Tiny Upstate New York Town Wants Local Muslims to Dig Up Their Cemetery

[Canuckistanian]

A town in upstate New York is trying to force a local Muslim religious community to dig up a small cemetery on its property and never bury anyone there again because it says it's illegal.

"What we would not want is an unauthorized cemetery," says Bob McCarthy, town supervisor of the Delaware County town of Sidney, population 5,993. "We're taking care of a bunch of cemeteries, and they just came in and buried the bodies, and didn't go through...there's no funding there, it's not a standard kind of deal, and it's going to become a liability to the town."

So what steps have the Muslims skipped? "I don't know what the exact law is," he says.

Which is the problem; because whether or not the town government likes it, there are no laws in Sidney -- or New York state, for that matter -- covering cemeteries on private land -- religious cemeteries included. Plus, the town approved the cemetery in 2005.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andrew-reinbach/tiny-upstate-new-york-tow_b_739832.html

[sinkingfeeling]

1. Just more fear... even of dead Muslims.

[el_bryanto]

2. That's interesting - kind of idiotic that they don't have laws regulating cemetaries

Dead Bodies aren't all that healthy, and I would imagine that if they aren't buried correctly they could spread illness into the water supply.

This, of course, is an example of increasingly common bigotry against Muslim Americans.

Bryant

[Sinistrous]

3. The supply of ignorance and bigotry in this country appears

to be endless.

I don't know whether to cry or scream.


edit to make subject line say what I intended.

[AsahinaKimi]

6. as somone said recently...

Nobody beats American bigotry.

Nobody!!!

[closeupready]

4. Upstate is populated with bikers and neanderthals.

No offense to upstate liberals with my overgeneralization, but that is my experience.

[COLGATE4]

5. I grew up about 50 miles from where this idiocy is taking

place and I completely agree. With the exception of a couple of university towns, the rest is pretty much knuckle-draggers and, at the kindest, low information chronically Rethug voters.