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Bad Things in the Name of Religion
Dear Larry: I would like to express my views on the ground zero mosque controversy.
First of all, I would have no problem with the building of the mosque, even at ground zero.
Some people are opposed to the mosque because they lost loved ones on 9/11. I understand their opposition, but people of all faiths were killed on that day. Even Muslim Americans lost their lives on that infamous day. It is not fair to blame all Muslims and to label a whole religious group as terrorists.
What about people of other so-called faiths who committed terrible acts of violence in the name of God? The Ku Klux Klan called themselves "Christians." They terrorized blacks by intimidation, beatings, bombings and murders. They had the nerve to call themselves "God's warriors."
What about other so-called Christians who bombed abortion clinics? There were also attacks made on gay nightclubs. Innocent people were killed and injured in the explosions.
Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, the man behind the building of the mosque, has been under fire from critics because it was alleged that he supports the group Hamas. What about the other religious leaders who propagate their ideas and beliefs?
The late Jerry Falwell, along with Pat Robertson, made hateful statements toward feminists, gays, lesbians and nonbelievers. Recently, Robertson said Haitians, who had just had a major earthquake, got what they deserved because they had a "pact to the devil" just to get independence from France.
Also disturbing is Pastor Terry Jones, who threatened to burn the Quran on the anniversary of 9/11. This is such a hateful thing to say or do. This act is similar to what the Nazis did when they burned books, which included the Torah.
I don't consider Falwell, Robertson or Jones men of God. I also don't consider the hijackers on 9/11 Muslims. They were nothing but murderers who perverted the faith of Islam.
Larry, we should not go after the religions. We need to go after those and their followers who pervert them. — Patrick
Dear Patrick: I am sorry, but I do not agree with your analysis.
First of all, you cannot compare the Muslim terrorists to Falwell, Robertson and Jones. They may be saying some things you do not like. The terrorists killed almost 3,000 Americans. In America, we have free speech. Murder is against the law.
Second, you don't consider the terrorists Muslim, but the Muslim community does not share your view. When the attacks happened, there were celebrations around the world. The terrorists, for the most part, are held up and revered as heroes.
Third, I personally have no problems with mosques being built anywhere in America in accordance with zoning laws. However, I am opposed to building the mosque at ground zero because of the symbolism of Muslim triumph over America. If Muslims did not have a history of building mosques on conquered territory, I would not think twice about the building's location.
I do not consider America conquered land, and a mosque at ground zero sends the wrong message to the world.
To find out more about Larry G. Meeks and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.
COPYRIGHT 2010 CREATORS.COM
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Comments
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30 Comments | Post Comment
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Big shock; Larry Meeks agrees with Rush Limbaugh. The title of this column should be changed to "Spreading Angry, Anti-Democratic and Inflammatory Conservative Propaganda" or maybe just "Sarah Palin's Twitter Feed, Expanded" would cover it.
Comment: #1
Posted by: Johanna
Fri Sep 10, 2010 10:35 PM
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Oh, and Patrick is 100% correct on every point -- no exceptions.
Comment: #2
Posted by: Johanna
Fri Sep 10, 2010 10:36 PM
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Johanna,
Please cite your sources that Show Patrick is 100% correct, without exception. Real hard data, not opinion pieces from Salon.
Tori
Comment: #3
Posted by: Tori
Fri Sep 10, 2010 11:37 PM
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Again we forget. Before 9/11 broke the world record, the biggest single killing of US citizens was the People's Temple aTemple in Jonestown, Guyana. Last time I checked, Jim Jones wasn't a follower of Muhammed.
Comment: #4
Posted by: Roger
Fri Sep 10, 2010 11:39 PM
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Finally, someone else who sees the blatant hypocrisy. Thank you, good sir, and have a nice day.
Comment: #5
Posted by: Candi Anne
Sat Sep 11, 2010 2:31 PM
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"I do not consider America conquered land..." Try telling that to most members of the Native American tribes.
"... and a mosque at ground zero sends the wrong message to the world." It might, if the mosque were going to be built AT ground zero and not actually two blocks away.
I had a Christian co-worker tell me that the bible says thou shall not suffer a witch to live so God would forgive him when he killed me. I guess from his actions I now know that all Christians plan to kill me in the name of God.
An individual should be held accountable for their actions, not an entire religion, race or gender. This holds true evan if the individual claims it was don't in the name of their cause. Anyone can perform an evil act and claim it was for a good reason, but that doesn't mean they are not still evil.
Comment: #6
Posted by: Michelle Keane
Sat Sep 11, 2010 6:15 PM
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Opps. "don't" should have read "done". Sorry about the typo.
