  27. Dave Schuler says:

    Contrariwise, Alex, what I see is a relatively small number of yahoos shooting off their mouths with anti-Muslim remarks, not acting on them much, while the number of anti-Jewish hate crimes remains far too large.

    The distinction I’m making is between words and action.  Words may hurt more from a public relations sense but I think that actions are a more serious issue.

  28. Alex Knapp says:

    Tangoman,

    he issue of the “cheerly” language is akin to a buried lede, in that the substance of the statement must be either true or false, and if false, then you have grounds to attack the author(s) for promulgating lies and calumny against Muslims, but if the substance of the statement is true, then where does your argument stand? Is that why you focused on the “cheerly” language? Are you really prepared to go all Canadian here and advocate that true statements should be criticized and driven from the public sphere because they’re not spirit affirming?

    Having read both the Qu’ran and the Hadith of the Prophet; counting several Muslims as friends; and having once attended a service at a mosque, yes, I’m prepared to say that that language is complete and utter bullshit, full of lies against fellow citizens of this nation.

    Nice job on rhetorically agreeing with those lies without bothering to offer proof by impugning my motives, by the way. ..

  29. Alex Knapp says:

    mpw,

    Except that if you are what your screen name suggests, all Christian religions would allow you to be what you are, they may not condone and accept but you could continue to be all you want to be.

    You’re kidding, right?  The Texas Republican Party platform calls for homosexuality to be illegal, and in Christian Uganda they just enacted a law to put homosexuals to death…

  30. <blockquote> But the fact of the matter is this is a complete and total, and unnecessary, poke in the eye to people in the New York metro area for a ruthless once in a lifetime event.</blockquote>
    Is it a poke in the eye to the <A HREF=”http://islam.about.com/blvictims.htm”>dozens of muslims who died in the towers on 9/11</A> and there families?  Or do they not count as “people in New York”?

    And since this is being used to ban building miles away from ground zero, could you clarify exactly how big the muslimrein area of Manhattan is?  Is it like a circle of a certain radius?  The entire island?  Can people build a mosque in the parts of Jersey City, NJ facing the WTC site across the river?  Are muslims allowed to be members of the New York Academy of Science, located directly across the street from the WTC site?  Can muslims run for city council or mayor of New York City, since that would require giving them offices at City Hall, only miles from the WTC site?

  31. TangoMan says:

    Alex,
    <i>Having read both the Qu’ran and the Hadith of the Prophet; counting several Muslims as friends; and having once attended a service at a mosque, yes, I’m prepared to say that that language is complete and utter bullshit, full of lies against fellow citizens of this nation.</i>
    You know, a friend of mine is a nuclear physicist and I’ve taken some physics classes that focused on nuclear physics but this doesn’t mean that I can speak with authority on the issue of nuclear physics nor does that mean that I would know how to tinker with a reactor or design a bomb.  One must always be wary of validating the maxim of “A little knowledge is dangerous.”
    Surah 3:28:
    <blockquote>Let not the believers Take for friends or helpers Unbelievers rather than believers: if any do that, in nothing will there be help from Allah: except by way of precaution, that ye may Guard yourselves from them. But Allah cautions you (To remember) Himself; for the final goal is to Allah. </blockquote>
    The general concept is referred to as <a href=”http://www.mideastweb.org/Middle-East-Encyclopedia/taqiyah.htm”>Taqiyah</a>:
    <blockquote>Taqiyah is apparently sanctioned by the Sunni Muslim medieval theologian, Abu Hāmed Mohammad ibn Mohammad al-Ghazzālī of the Shafi school. Its use is clearly much wider than saving of lives. The English translation of  Ahmad ibn Naqib al-Misri’s handbook, Reliance of the Traveler, quotes Ghazzali as follows:

    “Speaking is a means to achieve objectives. If a praiseworthy aim is attainable through both telling the truth and lying, it is unlawful to accomplish it through lying because there is no need for it. When it is possible to achieve such an aim by lying but not by telling the truth, it is permissible to lie if attaining the goal is permissible…, and obligatory to lie if the goal is obligatory. …One should compare the bad consequences entailed by lying to those entailed by telling the truth, and if the consequences of telling the truth are more damaging, one is entitled to lie…

    Therefore, it is possible to excuse lying on almost any ground that is consistent, for example, with obligatory spread of the Muslim faith.</blockquote>
     

  32. Christopher says:

    Tango,
    It sure is funny how after 9/11 there were NO Muslim groups coming out against the attacks, NONE that stood to the side of freedom, NONE that would condemn such horrible acts.  Now we are to believe in the virtues of their religion?  Please!  They are out to kill YOU and ME and EVERYone else who does not believe.  Those Muslim groups and countires that sit silent only cheer on the inside when attacks happen, and what do we do?  Allow them to build on the sites where they have killed.  Pathetic.

