Friday, September 3, 2010

NYC MOSQUE LOCATION- IS IT REALLY ABOUT HARMONY?

I often shake my head and wonder what the nation has become.  I found this post by a British gentleman that absolutely captures my thoughts on the location of the NYC mosque near the 9/11/ attacks.  Yes, I know the site is 2 blocks away from the area.  Yes, I know there is a current mosque near there.  I personally feel that this location has been chosen to make a statement and we Americans are so cowed by political correctness and denial that we refuse to take a stand for anything worthwhile.

Perhaps I am focused on this issue because I remember 9/11/2001 so vividly.  On that day I was on a trading floor working as a fixed income analyst.  All of the sales guys I talked to each day were in New York and Chicago.  Many of our traders were speaking to other Wall Street employees right during the time the towers were hit.  I remember watching CNBC next to my desk and remarking to my co-workers on the desk that some crazy small plane had hit one of the towers.  (Remember how small the hole looked like at first).  Then we saw the second hit.  Fear and horror instantly grabbed us as as we understood that this was an intentional act.  Our Bloomberg machines kept spitting out more news that there were two more planes that were potentially hijacked and then we heard word about the attack on the Pentagon.  I remember how the markets panicked and how it seemed as though everything had changed in an instant.  I remember thinking that the sensitive infrastructure in the city I lived in might be targets on that terrible day.  I remember thinking "what kind of terrible world had I brought my daughter into?". 

This video is straight forward and is well done.  There is no doubt that European nations have been invaded from inside and are no longer the same.  There is no doubt that these countries embraced a liberal, inclusive view and it was turned against them.  You may not agree with me or this video, but you cannot deny that the choice for the location is NOT intended to bring harmony and healing to the country or New Yorkers. 




GOATMUG

5 comments:

  1. The Muslim religion was not behind the deaths of 9/11. Al Qaida was. Christian ideology was behind the invasion of Iraq

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  2. An excellent video.

    Societies often use "tolerance" as an excuse to be weak and self-negating.

    You can be tolerant and still have the strength to confront evil

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  3. I love all the Anonymous posters that come out when the subject is as tough as this one!

    I am not sure I agree that the Muslim religion was not an integral part of the 9/11 attacks. Let me clarify.

    While Al Qaida leadership may not actually deny that this attack had nothing to do with religion, I would contend that many of the hijackers were approached and recruited using the muslim faith as a basis for the "membership". I think they believed in their hearts that they were taking "territory" for their cause and striking at the heart of the evil US aggressor. The notion that the US is evil and is full of infidels is directly related to the foundational principles being taught by those friendly imams of the muslim faith. Further, there is no doubt that Al Quaida obviously uses religion as a tool to focus outrage and anger at the west.

    You may argue that Al Quaida, the Taliban, and other groups emphasize aspects of their faith and twist the tenets to push their "faithful" to act, and I would agree 100% with you.

    My point in this post is not that there are no moderates in the muslim faith or that those believers are killers. My point is that despite having their faith associated (hijacked by nut jobs) with the worst on-soil attack in our history, the people that want to build the mosque keep pressing forward and essentially are deaf to the impact this has on the families and survivors of the attack. No matter what you say, there IS a linkage between the religion and the attacks.

    If this is really about finding a place to worship why not work with the city to obtain a place even one or two blocks further away?

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  4. I share that same thought; what the hell has happened to Americans? By all means, build your mosque, but have some sensitivity to others as to where you build it. I also thought it was an excellent comparison, that slights against Islam, are met by extremely vocal muslims denouncing westerners's insensitivities, so one would expect that they would comprehend this situation and show some compromise.

    Too bad the gentleman is a Brit; he can't run for your highest office.

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  5. Two other thoughts on this topic.

    First, a reader sent me a note about the pastor that is sponsoring "Burn a Qur'an Day". I want everyone to know that this is absolutely horrible and even though I don't believe the ideas behind islam, I would never advocate this behavior. This is unfortunately stuff non-Christians focus on all the time and hold these guys up as an example of how terrible Christians are. Well let me be the first to clarify this for everyone. Christians are as messed up as anyone and are not perfect! In fact, Paul states this emphatically in 1 Tim 1:12-16 when he says he is the worst or chief sinner!
    Second, I actually let this go by and didn't take it on earlier when one of the anonymous posters stated that Christian beliefs were at the core of the invasion of Iraq. I didn't respond because while I think this person is referring to President Bush's faith, I think the invasion of Iraq was based on many other reasons than his faith. In fact, I laugh at the notion! Now if you said that the attack was based on the desire to do the following things, I'd be in total agreement;

    1) Get even with Saddam
    2) Take control of oil
    3) Have a position of power in the Middle East theater to project influence in and around Iran
    4) Get access to oil
    5) Have a position of power in the Middle East theater to project influence in and around Russia
    6) Get access to oil
    7) Attack those terrorists.
    8) Get those WMDs? (maybe a good excuse, but I doubt it).

    Nowhere do I see a reference to the Christian faith as a basis for the attacks and the invasion.

    This is the kind of poor debate that I get when I post ideas about why the mosque site is not truly being placed in the location due to harmony and sensitivity and building bridges. When the argument comes back that islam is not the cause of the attacks, but by the way, the attack on Iraq was due to Christian beliefs, I do wonder how anyone can allow the building to move forward.

    Thanks for all the comments!
    Goatmug

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