Posts Tagged ‘Mosque’

Burning the Koran

September 8th, 2010 by John Feehery

Rev. Terry Jones

A couple of decades ago (man, I am getting old), I remember watching the Cubs game (which was unusual for me, because I am a Sox fan), when I saw a couple of hippies run out onto Dodger’s Stadium (where they were playing)  and attempt to set fire to an American flag.  Rick Monday, the Cubs center-fielder, swooped in the snatch the flag from the rabble-rousers, saving the day and America’s honor.

At the time, America was down in the dumps.  It was 1976, and while we were celebrating America’s Bicentennial, we were also dealing with the aftermath of Watergate, Viet Nam, and the start of a stalling economy beset by both high inflation and creeping unemployment.  When Monday saved the symbol of American freedom, it was a special moment, perhaps a turning point in the American psyche.  Monday was quoted saying once, “If you are going to burn the flag, don’t burn it around me.”  It was a great quote, because the Cubs center-fielder acknowledged that while in America, people have the right to do stupid things like the burn the flag, citizens also have the right to oppose them.

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The Curious Defense of Islam

August 17th, 2010 by John Feehery

Afghan Woman in Burqua

On the front page of the New York Times this morning there appears a frightening story about how a young couple that eloped in Afghanistan was stoned to death for breaking Sharia law.

In the rest of the paper, you can find various liberals defending the building of a mosque adjacent to the 9/11 sight.

Islam is not a religion for liberals.  While some earlier forms of the religion may have had a substantial role for women, the current version pretty much keeps the fairer sex locked up in a holding cell until they get married.

If a woman commits adultery, Sharia law says that she should get stoned to death.  In Saudi Arabia, a woman can’t drive.  They can’t leave their house unescorted.  If they do leave their house unescorted, they will be abused.  They are required to wear a burqua.

It is ridiculous.  These are not just quaint customs.  They are part and parcel of a conservative religion that finds that any new ideas that sprung up past the 14th century are morally bankrupt and evidence of hedonism.

Why would liberals defend this?  Read more...

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Mosque Mess

August 16th, 2010 by John Feehery

President Obama speaks at an Iftar meal, the breaking of the Ramadan fast, at the White House, 13 August 2010.

I support religious freedom.  I support the idea that any legitimate religion should have the right to build any house of worship in any private property site, as long as it complies with local ordinances and laws, just as the President said.

But I don’t support the idea of a mosque going up anywhere near the 9/11 site.

Contradiction?  Maybe.  But so be it.

America has its laws, its Constitution, and its traditions.  And part of those laws, Constitution, and traditions is the idea of religious freedom and diversity.  But the implicit bargain that comes with the idea of religious freedom is that you have to accept my worship of my religion if I accept your worship of your religion.

That doesn’t really work for the Islamic world.  They don’t accept religious plurality.  If you proselytize in Saudi Arabia, for example, you will get executed.   There are no Christian churches in Saudi Arabia.

I once went to a Catholic mass in Morocco (a moderate Islamic state), but it was kind of spooky, like I was breaking the law or something.  We were told to keep quiet about over visit and not make a big deal of it.  Read more...

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