NYT On The Fear & Hatred Not Limited To NYC, Mosque Projects Across America Meet Opposition

[Turborama]

Across Nation, Mosque Projects Meet Opposition

By LAURIE GOODSTEIN
Published: August 7, 2010


Residents in Temecula, Calif., protested against a mosque’s proposed worship center.

While a high-profile battle rages over a mosque near ground zero in Manhattan, heated confrontations have also broken out in communities across the country where mosques are proposed for far less hallowed locations.

In Murfreesboro, Tenn., Republican candidates have denounced plans for a large Muslim center proposed near a subdivision, and hundreds of protesters have turned out for a march and a county meeting.

In late June, in Temecula, Calif., members of a local Tea Party group took dogs and picket signs to Friday prayers at a mosque that is seeking to build a new worship center on a vacant lot nearby.

In Sheboygan, Wis., a few Christian ministers led a noisy fight against a Muslim group that sought permission to open a mosque in a former health food store bought by a Muslim doctor.

At one time, neighbors who did not want mosques in their backyards said their concerns were over traffic, parking and noise — the same reasons they might object to a church or a synagogue. But now the gloves are off.

Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/08/us/08mosque.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss&src=igw

(edited to add NYT's article title)

[sabrina 1]

1. How sad. The Neocon hate propaganda

has awakened something really evil, just when this country was beginning to move away from this kind of overt prejudice, or at least to understand that it was not socially acceptable and that maybe you might be in the minority if you harbored and expressed such hatred. But now all the prejudices of the past have bubbled to the surface and it will take generations to overcome.

I wonder sometimes if the world can ever evolve from its still. in many ways, primitive state.

Strange, I was just reading a Pakistani blogger who was admonishing his own people for their prejudices and hatreds. He could have been here talking to the Christian Fundies.

I will say it made me feel a little better that here at least people are beginning to move away from their support for the death penalty, although not by much. There, a majority still support some brutal punishments, like stoning etc. but as he pointed out, they are conflicted in some polls when the questions are broader, and claim to want more democracy.

[aquart]

4. Oh, baloney.

Building a mosque or a church or a temple means there is sufficient population in the area to support it. That's what is scaring the crap out of people. That the demographic of their neighborhood is changing. And it's changing to something unfamiliar and strange.

AND NOBODY LIKES THAT. NOBODY. NOWHERE. So stop clutching your pearls like this is some awful new thing. It ain't. It is a normal though difficult and annoying human process. And not just human. Ever bring in a new cat to live with some other cats? It is noisy and nasty and occasionally bloody. But eventually they work it out. Because they're all there in the same place and they have to.

Instead of screeching how your fellow Americans are full of hatred and meanness, you might want to spend a second understanding the genuine fear and anxiety.

[Turborama]

5. You should read the full article and look for the common thread Sabrina is referring to.

Also, there's no need to be so insulting.

[sabrina 1]

8. You might want to calm down and actually read what is written.

I am 'screeching' as you call it, about my rightwing Republican, fringe lunatic teabagger 'fellow Americans'

If you are not one of them, then I don't see why you would be anything but in agreement that the hatred generated against Muslims in this country began on the day 9/11 happened and the neocon agenda went into full swing, specifically demonizing Muslims. Many were rounded up and detained, some were killed, beaten and reported and it is still going on.

This hatred has been taught by the likes of Sean Hannity and his ilk and is not based on anything BUT hatred. It is not the same as some new group moving in and then people getting used to them.

Maybe you should read before you post. Your feeble attempt to justify this prejudice is despicable imho. If this kind of abuse was directed at any other ethnic group in this country today, the media would be all over it. But no one dares to defend those 'terrorists'.

[6000eliot]

2. Is it fascism yet?

[tulsakatz]

3. I guess these assholes forgot what Bush said on 9/11....

...that islam is not our enemy.

[ihavenobias]

6. Wow

That sign is brutal.

PS---Cenk on MSNBC giving a great take on the controversy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5V3j108igUY

[Alameda]

10. Thanks for the link...but did you see the comments?

[ihavenobias]

11. I read the entire NY Times piece.

If that's what you're asking.

[slackmaster]

7. Here in San Diego, not so much

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/aug/07/joy-of-answered-prayers-muslim-center-to-open/

[Scurrilous]

9. K & R

:thumbsup:

[Uncle Joe]

12. Kicked and recommended,on edit too late to recommend.

Thanks for the thread, Turborama.