Kristi Reed
COLUMN: All ‘ginned up’
Many years ago, one of my son’s friends got in trouble at school because he asked a Muslim student if he was “the kind of Muslim that blows things up.”
At the time, the sheer bluntness of the question made the incident more humorous than anything. But now, almost a decade after Muslim terrorists killed 2,976 innocent people on Sept. 11, 2001, we as a nation seem to be grappling with that exact same question.
How do you differentiate between the “good” Muslims and the ones who fly planes into buildings?
New Yorkers in particular would probably like to know the answer to this question before a mosque is built near Ground Zero.
Though it would seem to be a legitimate concern to question whether the individuals behind the mosque project are in any way connected to Muslim terror elements, those in power right now seem to disagree.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi thinks opposition to the mosque has been “ginned up” for political purposes. She even went so far as to call for an investigation into how the opposition is being funded.
President Obama has outright said he supports the right of Muslims to build the mosque near the site of the World Trade Center.
Interestingly, a poll conducted by the Pew Research Center before he made those comments showed one in five Americans believe Obama is a Muslim. In a Time Magazine poll taken after the comments, the number jumped to one in four.
Polls also show that President Obama and Speaker Pelosi are simply out of step with what the majority of Americans believe regarding this issue. A recent CNN poll showed 70 percent of Americans oppose the construction of the mosque near the site of the World Trade Center.
Freedom of religion is not and should not be the point of this debate. This is not about tolerance of Islam, this is about decency, civility and respect.
At best, building the mosque near Ground Zero would be insensitive. At worst, it could be considered a shining beacon of Islamic triumphalism for all the world to see.
Rather than using political correctness as a defense to allow Muslims to build the mosque wherever they please, perhaps the administration should use political correctness as the reason why they should not build near the site where their religious brethren launched an attack on America and murdered thousands of people.
The fact that the leader of Hamas supports constructing the mosque and Islamic community center at this site should be enough in and of itself to sound alarm bells. It should also be enough to prompt Pelosi to call for an investigation into who is funding the mosque instead of who is funding the opposition.
A few months ago, the man behind the mosque, Iman Feisal Abdul Rauf, told a London-based Arabic newspaper that he is seeking $100 million from Arab and Muslim nations to finance the project. However, he told American media that the project would be financed through donations from U.S. Muslims.
Why does it matter? Because whoever controls the purse strings, controls the message. Is this mosque about improving Muslim-Christian relations or advancing Islamic extremism?
When asked in 2001 whether the U.S. deserved to be attacked on 9-11, Rauf, who proclaims to be an advocate of peaceful relations between the Muslim world and the West, said “I wouldn’t say that the United States deserved what happened. But the United States’ policies were an accessory to the crime that happened.”
That comment is just as insensitive as his plans to build a mosque near the site of the 9-11 attacks.
This is no “ginned up” controversy. This is a serious issue which goes way beyond freedom of religion and it is a controversy that is not going to go away as long as the President continues to place political correctness ahead of common sense.
Kristi Reed is a reporter for the Barrow Journal. She can be reached at kreed@barrowjournal.com.
How do you differentiate between the “good” Muslims and the ones who fly planes into buildings?
New Yorkers in particular would probably like to know the answer to this question before a mosque is built near Ground Zero.
Though it would seem to be a legitimate concern to question whether the individuals behind the mosque project are in any way connected to Muslim terror elements, those in power right now seem to disagree.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi thinks opposition to the mosque has been “ginned up” for political purposes. She even went so far as to call for an investigation into how the opposition is being funded.
President Obama has outright said he supports the right of Muslims to build the mosque near the site of the World Trade Center.
Interestingly, a poll conducted by the Pew Research Center before he made those comments showed one in five Americans believe Obama is a Muslim. In a Time Magazine poll taken after the comments, the number jumped to one in four.
Polls also show that President Obama and Speaker Pelosi are simply out of step with what the majority of Americans believe regarding this issue. A recent CNN poll showed 70 percent of Americans oppose the construction of the mosque near the site of the World Trade Center.
Freedom of religion is not and should not be the point of this debate. This is not about tolerance of Islam, this is about decency, civility and respect.