  33. matt says:

    Christopher : The problem is you prefer to be an ignorant fool.

    http://www.muhajabah.com/otherscondemn.php
     
    My long time girlfriend has an Iranian last name and even after all these years it’s still amazing to me to see how people suddenly treat her different once they find out her last name…

  34. matt says:

    I mean seriously how delusional can you be to not see that Turkey (Hi NATO ally remember them?) and most other Muslim countries condemned the attacks on 9/11.

  35. matt says:

    Tangoman : I would like to point out that your little thing about nuclear physics applies to your comments about Islam. Aside from that are you truly ignorant of the history of Christianity in the world (crusades the inquisition etc etc)??? I mean seriously get a grip people using the “word of God” to justify their behavior is nothing new and isn’t exclusive to Islam..

  36. matt says:
  37. Christopher says:

    Yea Matt, and look at Turkey today!  Turning into an Iranian ally and Islamic extremist apologist, that won’t even let our planes fly over their country.  Some ally…

  38. matt says:

    You’re a classic case of someone that doubles down on their mistaken beliefs when presented with facts contrary to your gut…

  39. matt says:

    Seriously Turkey is working with us to deal with Iran and you’re calling them an ally of Iran as a result? Turkey is Israel’s best friend in the middle east and you’re calling Turkey apologists for Islamic extremists? Hell the real Islamic extremists call Turkey zionist apologists.
     
    I cannot even begin to figure out how you’ve developed such a deluded world view. I weep for the future of this country when beliefs like yours are prevalent on the right wing..
     
    So are you still going to pretend that no Muslims ever denounced the acts of 9/11??

  40. Christopher says:

    matt, u think that Turkey is Israel’s best friend?!?  WTF!  Dude, seriously, stop watching Katie Couric, and pick up a real (current!!) newspaper sometime, like the WSJ.  Turkey sponsored the flotilla that tried to break the weapons blockade of Gaza!!!  Weapons intended to be used against ISRAEL!  Should I spell it out for you?  The president of Turkey is bowing down to Islamic extremists in his country.  We need them in NATO like a hole in the head, especially given that we now have bases IN the middle east!

    I don’t weep for you, I laugh at your uneducated ignorance, and liberalism (but I am being redundant).

  41. Christopher says:

    matt, u think that Turkey is Israel’s best friend?!?  WTF!  Dude, seriously, stop watching Katie Couric, and pick up a real (current!!) newspaper sometime, like the WSJ.  Turkey sponsored the flotilla that tried to break the weapons blockade of Gaza!!!  Weapons intended to be used against ISRAEL!  Should I spell it out for you?  The president of Turkey is bowing down to Islamic extremists in his country.  We need them in NATO like a hole in the head, especially given that we now have bases IN the middle east!

    I don’t weep for you, I laugh at your uneducated ignorance, and liberalism (but I am being redundant).

  42. Christopher says:

    matt, u think that Turkey is Israel’s best friend?!?  WTF!  Dude, seriously, stop watching Katie Couric, and pick up a real (current!!) newspaper sometime, like the WSJ.  Turkey sponsored the flotilla that tried to break the weapons blockade of Gaza!!!  Weapons intended to be used against ISRAEL!  Should I spell it out for you?  The president of Turkey is bowing down to Islamic extremists in his country.  We need them in NATO like a hole in the head, especially given that we now have bases IN the middle east!

    I don’t weep for you, I laugh at your uneducated ignorance, and liberalism (but I am being redundant).

