Some Christians over in Katy are riled up. Muslims in Katy purchased a house and 11 acres of land late last year. They plan to build a proper mosque as well as a school and some other things on the site. In response, the man next door has started having pig races every Friday night on the property line. You see, they are concerned about the traffic snarls such a building would cause. It has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that pigs are “unclean” to Muslims and that Friday is a special day to his new neighbours. Nope, it’s the noise.
Of course, there’s this site also. It was privately registered shortly after the KIA’s purchase of the property. It is, to put it mildly, anti-Islam. The ringleader is one Craig Baker who has sent what can only be called threatening letters to the KIA wherein he attempts at one point to blame the Muslims for an expected devaluation of his and his neighbours homes for what would be little more than Christian Flight should they build the mosque ( I have these letters if they disappear off the site). Back in the day this was called White Flight and many of white people tried to stop blacks from moving into white neighbours by using this very same argument. Not. about. racism. at. all.
And if that’s not proof enough of the less than forthrightness of Baker and his cohorts - how about the encouragement to call the FBI for suspicious behaviour in the left column? Or the names and numbers of various officials about a third way down the page? Those listings have absolutely nothing to do with harassing the Muslims who are using the existing home as a makeshift meeting place, right?
Now while I can agree that the building of churches, mosques and what have you in a neighbourhood can cause problems, this whole situation smacks of Christian intolerance. There was a big dispute here in Houston when the Compaq Center was ‘rented’ to Joel Olsteen. I don’t recall any group doing what these Katy people have done concerning the mosque. A site calling Islam a stand in for the Klan? Letters threatening to coerce the state into using Eminent Domain to stop the building of a mosque? Insinuating all these rich non-Muslims will move if the Muslims continue on with their building project?
Furthermore, in the lawyer’s letter it seems that Mr. Baker being less than honest about the situation with the pigs. On November 24th (the friday before the date of the letter) Mr. Baker built an illegal racetrack for his pigs on a strip of land in front of the Muslim’s property that does not belong to him but was impossible for Muslims to avoid.
And with that bit of information, I think it’s clear that Baker and his cohorts are bigots who are engaged in a campaign of harassment. The “real problem” is that the Muslims aren’t backing down. Poor Craig, eh?
Encouraged by The Daily Show (appropriate clip: “Loathe Thy Neighbour”)
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