Behind the mosque

There has always been hatred, Cherokee Girl. This is not a new development.

What an ignorant bigot. Blaming all muslams for the 9/11 attacks because the perpetrators did it "in the name of Islam" is about as intelligent and reasonable as blaming all white people for the cross the KKK sets ablaze in the name of "white purity". How obtuse can one really be? I'm no muslim, but it's a shame such ignorant hatred finds an outlet in the media.

People have been coming to the US for hundreds of years doing the same thing.
I know many Americans who are self employed.

No one is racist when there is money involved.

Here are some comments on PCJ -
It is time to bridge the great divide. Time to love thou brother. Time to put all the hate behind us and move forward. Let them have their mosque and freedom to worship. Remember our president is Muslim.
I think the mosque is a perfect way to tell the world we are not as ignorant previously believed. We do not believe all Muslims are terrorists in the same way that not all Christians are terrorists.

Here is my reply --
you people are crazy to support this. What if someone killed your CHILD or other family member and others wanted to put up a monument, memorial, etc to idolize the person that KILLED YOUR CHILD?? Would you still AGREE with this??!!
I can't believe some poeple in the USA.
That being said, I hope all the people that alllow this will be voted out of office. And I hope that if this thing is built that they are the FIRST ones that these terrorists will take out.
These crazy people in USA who agree with this wants TOLERANCE? Peace with other nations/ religions, etc? Do YOU think that THESE people will tolerate USA?? Surely you can't believe thta these terrorists will be loving toward USA and NOT take them out.
IDIOTS.

Can this be stopped somehow? Can the public show outrage and stop this??

I dont' know, the country is like communism and the gov't does what it wants to no matter what WE THE PEOPLE want!!
MORE IDIOTS !!

To #2 pike patriot, do YOU think the MUSLIMS will put the HATE behind THEM??

Surly a man such as yourself knows the dangers of removing verses out of context or "cherry-picking" and not considering the historical context in which it was written and should be interpreted. Have you read the Old Testament?

I will not feed you: that that dieth, let it die; and that that is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let the rest eat every one the flesh of another.--Zech.11:9

Exodus 7:4 But Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you, that I may lay my hand upon Egypt, and bring forth mine armies, and my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments.

There are many many more of these.

what was the title of your latest hit recording?

Rabbi Justus N. BairdDirector, Center for Multifaith Education, Auburn Theological Seminary


..These concerns take on a special urgency on Memorial Day: how exactly can we remember and honor those who were killed? As a rabbi, I'd like to offer two things that seem to be missing from the now public discussion of Cordoba House: a pastoral voice, and a piece of wisdom from the past.

First, a pastoral voice. To some of those who lost loved ones in the 9/11 attacks, Cordoba House is a slap in the face that generates anger and disgust. In their mind, Muslims perpetrated 9/11, and now Muslims are building a shrine at Ground Zero.

These 9/11 families understand intellectually that the progressive American Muslims advocating for Cordoba House have no connection, theologically or personally, to the terror-thirsty, militant strand of Islam associated with the 9/11 attackers. Yet, for them, these two diametrically opposed groups are still connected in some way. In an honest moment, most Americans would admit that we share this feeling that all Muslims are connected. Muslim theologians would agree: the ummat al-mu'minin is the "community of believers" that make up the Muslim world. So let's acknowledge that while the followers of Cordoba House and the followers of al-Qaeda have radically different visions of Islam, they are both part of the Muslim world.

The other clear concern in these voices is that Ground Zero, and arguably the area around it, is sacred ground. My loved ones died here, they are reminding us. Be very, very careful where you walk.

But what are the boundaries of this sacred site? The architecture of the Biblical Tabernacle is instructive here. The holiest place was the Ark of the Covenant. Surrounding it was the Holy of Holies, and beyond that was the holy place with the altar, table, and lampstand, and beyond that was the outer court, and beyond that was a fence. Sacredness was safeguarded by a series of boundaries.

These voices are crying out to discuss the sacred boundaries of Ground Zero. Cordoba House is two blocks away, a three-minute walk. Is that inside or outside the invisible fence? And who determines what is sacred? To Muslims, many of whom died in the 9/11 attacks, a mosque is a deeply sacred space.

Only by acknowledging and addressing these concerns will the storm swirling around Cordoba House be abated. That's the pastoral voice. Now the wisdom from the past. It is sad but true that people around the world have experienced their own versions of 9/11. Lurking in the aftermath of the world's worst moments of murder and injustice is a precious piece of wisdom.

The International Coalition of Sites of Conscience is a worldwide network of nearly 250 places of memory that remember tragedies as well as triumphs of justice and everyday life. These sites open their spaces for people to talk openly about what happened there and their contemporary legacies.

One such Site of Conscience is Constitution Hill in Johannesburg. In the 1990s, South Africa decided to redevelop the Old Fort Prison that jailed political prisoners like Mandela and Gandhi alongside those who transgressed now-illegal apartheid laws. The Justices of the Constitutional Court deliberately chose to erect the new court in the shadow of the prison in order to learn from the history of a place that once symbolized the abrogation of justice. From the soil of terror would rise a safehouse of justice.

Before the site was redeveloped, a series of dialogues was conducted with various stakeholders, including former prisoners and guards, who described their personal experiences and talked openly about what happened there. The community's input shaped the design of the Constitution Hill complex, including a provision for office space for nonprofits to pursue justice. Without these dialogues, Constitution Hill might never have become what it is today: a place offering ongoing public discussions about how, in light of the past, justice should be defined in the new South Africa.

Another example is Memoria Abierta (Open Memory) in Buenos Aires. For decades, Argentine dictators sponsored violent kidnappings and torture. The terror claimed an estimated 30,000 lives, people who became known simply as "the disappeared." Open Memory has worked to identify hundreds of detention centers and torture sites and mark them as places that preserve memory and denounce authoritarianism. One such site, a former Naval Academy, set off a protracted disagreement among stakeholders, including different victims' groups. Open Memory held a series of forums among victims groups and state authorities, which has allowed the site to be opened in a series of smaller steps. The open dialogues continue today.

The parallel between these sites and Cordoba House is imperfect; Cordoba House is not intended to be a memorial to 9/11. Yet these stories contain wisdom: any development on or near the sacred ground of collective trauma must begin with listening and dialogue.

Cordoba House's founders have started the dialogue, which is why the local Community Board recently backed the proposal. But the dialogue needs to go broader and deeper. At a minimum it must include more families touched by 9/11 (some of whom strongly support the proposal), more nearby residents, and all of us who have trouble distinguishing a Cordoba House Muslim from an al-Qaeda Muslim.

Cordoba House should be built. Right now, however, Ground Zero has too many graves and too few relationships between Muslim-Americans and Americans of other faiths for the project to reach its full potential. By launching a series of community dialogues before the site is developed, Cordoba House can get an early start on becoming a vibrant and world-class facility that promotes tolerance and pluralism.

Lol..read about Christianity sometime. The Crusades and Inquisition are a great place to start.