  43. Christopher says:

    matt, u think that Turkey is Israel’s best friend?!?  WTF!  Dude, seriously, stop watching Katie Couric, and pick up a real (current!!) newspaper sometime, like the WSJ.  Turkey sponsored the flotilla that tried to break the weapons blockade of Gaza!!!  Weapons intended to be used against ISRAEL!  Should I spell it out for you?  The president of Turkey is bowing down to Islamic extremists in his country.  We need them in NATO like a hole in the head, especially given that we now have bases IN the middle east!

    I don’t weep for you, I laugh at your uneducated ignorance, and liberalism (but I am being redundant).

  44. Juneau says:

    ah, the goal of every religion is to convert the whole world to their religion.

    Yes, but only islam reveres a leader that said it is to be done at the point of a sword, and that it is a “duty” to kill anyone who doesn’t follow islam (the infidel). You all conveniently leave that out of your defense.  You want to practice Islam?  Fine. Absolutely.  Your should free to practice your religion you choose.  But don’t call a wolf a puppy.  We all have eyes to see and ears to hear.  

    Claiming that up is down just makes you look foolish.  And, frankly, like either a coward or a willful ignoramus.

  45. davod says:

    “An American flag flying beside a Shinto shrine on the freeway to Pearl Harbor ! An incredible sight one can encounter only in America. And only in Hawaii could it happen at such breathtaking speed. 

    Read  the article – Five miles from Pearl Harbour. The article doesn’t say when the shrine was built. 

  46. matt says:

    Turkey as a NATO member could of called in a response from other NATO members (section 7 or 5 of the NATO charter) or at the very least attacked Israel as what Israel did was an act of war. Turkey didn’t because Turkey has not only bought weaponry from Israel but also cooperates with Israel on military matters. You’re on some good crack if you think that Turkey is an enemy of Israel. There were NO weapons on the flotilla but there was concrete and other building materials that Israel used to classify as weapon materials. The whole reason Israel is redoing the banned materials list and such is because even they have realized the complete absurdity of their list.

    What makes me sad is I used to be considered a conservative but because I refuse to be ruled by fear I’ve been kicked out of the ranks. What sickens me most about you is your insistance on being ruled by fear. You view this country and it’s people as weaklings that need to fear everything as potentially being our doom. I view this country as +200 years of strength seen through multiple world wars and crisis. I refuse to wet my pants over a hundred or so dudes hiding in caves in a remote area of the world. I refuse to believe that this mighty and great country will be brought to it’s knees by the acts of the few. I will continue to fight to defend this country for the future generations including the weakbedwetters like you. Why? Because I believe in the end this country will not only survive but continue to thrive and be a major player in the world.

    Juneau : Way to NOT read my link which completely proves your crap wrong. Replace infidel with heretic and you’ve got Christianity…

  47. matt says:

    Seriously you are a completely delusional nutjob if you think that all of the 2 billion or so Muslims in this world want to force ably convert every non Muslim. In the real world there ARE followers of every religion who if given the chance would force everyone into their religion. Frankly that’s why I have a serious problem with Christian conservatives in this country. That also goes for any other religion that tries to convert this country into a theocracy..

  48. matt says:

    I cannot understand why you people cannot see that there are quackjobs in every religion. The same reason I don’t hold all Christians accountable for the bombers in Northern Ireland or the Srebrenica Massacre or even Fred Phelps. Why? Because those were nutjobs in an otherwise peaceful religion. Same goes for 9/11 and Muslims..

  49. floyd says:

    “Seriously you are a completely delusional nutjob” if you think that Conservative Christians would bother to force you into their “religion”… Ha !
    Heck, You can certainly go to hell if you want, with no interference from me! [lol]

     As for that  theocracy nonsense … reread the part in quotes. 
     Have a nice day, knowing that this country has been vast majority Christian for more than two hundred years and that your fears are unfounded.
      

  50. floyd says:

    Matt;
     In addition to telling you that my previous post was addressed to you, I must say that you are pretty gullible not to see how often the conflicts which you blame on religion are in fact merely political conflicts, drawn along “religious” lines.
    It’s fuuny how so many are willing to characterize the Islam issue this way, while not seeing the same in Ireland, which is much clearer.

  51. Drew says:

    wr –

    Since our offices are still in New York, and I still go there, I will tell you first hand that you are ignorant, and full of shit.