At best, building the mosque near Ground Zero would be insensitive. At worst, it could be considered a shining beacon of Islamic triumphalism for all the world to see.
Rather than using political correctness as a defense to allow Muslims to build the mosque wherever they please, perhaps the administration should use political correctness as the reason why they should not build near the site where their religious brethren launched an attack on America and murdered thousands of people.
The fact that the leader of Hamas supports constructing the mosque and Islamic community center at this site should be enough in and of itself to sound alarm bells. It should also be enough to prompt Pelosi to call for an investigation into who is funding the mosque instead of who is funding the opposition.
A few months ago, the man behind the mosque, Iman Feisal Abdul Rauf, told a London-based Arabic newspaper that he is seeking $100 million from Arab and Muslim nations to finance the project. However, he told American media that the project would be financed through donations from U.S. Muslims.
Why does it matter? Because whoever controls the purse strings, controls the message. Is this mosque about improving Muslim-Christian relations or advancing Islamic extremism?
When asked in 2001 whether the U.S. deserved to be attacked on 9-11, Rauf, who proclaims to be an advocate of peaceful relations between the Muslim world and the West, said “I wouldn’t say that the United States deserved what happened. But the United States’ policies were an accessory to the crime that happened.”
That comment is just as insensitive as his plans to build a mosque near the site of the 9-11 attacks.
This is no “ginned up” controversy. This is a serious issue which goes way beyond freedom of religion and it is a controversy that is not going to go away as long as the President continues to place political correctness ahead of common sense.
Kristi Reed is a reporter for the Barrow Journal. She can be reached at kreed@barrowjournal.com.
Now , I know its hard for the human intellect to get around that,but thats what the truth is.Whether you accept it or not,whether you approve of the messenger or not, it doesnt change the truth.
When Jesus died on the cross the veil in Gods temple was torn in half by unseen hands,but this was witnessed by the preists that were there.That veil had seperated God from the people in a symbolic way in their religion, that signified that God was done with mans way's and within a generation rome detroyed the temple, jerusalem, and dispersed the Jewish people throughout the world, from that time forward God used the Church in the way that he had wanted to use his people to spread the truth , and the gospel to all the world. God wasnt done with the Jew's and still isnt.He brought the nation of Isreal back afte alomost 2000 years in 1948.I dont know enough to know what the final dispensation of the Jews is but I do know that those who reject Jesus christ ,also reject God ,and that there is no place for them in Gods heaven,but there is a place that he prepared for those angels who rebelled before the flood, and that is where those who reject Jesus will find themselves.I hope that you are not there.
Besides where is all of this "tolerance" you people talk about? It's very fustrating that you people cry for "tolerance" from Christians but never want to tolerate ANY Christian views. When a Christian expresses the truths, you automatically lable them a bigot.
So my question to you is; if you are so tolerant to others then why do you not tolerate my intolerance to the unGodly?
Look around us and the world. What is going on? Is the cause of freedom being fostered in any country on earth, including the U.S.? I submit to you that it is NOT. But that a world government organization (UN-Bilderbergers) has most of the world in an eternal hypnotic mental state that causes most of them to hate each other and verbally attack anybody who disagrees with their political and religious views, such as we are witnessing here in this forum. The people who want to build the mosque didn't commit the murder and destruction. And, although they may have celebrated it, it is not a reason to deny them the free expression of their religious beliefs by building their mosque on any tract of land that they own, by purchase with their own or someone else's money. Rumor has it that, FoxNews is funding the building of the mosque, but I don't know that to be true. But even so, they have the God given right to spend their money in such a manner if they choose to do that.
Now I could ramble on in an effort to rebut every imaginable effort to attack and refute on me due to my expressed opinion here, but I will not do that, in hopes that someone who would like to challenge my opinion to reply to this post, so that I may oblige them. Thank you for posting this article, Kristi.
This is power and domination thing. Religion is a tool and is being used in a effort to devide our Country. Judging from the comments above, it is working. Wipe away this religious screen and see what is happening...look at what has happened to France and the rest of Europe!