Sure it is - it's two large city blocks - Edit 1
Before modification by SilverWarder at 19/08/2010 05:17:13 PM
You know as well as I do that's a clear LOS unless something bigger is in the way.
There are two large blocks full of buildings 'in the way'.
Beside the point though.
This really isn't about Islam, because 911 wasn't about Islam. A lot of people want to keep it that way.
This really isn't about Islam, because 911 wasn't about Islam. A lot of people want to keep it that way.
If it isn't about Islam, why are we having this conversation? Seriously! If this was a Lutheran community center there would be no debate, no discussion and you and I probably never would have heard about it.
OF COURSE it's about Islam. If it werent', we wouldn't even know about this place.
The founders of this mosque are supposedly among them, but their actions don't seem to reflect that.
I disagree entirely. I think they were doing fine until everyone started being raving bigots at them.
Yes, this is still (theoretically) America and they have every right to do as they wish on their own land in accordance with existing laws. I have the right to beat myself over the head with a frying pan until I fall unconscious, too, but that doesn't make it a good idea.
Here's the point though - whether or not it's a good idea is NOT up to anyone else to judge in a free society. You want to know yourself - you go right ahead. You're not bothering anyone else. Or shouldn't be.
But what about all those rights activists who are against people whacking themselves on the head? You're bothering THEM! Do they have the right to tell you to stop or not?
I don't give a rat's patootie if they're upset because their kid killed himself by hitting himself on the head or not, it's still none of their business what YOU do with YOUR head.
911 was not and should never be a promotional tool for Islam.
Who the frak ever made THAT claim? That's nonsense.
Life goes on. 2001 was NINE YEARS AGO. Yes, it sucked. Yes, we should remember it. But are we going to filter what can be built in Manhattan forever because of it?
That's ludicrous.
I understand the desire to say, "but we're not like them!" yet the fact remains that building an Islamic religious institution right next to where thousands were murdered in the name of Islam is the exact opposite of disassociating 911 from Islam. The Muslims murdered on 911 do have a place, and they do count: As victims, like all the rest; they don't get special status because they just happen to be of the same faith as that professed by the hijackers. That makes the hijackers even more idiotically insane, but it doesn't make the slain Muslims any more (or less) victims than anyone else.
Of course not. But if the Christian church across the street wanted to put up a memorial (and for all I know they may already have done so) would anyone bitch? Of course not.
The Constitution is clear. Clear as crystal. The Government has no say in this matter, nor should it. If people don't like it, fine, don't go there. They have every right to do this, have obeyed every law and were, until all this crap came up, being quite respectful.
Manhattan's a big place. Getting property there is both difficult and very expensive. The folks involved undoubtedly spent all kinds of money before this ever became an issue - purchasing land, hiring architects etc.
You want to tell them all that is wasted because some people are being bigots? Well the US Constitution says you can't. Sorry, go bark at the moon.