    Alex –

    I knew you would make that literalist response.  Here’s the deal.  You make a post with a title “More…Anti-Muslim Sentiment” with a book burning picture no less.  As if this has just sprung up out of nowhere, out of evil, intolerance, as opposed to a very real issue and the attendant emotional responses.  That’s sophistry and just plain crap. 

    You then go on to lean on the literalist “ground zero” and “mosque” arguments to disenfranchise objectors.  Again, that might work in high school, but its sophistry and an  intentional diversion from the real issue.  

    What was the purpose of the essay, Alex?  To inform us that toleration is good?  That facts get lost in emotional debates?  Thanks, we knew that already.  It seems it was nothing more than a gratuitous “I’m superior” shout out.    

    With all due respect, this might have been better:

    Despite the obvious insensitivity of the construction site plans, and natural local backlash, I find myself, as a supporter of the rule of law, a supporter of the efforts to build a Muslim oriented center close to the former World Trade Center.  Personally, out of respect to the sensitivities of the community, the practicalities, and in recognition of the magnitude of what transpired here, I would have chosen another locality.  But in America, we live by laws.  

    But Alex, instead you claimed “More Signs of Anti-Muslim Sentiment.”   I need a shower.

         
      

  52. Christopher says:

    matt,

    How come it is that liberals like you like to claim to be “former conservatives”?!?  Such BS!  LOL what a pooosay u r!  And don give me that “fear” argument.  That’s just another idiotic talking point of liberal talk radio!  (didn’t think I listened did you?  I gotta keep track of you libs trying to destroy America). 

    By the way, better start stocking up on -a-l-c-o-h-o-l for when you liberals lose in the November elections.  Its gonna be sweeeeeeet for me but will suck to be you!

  53. matt says:

    Floyd : You say that yet Christians are busy trying to outlaw abortion gay marriage and a variety of other things including forcing the ten commandments on us. So yeah pretend that the christian right isn’t trying to force it’s religion on me with it’s “this country was founded as a Christian country and we need to go back to that” nonsense. I highly doubt this country has always been inhabited by a “vast majority” of Christians. Oh sure there were those that really followed the tenants of Christianity and I know the bible supports slave ownership and such but the majority in this country are pretty apathetic about religion which allows people like you to paint them as Christian..

    Christopher : That’s because the nutjobs like you insist on calling anyone that doesn’t agree with you a liberal as if it’s some sort of universal middle finger. I don’t listen to talk radio as it’s an antiquated technology in today’s world of instant information. I also don’t like having some talk show host as my filter for information. I don’t drink either as alcohol is toxic to the body and I don’t really enjoy the effects anyway. Unlike you I don’t have a “team mentality” where it’s RAH RAH GO TEAM GOOO. I only support those that actually commit to actions the kind of governing that I desire and not just based on if there’s a D or R next to their name. Sadly these days there’s not many politicians that actually stand for the good of the working man.

  54. floyd says:

    Matt;
     Were I not a Christian, I would still see the crime in murdering unborn children , stealing , lying etc. And would still vote my conscience.
    Secular law influenced by the moral values of the electorate is the idea of a democratic republic, there have PROVEN to be plenty of constraints to protect your pet perversions.
    The fact that you can’t even enumerate the ten commandment without WIKI, PROVES that they have not been forced on you.
    You have simply taken the side of the whiners, living in a country which allows you enough freedom to destroy your life , and then offers innumerable programs to compensate for your own lack of responsibility.
     Christians have forced nothing on you that is not common to any civilized society.
     The only thing you can’t stand is that you must live among them and it interfers with the willfull searing of your conscience to look them in the eye.

  55. floyd says:

    “The majority in this country are pretty apathetic about religion which allows people like you to paint them as Christian..”

     Matt; 
       Actually I would prefer that all non-Christians refrain from making any claim to Christianity…. It confuses the weak minded who wish to blame everything that is wrong in their lives on us.
     Anyway if your quoted statement is true then you must direct your complaints elsewhere.
     Now take a second and think about the inconsistency of your statement.
     Is it just their apathy that you decry, or the fact that they don’t share your views?

  56. G.A.Phillips says:

    ****That also goes for any other religion that tries to convert this country into a theocracy..****lol DUDE have you ever heard about evolution?!?!?!