I despair
"It would be a terrible mistake to destroy a 154-year-old building in order to build a monument to terrorism."
Poll Right. A mosque - a building used for prayer - is apparently 'a monument to terrorism'. Reading the CNN story on the subject, and the objections of those opposed to this, astounded me. Reading the comments below it sickened me.
Yes, those responsible for the 9-11 massacre were Islamist extremists. Yes, Ground Zero is - rightly - a very sensitive site. But how many times does it have to be said that not all Muslims are terrorists? Do the actions of a few extremists such as David Koresh or Timothy McVeigh - or the aforementioned IRA, UDA and other Northern Irish terrorist groups - mean that all Christians are terrorists? Would it be wrong to erect a Christian church close to the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building?
I work with Muslims every day. Some of them are also my friends. In general, the Muslims I meet are the kindest, most caring and peace-loving individuals I have ever come across. The way in which they care for others in their community, particularly the elderly or those in need, is something the rest of us could learn lessons from. To see them judged, labelled and insulted, as Muslims as a group are in that article and in the comments, and as I've seen elsewhere around the internet (including a forum in my previous fandom I now won't go to any more as a result) and by otherwise apparently decent people, makes me furious.
Poll Right. A mosque - a building used for prayer - is apparently 'a monument to terrorism'. Reading the CNN story on the subject, and the objections of those opposed to this, astounded me. Reading the comments below it sickened me.
Yes, those responsible for the 9-11 massacre were Islamist extremists. Yes, Ground Zero is - rightly - a very sensitive site. But how many times does it have to be said that not all Muslims are terrorists? Do the actions of a few extremists such as David Koresh or Timothy McVeigh - or the aforementioned IRA, UDA and other Northern Irish terrorist groups - mean that all Christians are terrorists? Would it be wrong to erect a Christian church close to the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building?
I work with Muslims every day. Some of them are also my friends. In general, the Muslims I meet are the kindest, most caring and peace-loving individuals I have ever come across. The way in which they care for others in their community, particularly the elderly or those in need, is something the rest of us could learn lessons from. To see them judged, labelled and insulted, as Muslims as a group are in that article and in the comments, and as I've seen elsewhere around the internet (including a forum in my previous fandom I now won't go to any more as a result) and by otherwise apparently decent people, makes me furious.