Comment: #7
Posted by: Michelle Keane
Sat Sep 11, 2010 6:27 PM
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I'm going to go with Larry on this one. But I'll go even further. Everybody who accepts the notion that human behavior should be based upon supernatural revelation is creating the conditions under which terrorism takes place. A terrorist is just somebody who actually believes what's in his holy book and takes action based on that belief.
Because "moderate" Muslims, Christians and Jews support the notion that their holy books are, well, holy, they're partly responsible for the fanatics who take their faith more seriously. The Bible IS violent and enjoins and encourages murder, slavery and massacre. The Quran is full of calls to violence.
Moderates would prefer to ignore those portions and take a Chinese Menu approach to religion. But unless they're willing to consign the entire collection of mythic nonsense -- Torah, Bible and Quran, alike -- to the same intellectual dustbin where humankind has now throw Jupiter, Mumbo-Jumbo, Quetzecoatl, and Thor, moderates are simply providing encouragement to their fanatical brethren.
Comment: #8
Posted by: Geoffrey James
Sat Sep 11, 2010 7:11 PM
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You say,'' If Muslims did not have a history of building mosques on conquered territory, I would not think twice about the building's location.''
Christians have done the very same thing--------------no difference.
I agree completely with Patrick.
Comment: #9
Posted by: Ann Powell
Sun Sep 12, 2010 5:31 AM
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Oh goody, more left-wing hogwash and "all religions are the same" crap from the usual critics. Larry is spot-on. He articulates precisely why a handful of hypocritical televangelists have little-to-nothing in common with murderous fanatics who launched an unprovoked attack that resulted in the slaughter of 3,000 innocent people. And we have commenters on this thread comparing that with the wars against Indian tribes 150 years ago? Are you insane? And by the way, "two blocks away" IS Ground Zero. Body parts were found only 300 feet from the site of the proposed mosque. Nobody has been able to provide a proper explanation as to why a 13-story "victory mosque" and Muslim cultural center needs to be built so close to the site of the most horrific attack on American soil, in all of the latter's history. The only possible reason is to stick a thumb in the eye of those who lost loved ones on that terrible day. I also find those who defend the imam, to be using reprehensible arguments. The man thinks we had it coming on 9/11 and hasn't ruled out accepting funds from Hamas and the government of Iran, both of which are on the State Dept's list of terrorist organizations. Good grief, people. Some of you don't seem to recognize clear-headed thinking when you see it. Instead, you call him an extension of Rush Limbaugh and bring up centuries-old examples of unkind things done by people of non-Muslim faiths. This is why the Left rankles me so much - half of you are a bunch of mendacious hypocrites, and the other half are ignorant morons who don't even have your facts straight.
Comment: #10
Posted by: Matt
Mon Sep 13, 2010 1:00 AM
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I wouldn't be a bit surprised if the mosque is burned down, or bombed, or something done to destroy it, as angry as New Yorkers are about it's proposed existence. You'd think that the people who want to build it would have better sense--I guess they don't realize that 9/11 is still very much a sore spot with most Americans, and won't be forgotten in a hurry!
Comment: #11
Posted by: Roni Mendez
Mon Sep 13, 2010 2:03 AM
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ROCK ON LARRY!!! I agree 100%
Comment: #12
Posted by: G
Mon Sep 13, 2010 7:48 AM
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It isn't "at" ground zero, it is close by. There are Christian churches close by why can't a mosque be close by? Further, it isn't a true mosque as there are spaces set aside for other religions to pray; no true mosque would do that.
Comment: #13
Posted by: Mich
Mon Sep 13, 2010 10:29 AM
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What crap by Patrick...and those who choose to agree with the bias and hate...
Interesting that Patrick says, "...other so-called faiths...", then proceeds to cite only Christian examples. Although you tried to seem objective with the first sentence...your true feelings come through loud and clear when you read the rest. As such, I can throw out your comments due to lack of credibility. FYI...even one example from another faith may have helped your argument.
There is a MAJOR difference here...real Christians would denounce each one of your examples as "non-Christian". This would not be an opinion, but a fact. You will not find any basis for such actions any where in the New Testament of the Bible...period!!!! There are only 2 commandments for followers of Jesus Christ...Love God & Love others. If anyone tells you otherwise...they are lying (or ignorant).
I believe that there are good Muslims, and I believe that the "kill the infidels" language in the Quran is taken out of context by the extremists. BUT, my problem with the "good" Muslims is that they don't "denounce" or "condemn" the actions of the extremists (terrorists) loudly enough. Why doesn't the Muslim leadership (worldwide) have antiviolence rallies? Why don't good Muslims attack (figuratively or literally) such extremists and terrorists? I wish I knew the answer, but I can tell you that the lack of outrage and action is telling to Americans. Either they actually believe in what the terrorists are doing (but won't admit it) or they're scared to go against them.
