Listening to these people speak reminds me of the things I’ve heard or read about Jews, we atheists, feminist women and people of colour over the years.
I don’t know how the guy managed to record any of this without getting visibly pissed off.
I would’ve had to leave by the time I got to the woman that implied there’s a secret interpretation of Arabic that’s hidden from us non-Arabic speakers.
Salman Rushdie has come out in support of Park 51. Rushdie, as you may recall, had a price put on his head by the Iranian government over his book The Satanic Verses.
He says he understands the “sensitivities” of building the site close to where thousands were killed during on Sept. 11, 2001.
But he says First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and religion should be honored. He adds that he is “not personally” a lover of mosques or any place of worship.
But he says that if people “want a mosque, it seems absolutely right they should have it.” (via: AP)
The New York Post quotes him as explicitly supporting Park51:
It’s just a stupid argument,” said Rushdie, after he spoke at the Brooklyn Book Festival. “Of course they should be able to build a mosque there.”
I wonder what the haters are going to do now now that the man behind one of their reasons for opposing Park51 has come out in support of it.
In light of nearly 2/3rds of New Yorkers claiming Park 51 is “insensitive” and should be moved, I’d like to share this video by the Amazing Atheist:
The fact of the matter is it’s only insensitive if you think every Muslim on the planet is guilty of the murders (which included Muslims) which took place on 9/11. It’s like stating no church can go up near a school because Christians have murdered children.
It’s fucking wrong and shouldn’t be tolerated, even if *you* don’t like religion.
Anti-Muslim graffiti on side of mosque in TN telling Muslims to "go home"
Those who are supporting the anti-Muslim hatefest sweeping the nation may want to consider that the Taliban is seeing it’s support rise in the wake of the protests against the Park 51 community center:
Taliban officials know it’s sacrilegious to hope a mosque will not be built, but that’s exactly what they’re wishing for: the success of the fiery campaign to block the proposed Islamic cultural center and prayer room near the site of the Twin Towers in lower Manhattan. “By preventing this mosque from being built, America is doing us a big favor,” Taliban operative Zabihullah tells NEWSWEEK. (Like many Afghans, he uses a single name.) “It’s providing us with more recruits, donations, and popular support.” (via)
He goes on to say that they are expecting more western Muslims to join them and closes by predicting “the more mosques you stop, the more jihadis we will get”.
