Mosques run into opposition elsewhere in US

NY Times:

While a high-profile battle rages over a mosque near ground zero in Manhattan, heated confrontations have also broken out in communities across the country where mosques are proposed for far less hallowed locations.

In Murfreesboro, Tenn., Republican candidates have denounced plans for a large Muslim center proposed near a subdivision, and hundreds of protesters have turned out for a march and a county meeting.

In late June, in Temecula, Calif., members of a local Tea Party group took dogs and picket signs to Friday prayers at a mosque that is seeking to build a new worship center on a vacant lot nearby.

In Sheboygan, Wis., a few Christian ministers led a noisy fight against a Muslim group that sought permission to open a mosque in a former health food store bought by a Muslim doctor.

At one time, neighbors who did not want mosques in their backyards said their concerns were over traffic, parking and noise — the same reasons they might object to a church or a synagogue. But now the gloves are off.

In all of the recent conflicts, opponents have said their problem is Islam itself. They quote passages from the Koran and argue that even the most Americanized Muslim secretly wants to replace the Constitution with Islamic Shariah law.

These local skirmishes make clear that there is now widespread debate about whether the best way to uphold America’s democratic values is to allow Muslims the same religious freedom enjoyed by other Americans, or to pull away the welcome mat from a faith seen as a singular threat.

“What’s different is the heat, the volume, the level of hostility,” said Ihsan Bagby, associate professor of Islamic studies at the University of Kentucky. “It’s one thing to oppose a mosque because traffic might increase, but it’s different when you say these mosques are going to be nurturing terrorist bombers, that Islam is invading, that civilization is being undermined by Muslims.”

Feeding the resistance is a growing cottage industry of authors and bloggers — some of them former Muslims — who are invited to speak at rallies, sell their books and testify in churches. Their message is that Islam is inherently violent and incompatible with America.

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Radical Islam is based on a totalitarian Islamic supremacy that kills those who do not agree with their weird beliefs. They do this based on their own interpretation of the Koran and Shari'a. While other Muslims may not agree with these guys, they tend to be cowed and fearful of openly being critical of the radicals. I think that is the reason that we are seeing more opposition to mosques in general. When you consider that the Saudis don't allow people to bring in Bibles, much less build worship facilities, I would say that Americans are pretty tolerant of what for many is an intolerant religion.

Oh, and all those former Muslims who are speaking out. They risk their lives by renouncing Islam. It is not surprising they would find reason to oppose those who belong to a group that thinks they deserve the death penalty for changing their minds.

I think the longer the war against us goes on the less respect people will have for Islam. When you look at the war crimes committed by the Taliban this past week in the murder of non combatants who were doctors out helping Muslims it is hard to have respect for their form of religious bigotry.