TMF

Hats off, Sir. Well played.

And there is the answer.

Where is this political correctness? I just believe in a fair shake for any American. I am far from politically correct, but I do believe in fairness. I have my personal opinions on Islam and it's up there with my opinions on Scientology, but that doesn't mean I don't think they should have a right to have a place to practice their religion. Trust me, if you could witness my tirades about Islam, or what was done in the name of it, you would learn some words you never heard before. I've spent 4 years of my adult life in Muslim countries. I, more than most, don't want to see that kind of life here. At the same time, I don't want to see free Americans discriminated against because of their beliefs. Who is "trashing" Christianity? I believe the property owners should have the same right to build a church as build a mosque. Maybe tomorrow they'll find Christ and turn the property into a mega-church. If the ACLU stepped in and tried to block it I'd be just as pissed.

I refer to zoning in post #32, 33, 35, 47 and 51. Hardly a new epiphany. If they aren't breaking laws then they should be free to do what they want on their own land.

I was speaking of your original post in regards to the book referenced in the center of the article raising eyebrows. The other post was addressing the other article.

My schools only offered one language. You're gonna be hard pressed to find a significant percentage of elementary schools that offer foreign languages, let alone a choice of many. We had Spanish or Spanish. That includes high school. I tell you what, when my wife is forced to wear a burkah or hijab I'll be the first to use my considerable skills for regime change.

I'm diggin' this so far. Good series.

I guess having this advertisement in the smack center of the article doesn't raise an eyebrow on anyone else? From the article: See what you can do in your community, get “Stop the Islamization of America: A Practical Guide to the Resistance.â€

I thought that was scrapped due to lack of funding. I don't care if it's built or not, I just have a problem with folks preventing people from building a place of worship on property they legally own. If I want to build "Church of the Fonz" on my property that is my business so long as I'm within code. There is a difference between acceptance and tolerance. If you legally own property should your neighbors dictate what you can build there? Its nobody's business what they put there so long as they aren't breaking any laws. How on earth is building a mosque forcing anything on anyone??? Does that mean I should take the church up the road to court because the cross on the roof is "forcing" Christ on me? Ludicrous.

I've been to most major airports in this country and have only seen "prayer rooms" or "meditation" rooms. I've only seen specified areas for Muslim prayer in Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, UAE, Iraq, and Lebanon. Countries where the religion is part of their culture.

There are zero facts here. Just speculation to paint a picture that may or may not exist. Okay, he was educated in Egypt where there is strong anti-Israeli sentiment. We get to be lumped in because of our support for Israel. This is the norm over there. It doesn't mean that this Imam is a freedom hater or a terrorist. He even condemned Hamas and Hezbullah which is not popular to do where he is from. Sounds like a moderate-progressive to me. Maybe this Imam will do good things for the image of Americans Muslims as he preaches with a moderate tone. He was initially suspended, probably so they could investigate. They found no wrongdoing; probably because a bedwetter doesn't understand that jihad doesn't mean strapping a bomb to yourself. Most Americans know "jihad" for the connotations given it by al Qaeda. Jihad is a part of their religion and refers to internal struggles, the struggle to build good Islamic communities and to defend the faith. The last one is armed jihad, but even moderate Muslims believe this should be done through peaceful means. Sunnis widely accept jihad as a 6th pillar of Islam, but not in the way you're thinking. Flying planes into buildings, killing innocents and cutting off heads is a warped view and is perpetrated by a cancer that exists in their faith. It doesn't mean that even a small percentage believe in jihad against America. So no facts, just speculation using a mosque in Massachusetts as an example. Well, Jared Laughner used a Glock to shoot some people in Arizona so that must have bearing on MY Glock. Let's just say that the money came from overseas. Do we not have money going from the Vatican to Catholic churches here in the states? There are plenty of churches within the US that provide monetary support to churches all over the world; even building thousands of them across the continent of Africa..... yeah, sounds like an evil plot to me too. How dare Muslims steal our ideas. Tinfoil hat time. This isn't an effort to turn you Muslim or anyone else. Middle Tennessee has a huge community of Muslims already. Maybe now that they've been here one generation they're upgrading their place of worship. Or it's a sinister plot to bring Tennessee under Islamic law.

Well I can't argue with you there. I guess it indefensible to say that the movement to block this mosque from being built is entirely due to Islamophobia, but the rhetoric surrounding it, to include the OP's article, is rife with it. This is an issue for the community to address if it is a zoning issue, but beyond that there should no interference. The religious preferences of those building the mosque should have zero bearing on the case or the folks who are trying hard to block its construction.

You are more objective than me. I saw at least two residents of this area on the news when this started. Their comments centered around concerns of extremism. That is why I presuppose this has little to do with zoning. If that was the only argument being made by the community then his would be nothing more than a story blown out of proportion.

Officers had no choice but to respond to a MWG call. It is the world we live in. Showing up with a buttload of officers was probably SOP for MWG calls. Looks like it got sorted out without issue. I would think folks would want to be cooperative with LE so the situation could be resolved quicker. To each their own.

And that is a valid opinion on disagreeing with it being mandatory, but most schools with language programs are mandatory. I had to do it in elementary and high school. Even had to take a semester of Band against my will. However, the fact that this school chose Arabic doesn't mean they're trying to convert our kids to Islam. The administration just wanted their names up in lights... for prestige or more funding. It's what schools do.

That's a call back. Good form.

None of that has anything to do with this construction. People want a Mosque. I don't see the correlation between that and terrorist training camps and forcing children to participate in Muslim rituals. Those incidents sound like they should be addressed, but aren't related to the case at hand. If this is all about zoning that's one thing. But when folks start arguing about how this shouldn't be allowed because of the proliferation of Islam in the US then you're looking to squash the rights of your fellow Americans. I've had plenty of my share of dealing with Muslim extremists. I would consider myself somewhere in the expert category. Building a Mosque doesn't raise an eyebrow for me. Americans saying it shouldn't be built because Muslims are trying to take over the country does raise an eyebrow.

That isn't what being free is about. It's one thing if it was an environmental/code/traffic issue but folks are against this because they disagree with their religion. I don't care if it's a church or a supremacist group, folks have a right to their beliefs and shouldn't be blocked in practicing it. If you would be outraged by some commie/liberal/atheist group blocking the construction of a Baptist church then you should be outraged by this. It's just wrong.

The method of this being blocked is far from the reason. I remember when this all started and the interviews with area folks on the news. They don't want it built because its a mosque. There is no "reading between the lines" here; the aim of the opponents is very overt. If this was a super-church people wouldn't care. That just doesn't seem right to me. Not in this country.

So if someone feels that way about you then the law should step in and prevent you from worship? As a person who has been on the wrong side of many Soviet weapons being fired by "Muslims" I should have more of a bone to pick than most. I don't; wonder why? It ain't because I'm a bleeding heart, I can tell ya that.

Okay I feel the same way about liberals but they still have rights. How scary to have our laws turned against free Americans looking for a place of worship. If this was a church I would feel just as strongly. I am surprised that good Christians don't see it that way.

Are these Americans? What's the problem with them having a place to practice their religion?

You can believe this all you want but if a business owner tells you to leave you have to do so. If you refuse you will be leaving in metal bracelets.

You disagree that a business owner can tell you to leave?

You hear those helicopters? Of course you don't, they're stealth.