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Staten Island: for those who are not cognizant of it, is one of NYC's five boroughs, that may soon have a Mosque, in the Midland Beach Area. Things are beginning to get ugly..................with both sides arguing pro and con.
I believe the borough of Queens has a mosque. How has it impacted the neighborhood? Anyone knows?
Do you think that Mayor Bloomberg should interfere before it escalates like the problems in Brooklyn did, several years ago, between the Korean grocer and the people in the neighborhood? Mayor Dickens took a lot of heat for allowing it to get out of control.................I see the same thing happening here. This time is worst, because there is alleged fears that some of this Mosque members are KNOWN terrorists......................
There are several reasons why people are worried about this particular mosque. (Yes, we have several on SI already)
The problem started when the property - a convent on a larger church property - was sold without notifying the parishoners. Then they found out it was to be a mosque. I don't live in that area, but many people are concerned that there is already too much traffic in the area and adding a center like this will create huge problems. The other is there is suspicion that this particular group, MAS, has connections to terrorism. I believe that there may be a formal investigation on that.
That posting makes it sound like--OMG, there's going to be a mosque...we've been invaded! I believe that if you check out various neighborhoods around New York City, you'll find that there are more mosques than you can shake a stick at. Just for the record, since I wouldn't want to shock anyone unnecessarily, there are also [involuntary shudder] synagogues and churches in the five boroughs.
That posting makes it sound like--OMG, there's going to be a mosque...we've been invaded! I believe that if you check out various neighborhoods around New York City, you'll find that there are more mosques than you can shake a stick at. Just for the record, since I wouldn't want to shock anyone unnecessarily, there are also [involuntary shudder] synagogues and churches in the five boroughs.
Fred, It is not an issue of being invaded. I know there are many Mosques around the 5 boroughs, and they are highly-welcomed, under different circumstances. The issue is that it is getting out-of-control, because of the way the land was sold- out from under the parishioners feet, and the fact that there is a group called "Mas," that has ties to alleged or are supposedly terrorists...........which has purchased it..................
My concern is that it may turn out to be an issue similar to what happened in Brooklyn, under the Dinkens administration..........when nothing was done to stop it, and escalated into sheer uggliness..........
I'm pretty sure that Muslims aren't the only people in this town who have taken the sneaky route to acquiring real estate. Come to Sunset Park in Brooklyn, which has become a new Chinatown in the last decade; I assure you that all those buildings haven't been changing hands on the up-and-up. Some, maybe...but by no means all.
Mosques, you say? That shouldn't even make an oblique reference to terrorism, since a terrorist is going to do what he or she is going to do, regardless of whether or not there are mosques in the neighborhood.
Will it blast prayers via loudspeaker umpteen times a day?
Oh, no. I hadn't even thought of that.
I sincerely hope not.
The thought of Islam does get people nervous. Most religions in this country have respect for local law and the concept of liberty and the idea that their religion does not have the sole way to God.
This is not a new concept. Several Western countries now have those who wish to become citizens sign a document that they will respect the country's laws above those of their religion. There once was a case when a man in a Western country got no prison time for killing his wife or daughter because it was a part of his religion and he was excercising religious freedom.
I think people should be concerned over the spread of Islam. I don't think it's a step up for us. It seems to have caused problems in every country it moved into.
It's really sad that the idea of a Mosque coming to a community is meant with such hate, disgust, outlandish rhetoric. Just when I think we have turned a corner in our society, IN NYC, the most diverse city in the country, I am reminded that little has changed and people allow fear, ignorance, and hate-mongering to supercede common sense and human decency.
All the excuses about the "shady deal" and "links to terrorism" are really pathetic...we all get you don't want the "evil" Muslims in "your" neighborhood...50 years ago they didn't want the Temple's in "their" neighborhoods, and 50 years before that the Protestants didn't want the Catholic churches in "their" neighborhood. It's sad indeed.
The thought of Islam does get people nervous. Most religions in this country have respect for local law and the concept of liberty and the idea that their religion does not have the sole way to God.
This is not a new concept. Several Western countries now have those who wish to become citizens sign a document that they will respect the country's laws above those of their religion. There once was a case when a man in a Western country got no prison time for killing his wife or daughter because it was a part of his religion and he was excercising religious freedom.
I think people should be concerned over the spread of Islam. I don't think it's a step up for us. It seems to have caused problems in every country it moved into.
This is a lot of the same stuff that was said about Catholics in the 19th century in America. A Protestant religious revival in the 1820s and 1830s was largely based on fears that an influx of Catholic immigrants posed a threat to America’s Protestant culture. Many American Protestants viewed Catholics as submissive and unthinking, and therefore unfit for citizenship in a democratic nation. Catholic schools were viewed as temples of indoctrination that were not compatible with American values of liberty and democracy. Catholics also were feared because they were seen as favoring the communal over the individual, family time over work and drinking too much.
Lyman Beecher, Protestant minister and father of Henry Ward Beecher, wrote in 1835: "The Catholic system is adverse to liberty, and the clergy to a great extent are dependent on foreigners opposed to the principles of our government, for patronage and support." Even in 1960, JFK faced questions about whether he would show allegiance was to a foreign ruler, the Pope, rather than to the United States.
In the 50's my mother was punished in Catholic school for suggesting that her parents' friends, who were Lutheran, were nice people and might not be eternally damned. It's only since 1964 or so that the Catholic Church has had any opennes to "the idea that their religion does not have the sole way to God."
Later, when large number of Jews came to the U.S., they too were perceived as too alien and a threat to the established order. Plus ca change...
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