Open Thread

donatella- i don’t think any Islamic Center would have been treated fairly. I think people are bending over backwards to find fault with the Iman and what they are trying to do simply because they are Muslim. If you know anything about him, you would know he has done outreach for years and that his board is because he has always reached out. Why a man who has tried so hard to foster better relations should be so demonized is beyond me, but it i obvious that he is being held to a different standard than say, a Christian or a Jew would be.

He has spoken out many times about 9-11 but it seems people haven’t listened. And honestly, how much mea culpa should he be responsible for? Do we still ask people of German extraction to apologize for Hitler everytime they open a school or a company? Do we expect the Japanese to get on their knees and beg forgiveness for WW II whenever we buy a Japanese car? It gets ridiculous- why should he, a Sufi, have to be apologizing for extremist nutjobs who he didn’t support and did not agree with?

There was no right foot to start off with- people in this country have already made their minds up. I would call him, naive, if anything. I have another word for the rest of the country. Over 100 Muslim-Americans died on 9-11, some while trying to rescue others. What’s the excuse for forgetting about them? There is none.

“Soooo, cobble, ven do you and the family start to prepare for Rosh Hashanah?”

I was going to buy Matzoh the other day but they didn’t have the lightly salted kind that I like. So I’ll probably buy some this weekend. Does that count? : P

But we are NOT Mormons, so bigomy is not allowed. So much for my cut and pate 😉

Unless I’m out with asshats. In which case, I may have 3 glasses of white wine because I need to dull the pain. : P

HA, Cobble, funny.

Those are great questions, Slopey.

I think that #4 is a big issue. I think the Imam has run into trouble because I don’t think he fully understands where he is; I don’t think that he can separate in his mind the strains of the reactions. He dismisses the opposition as political posturing prior to the election. Do we really think this is what is going on? Partially, but not completely. He doesn’t seem to fully get it. I don’t attribute bad faith to this person. I think that he is probably not the best spokesman for what he is actually trying to do. Actually he is a PR disaster for his own cause. Forgetting for a moment his constitutional right to build, which is unquestioned, I think if his purpose is to build a center for tolerance, I think he is starting out on the wrong foot. One can say that the opposition is irrational. Sure it is. But if I were trying to build a center for tolerance, I think I would probably start with trying to understand a little the orientation of the people I am trying to work with.

That is my issue with the Imam. I think that it would be great if a religious figure like Archbishop Doyle would approach him, if for nothing else but to help the Imam understand a little better what is going on and make some gestures of more sadness, empathy, etc. for what happened downtown.

Don’t think van Halen was a singer?