One reason, hatred for a group of people who are not Christian. There is a great deal of chest thumping done in the name of Christianity in this country with very little Christ-like behavior to show for it. Another reason: distract people. Midterm elections are approaching and what better way to distract the voters from the true issues of joblessness, the economy, and lack of cooperation by our lawmakers in Washington DC, than to dazzle us with a non-issue.
It's like the carnival game where there are three upsidedown cups and one ball and the ball is under one of the cups. The carney moves the cups around faster and faster until you're no longer sure which one has the ball underneath, yet you frantically try to keep up. Finally, the cups stop moving and you get to guess which cup hides the ball. The question is, will we guess the right one?
Article comments
1 - Arch Conservative
"One reason, hatred for a group of people who are not Christian."
Ah yes..if you oppose the mosque you hate all muslims just as if you oppose anything Obama says or does you hate all black people.
That's some logic.
2 - dharma55
One point I was trying to make is that this is not a mosque being built and certain elements are using this to manipulate the opinions and emotions of others regarding an understandably upsetting experience, the attack on the World Trade Center on 9/11. So, opposing the mosque(since it is not a mosque after all) does not demonstrate hatred for muslims so much as it demonstrates an inability to think for oneself. And whether one opposes Obama due to his policies or his race, that is something only that person would know.
3 - Ruvy
dharma55;
This is not a mosque being built at all. it is a victory monument to the Wahhabi who destroyed the Word Trade Center. It is very much like the arch the Romans built to celebrate the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem 1,940 years ago. Except the Romans had a bit more class. They built their monument in Rome - not Jerusalem. This is being built to spit in the eyes of New Yorkers, that they should ever be reminded that the Wahhabi got one over on them.
This is NOT an issue of religious freedom. Were it, the Port Authority of New York would allow the Orthodox Christians to rebuild a church the Wahhabi HAD destroyed. In addition, Muslims already have a prayer room in the building they want to transform.
Notice, dharma55. I did not blame Muslims. I blamed the terrorists who did this - all of whom should be expelled from the USA as a class of terrorists.
4 - dharma55
Read up on the reasons why St Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church has had such troubles rebuilding. First, the church wanted the same site, but the new World Trade Center is going to include a special foundation and a bomb screening center to go under the location of the new church. Obviously, the church building has to wait for the foundation to be built before it can be rebuilt on top of it. Then there was an attempt to trade land with the Port Authority and move the church location. The building the Muslims have purchased used to be a Burlington Coat Factory and has been empty since 9/11 when debris crashed through the roof. The whole area areound Ground Zero is practically a ghost town, with empty stores and office buildings. Instead of discouraging people from going in there and finally trying to bring it back to life, folks who don't even live in NYC should butt out. And it's all in the eye of the beholder as far as seeing a "victory monument". Do you concern yourself with the construction of all religious edifices?
5 - Zedd
Even if it was a mosque and it was next door to ground zero, that's permissible if the zoning is right.
Tim McVeigh said science was his religion so I'm guessing no schools are allowed within a certain radius of the Murrah building? It's silly.