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| ACLU praises Muslim center near Ground Zero | |
| 2010-08-04 | |
One of the country's largest civil rights organizations lauded the next step forward in the development of an Islamic cultural center near Ground Zero in Manhattan.
Those opposed to the project say the building's proximity to the site of the 2001 terrorist attacks -- led by al Qaeda-affiliated Muslims -- is insensitive to the families of the dead. Supporters defend it on the grounds of religious freedom. On Tuesday, the New York Civil Liberties Union and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) praised the center's progress, saying that it represents the core of American values. "The free exercise of religion is one of America's most fundamental freedoms," said the ACLU in a statement. "For hundreds of years, our pluralism and tolerance have sustained and strengthened our nation. On 9/11, religious extremists opposed to that very pluralism killed 3,000 Americans. Those fanatics would want nothing more than for our nation to turn its back on the very ideals that make this country so great. "For those who have sought to ban the construction of the cultural center, we must remember that our precious ideals extend to all Americans, regardless of creed or color. We see the center as a monument to pluralism, symbolic of America's commitment to religious freedom." | |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #19 This (and continuous picketing and Christian proselytization) is the appropriate response to the mosque. I hope the Jumpers video is on continuous loop. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2010-08-04 20:01 |
| #18 The free exercise of religion is one of America's most fundamental freedoms No, it's not. The freedom to believe in the religion is separate from exercising it. Just ask a Mormon. Or a voodoo witch doctor. |
| Posted by: Who you calling Troll? 2010-08-04 15:34 |
| #17 As a free speech gesture someone needs to open a BLT shop and dog grooming shop FIFY. |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2010-08-04 15:23 |
| #16 The spineless left was defeated by the attack on the United States since 9/11/2001. For two weeks they aligned with the right to attack Al Qaeda. As soon as the bullets started flying they cut and ran and have done everything they could to undermine those who have the courage to stand and fight. Now they WANT a Mosque at Ground Zero. There are three players here. The Good, the Evil, and the Feather Brained Weaklings. |
| Posted by: Herman Spomoper8280 2010-08-04 15:10 |
| #15 As a free speech gesture someone needs to open a BLT shop and dog grooming shop next door. |
| Posted by: Jack Salami 2010-08-04 14:26 |
| #14 The ACLU cred: You must tolerate the intolerant (as long it's ant-America) otherwise you are intolerant. |
| Posted by: Jack Salami 2010-08-04 14:25 |
| #13 I knew this place looked familiar. Actually, there's already a bar right next door now. The Dakota Roadhouse. When we went down to Ground Zero a few years back we went in for a few pops. Divey, hardcore blue collar place. Good burgers. The bartender was telling us it was a big hangout for the folks working at Ground Zero. They didn't seem like the kind of people who'll leave to accomodate our Muslim friends. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2010-08-04 14:16 |
| #12 You think the ACLU will back the installation of a "Men's Club" a few doors down. It would be fun just to watch the ACLU turn into a pretzel when they ignore resultant ruckus of a non-grandfathered establishment in the proximity of a religious facility or the arguments that will be an affront that it desecrates the holiness of the location. Separation of church and state right? |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2010-08-04 13:31 |
| #11 Hold the presses....we finally found a religion that the ACLU approves of! /sarc off |
| Posted by: Swamp Blondie 2010-08-04 12:00 |
| #10 The Muslims have a habit of building Mosques on the site of a conquest. One of the earliest mosques is the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, which is built on the place where the Jewish Temple once stood. Read the history of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople or Mezquita in Cordoba. That's funny. they originally wanted to name the Ground Zero Mosque, Cordoba. |
| Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC 2010-08-04 11:51 |
| #9 "Uhh, we're talking about tolerance, not suicidal stupidity" I wish. A mosque at ground zero will encourage more attacks |
| Posted by: flash91 2010-08-04 11:11 |
| #8 I'm betting they will have problems finding construction workers in New York who will actually build this thing. |
| Posted by: Sherry 2010-08-04 10:59 |
| #7 imprisoning serial killers, american ideals do not include universal tolerance. Uhh, we're talking about tolerance, not suicidal stupidity. |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2010-08-04 10:34 |
| #6 we must remember that our precious ideals extend to all Americans, regardless of creed or color Yes, but those ideals include intolerance of americans whose creeds are not compatible. From burning witches to imprisoning serial killers, american ideals do not include universal tolerance. |
| Posted by: flash91 2010-08-04 10:17 |
| #5 I see where this is going to a lawsuit. A woman on Fox this a.m. said the imam who is pushing the building of the mosque is a fraud and has links to the Muslim Brotherhood. Are there imans who are not frauds? |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2010-08-04 09:54 |
| #4 The fact that the ACLU sees fit to comment means that this mosque is designed and intended as a political statement. No one seems to have asked what direct spiritual need is going to be filled by a huge mosque in lower Manhattan. Is Battery Park City really a Muslim enclave? (Hint: that would be 'no.') Bonus note: I am quite certain that even if Catholic, Mainline Protestant, Lutheran and Orthodox Churches somehow combined forces to build a 'Christian Cultural Center' on this site, the ACLU (and a whole bunch of others) would be suing to block it. |
| Posted by: Free Radical 2010-08-04 08:47 |
| #3 All of this would matter much less if Afghanistan had been swiftly and decisively defeated and punished in the months after 9/11. The result of western restraint is creeping Sharia at home (not only in Eurabia, also in the US) and brutal Islamic intolerance in 'liberated' Afghanistan subsidized by Westen "For hundreds of years, our pluralism and tolerance have sustained and strengthened our nation." There's no tradition of religious tolerance when the 'religion' in question is an external enemy's political ideology. In 1945 the Japanese were forced to make fundamental changes to Shinto doctrine, and to fundamentally alter the relationship between government and the Shinto religion, the alternative being nuclear annihilation. Shinto is a bona fide religion with a longer history than e.g. Islam's. |
| Posted by: Thomble Ghibelline6312 2010-08-04 07:54 |
| #2 "The free exercise of religion - other than predominate Christianity - is one of America's most fundamental freedoms," Now that accurately fits what the ACLU, by practice, meant to say. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2010-08-04 07:45 |
| #1 "The free exercise of religion is one of America's most fundamental freedoms," said the ACLU in a statement. "For hundreds of years, our pluralism and tolerance have sustained and strengthened our nation. On 9/11, religious extremists opposed to that very pluralism killed 3,000 Americans. Those fanatics would want nothing more than for our nation to turn its back on the very ideals that make this country so great. "For those who have sought to ban the construction of the cultural center, we must remember that our precious ideals extend to all Americans, regardless of creed or color. We see the center as a monument to pluralism, symbolic of America's commitment to religious freedom." Yeah, just don't try to put up a manger on the town common during |
| Posted by: tu3031 2010-08-04 01:12 |