Imam Rauf, who could have avoided all this by simply not putting the “cultural center” right near Ground Zero (btw, does anyone, other than gullible liberals, actually believe that the center will allow “separate prayer space for…..Christians, Jews and men and women of other faiths”? Good luck with that). But, hey, now that this is gone on for so long, it’s apparently a national security issue
A Muslim imam behind a proposed cultural center two blocks from New York’s Ground Zero said he must build there despite angry protests in order to defend America and its citizens against a “danger from the radicals in the Muslim world to our national security.”
That’s rather amusing coming from a guy who wants Sharia law in America and refuses to condemn Hamas as a terrorist organization.
“If we move from that location, the story will be that the radicals have taken over the discourse,” Rauf told CNN. “The headlines in the Muslim world will be that Islam is under attack.
Got that? He just put 62% of Americans in the same box as Islamists. Though, interestingly, our “radicals” aren’t strapping on suicide belts, going on shooting rampages, nor hijacking planes and flying them into buildings.
“There is a certain anger here [in America], no doubt,” he said later in the interview. “But if we don’t do this right, anger will explode in the Muslim world. If we don’t do things correctly, this crisis could become much bigger than the Danish cartoon crisis [over images depicting the Prophet Mohammed], which resulted in attacks on Danish embassies in various parts of the Muslim world. And we have a much bigger footprint in the Muslim world.”
So, if we don’t build the “center”, Muslims will do what we have seen them do time and time again, get violent. And on the flip side, if the nutjobs in Florida go ahead with their “Burn The Koran Day” plan, then the Islamists will get violent.
“I would plead with him to seriously consider what he is doing,” Rauf said on CNN. “It is going to feed into the radicals in the Muslim world.
Everything feeds into the radicals in the Muslim world. Building the mosque, not building the mosque, you name it, they get upset.
“We have freedom of speech, but with freedom comes responsibility,” he added. “This is dangerous for our national security, but also it is the un-Christian thing to do.”
On this, I’ll agree with Rauf. This is not the Christian thing to do. It is also not in keeping with “demonstrating peaceably.” Yet, we also have freedom of religion, but, with freedom comes responsibility. And when the majority of Americans see the building of the Cordoba House as a bad thing and a slap in the face to a country that was attacked just a few blocks away, then building it is not in keeping with all the “bridge building” and stuff Rauf talks about. Perhaps he should show respect himself.
Oh, and open the books about where all the money is coming from.
More: DrewM at Ace makes a good point (via Michelle Malkin, who writes that people need to read the Koran, not burn it)
Another interesting byproduct of this situation is once again the disconnect between the “Islam equals peace†rhetoric and the reality people see on a daily basis. If Islam is so peaceful and only a “tiny minority’ of Muslims are “violent extremistsâ€, why do we constantly have to be so damn sensitive to pissing them off?
When the whole Piss Christ thing happened Christians were told to suck it up and shut up. I don’t remember anyone worrying about marauding bands of Presbyterians going on a murder spree over it. But when it comes to cartoons or a bunch of loons (a true ‘tiny minority) burning some books, the world has to go on red alert if it involves Islam. Why is that exactly?
Crossed at Right Wing News and Stop The ACLU. Re-Change 2010!
I think most people agree that the church should not burn the Koran. That is a moral choice they are making and we have a right to disagree with that choice.
There is no doubt they have a LEGAL right to burn the Koran. Even if one takes into account that burning of something might violate a local non-burning statute, they still have the First Amendment right to burn it.
However, the reactions to this and other events are such contrasts that it boggles the mind.
Obama says the building of the Ground Zero mosque is a “freedom of worship” issue and should be allowed to go forward. He now says that the church should not burn the Koran. Same amendment – different reaction from the “Constitutional lawyer.”
The weight of the government in attacking this church is amazing. The local government is looking for ways to legally stop what obviously is protected political speech.
But there is another issue here.
Remember the movie “Last Temptation of Christ?” Remember the “art” of throwing a crucifix in urine? Remember the “art” of painting the virgin Mary in cow dung?
Now, remember how many people were injured in response to those insults? How many Christian / Catholics rushed out and threatened other people?
Once again the contrasts are striking.
In law enforcement, the term “entrapment” has the meaning of coercing a person to commit a crime they would not normally be predisposed to commit.
When offended, Christians responded with protests. That is the nature of a peaceful religion.
When offended, the so called “religion of peace” that is Islam, threatens people who have nothing to do with the event with death.
Muslims must realize that it is their own actions that expose the lie of “religion of peace.”
I know that there are going to be some that will say “there are peaceful muslims,” and there are. Yesterday a group of religious leaders and adherents joined together to pray the pastor of Dove Outreach backs away from the planned burning.
What was not prayed for, or addressed was the reaction in the Muslim world.
The reaction of violence is accepted.
On the Quran burning, at first I did not think this to be a good idea as I associate with the Nazis. Then Obama had to open his big mouth and now I feel that we should all burn a Quran on 9/11. Make it a day to thank Islam for all it has done over the last 50 years. Ann Coulter seems to agree. As to making the Muslims mad, good, bring it on. Lets make as many of them into extremist as possible. If burning a stupid book or displaying a cartoon figure is going to make you kill your fellow man, then lets get it on.
As to the Muslim religious center, why not as the Imam to consider a multireligious center that celebrates all the world’s religions and dedicated to the intent of everyone getting along. It could be a Muslim effort as they seemed to have made the Twin Tower area a monument. They could organize the funding and make sure that the content was such as to find harmoney between Christian, Jew, Hindu and all the other people they seem to hate. It he finds that this is not acceptable, then his motives could be questioned.
I don’t believe that threats from either Islam or anywhere else do anything to resolve problems and should be met with action.. Problems get resolved through action. The kind of action required depends on the severity of the threat. In this case the action required should be as extreme as the threat.
Steve are you volunteering to go over there and do what you think should be done ? Or are you just in favor of having somebody else do it ?
If you do please post some vids to YouTube. Probably NO ONE who posts here is familiar with the Catholic Church that is closest to Ground Zero, St Peter’shttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Peter’s_Roman_Catholic_Church,_New_York
When it was built in 1840 it was construckted with huge bronze doors in front so that Catholics could flee there for sanctuary from the Americans who thought them “Papists” and not true AMERICANS and who worshiped the wrong way. The local NYC Cardinal approves of a mosque in that placehttp://www.americamagazine.org/blog/entry.cfm?blog_id=2&entry_id=3185
I support Burn the Koran Day. I consider it morally obligatory and politically constructive.
‘lil LIAR johnnie ryan supports terrorism. Figures.
[…] the GZ mosque is moved there will be violence. How’s that for building bridges of tolerance. The Pirate’s Cove has the story, Gateway Pundit has […]
There was a lady on Hannity today, she claimed that if the Mosque is not allowed to be built, it would be like “smoke, and where there is smoke, there is fire”. Hannity took that as a threat, just like the GZM Imam’s statement is a threat.
I say, the site needs to bought out and a pork processing plant needs to be placed there.
I don’t take threats well. Yet, what has our country done? Slunked under the bed and cried, “Please don’t get mad at me!”
We have become Dhimmis. Welcome to the new land of Islam.