(Updated: Originally posted December 8, 2006)
A hearty welcome to this land, courtesy of some "good folks."
I'm failing to understand the enmity.
There are churches all over the place here, and there is a Jewish temple around the corner.
I'd love to see a mosque around here!
"Neighbors in Texas object to mosque plan" by Rasha Madkour/Associated Press December 8, 2006
KATY, Texas -- A plan to build a mosque in this Houston suburb has triggered a neighborhood dispute, with community members warning that the place will become a terrorist hotbed and one man threatening to hold pig races on Fridays just to offend the Muslims.
Many neighborhood residents maintain they have nothing against Muslims and are more concerned about property values, drainage, and traffic.
But one resident has set up an anti-Islamic website with an odometer-like counter that tracks terrorist attacks since Sept. 11. A committee has formed to buy another property and offer to trade it for the Muslims' land. And next-door neighbor Craig Baker has threatened to race pigs on the edge of the property on the Muslim holy day. Muslims consider pigs unclean and do not eat pork.
Great! Welcome to AmeriKa, guys! Hi.
We are a bunch of insulting, intolerant assholes!
You got a counter for all the Iraqis we are slaughtering, redneck?
Katy, population 13,000, has a mix of middle-class neighborhoods and small farms on Houston's western edge. The dispute began when the group asked Baker to remove his cattle from their newly bought land. Baker agreed but mistakenly thought the Muslims also wanted him off the land his family has lived on more than 100 years.
Oh, all over a MISUNDERSTANDING?!
No kidding? By an American? Over property?
But can't understand the roots of Palestinian rage, can we, redneck?
Let's hear from some incoming "terrorists," shall we?
Kamel Fotouh, president of the Katy Islamic Association, vowed to press ahead with plans for a mosque on the 11-acre site, as well as a community center that would offer after-school activities, housing for senior citizens, a fitness center, and an Islamic school:
"Neighbors have created havoc for us, and we didn't expect that. We just bought it, and we are going to use it."
Baker's attempt to offend missed its mark, according to Fotouh. Muslims do not hate pigs, he said; they just don't eat them.
Then a ray of hope appears:
Fotouh said the reactions have not been all negative and that one man came to the mosque on a Friday afternoon and apologized for his neighbors:
"He moved me, really. The sense of fairness, the sense of standing by the underdog."
I don't know who that man was, but may Allah Bless Him!
Apparently, Americans aren't the only inhospitable ones. Germany (no surprise) has its problems with the Muslims as well.
Here is an excerpt from a "terrorist who threatens":
Onder Yildiz, 40, a soft-spoken but intense leader of the Turkish community, has lived [in Germany] for 25 years :
"We want to integrate into Germany. We want to have a presentable place, where we can invite guests to drink tea."
Believe what you want; however, I encourage you, dear reader, to read the Times whole piece on the mosque construction in Munich.
See what charged rhetoric the "clash of civilizations" brings as its results?
CUI BONO?