Extremist Muslims are not scared to die in the name of their religion, so why would good Muslims be scared to go after those that bring their religion a bad name. It causes an objective person to question their sincerity. The #1 mission of today's Muslim leadership should be to eliminate the extremists and terrorists from its organized religion.
Building the mosque in NYC is so incredibly distasteful to all Americans, and especially those that died on 9/11/01 (including many Muslims). For the Muslim leaders to be surprised or disappointed by the response is laughable. Could anyone in such a leadership position have this little common sense?? Really?? If you want your religion to be accepted here, then you must act responsibly and sensibly. The building of the mosque will not bring anyone to greater understanding or unity. It will only serve to widen the gap of understanding, further divide those already divided, and worst of all cause those directly affected by 9/11 to be further grieved, more angry, & less forgiving.
WAT POSSIBLE GOOD COULD COME OF THIS?!?!?!
Comment: #14
Posted by: RyanOnCue
Mon Sep 13, 2010 11:35 AM
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We should also never forget that Catholics molested children. I know I would appreciate it if no more Catholic churches were built in the vicinity of schools. In fact we should pull the plug on Catholic schools and hold all Catholics accountable for the decades of abuse, and coverups that followed. After all, the priests who molested children for decades were Catholic, weren't they? Sure, not all Catholics (or priests) condoned the act or engaged in any of the incidents, but what difference does that make? In fact I actually saw a priest walking down the street in NYC. How dare he show his Catholic child molesting face in my city, flaunting his faith with that collar of his!
Comment: #15
Posted by: Jon
Mon Sep 13, 2010 7:14 PM
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The community center is not being built on ground zero, just nearby.
Muslims were killed in those attacks too, not just Christians, along with many agnostics and probably a few atheists.
I am so disappointed in you. I thought you were not as bigoted as others, but it seems that your bigotry is simply aimed in a different direction.
Comment: #16
Posted by: moon
Tue Sep 14, 2010 8:19 AM
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I am an all-American young woman. My perspective on Islam completely changed when I lived in an Arab country with a Muslim family for half a year. Everyone I met over there was absolutely horrified at 9/11 and denounced Bin Laden as anti-Muslim. They shared their faith with me and treated me with more respect than 90% of Christians I meet (and I am Christian). Murder is wrong, violence is wrong, and people who celebrate tragedy are terrible. No good person (Muslim, Christian, athiest, or otherwise) would argue with that. Building a community center for Muslims is a threat to no one: trust me, I spent plenty of months surrounded by "them." What IS a threat is the bigotry and hatred expressed by this columnist and some posters here- that poisonous hatred is what truly threatens to destroy the freedom upon which our wonderful country was founded-- in a way that bombs or bullets NEVER could.
Comment: #17
Posted by: Jenn
Tue Sep 14, 2010 10:35 PM
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Thank you for telling your story, Jenn. I agree with everything you say about bigotry and violence.
Let me add that it is absurd, sloppy, lazy, and dishonest for Larry Meeks to make generalizations about "the Muslim community." There are approximately 1.5 billion (that's 1,500,000,000) Muslims in the world, or around 20% of the entire world population. They are no more a cohesive "community" than the approximately 2 billion Christians in the world. And it is a big fat lie to claim that "the Muslim community" celebrated the 9/11 attacks or that they revere terrorists. Extremists may celebrate terrorism, but the majority of Muslims are not extremists, and there is ample documentation of Muslims speaking out against violence. When I did a quick search, this is the first page that popped up: http://www.muhajabah.com/otherscondemn.php A long list indeed, with many other similar lists online.
And let us also not forget that approximately 60 of the victims of the WTC attacks were Muslims. From the New York Times, a recent article about Muslims who worked at the WTC: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/11/nyregion/11religion.html?_r=1
Oh, and one more thing... anybody who thinks all Muslims are scary should have a look at My Faith My Voice's YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/myfaithmyvoice (There's one official PSA from the organization, with many individual videos on the right side.)
Comment: #18
Posted by: Van Wickle
Wed Sep 15, 2010 4:00 PM
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@ Jon
Congratulations, you just proved you are guilty of prejudice and generalizing a specific group. Last I checked, there are as many sexual abuse victims of clergymen from many different faiths, including Protestantism (and before you slam me for picking on Protestants, I was raised Methodist). There are also plenty of Protestant churches that rally to the minister's defense in spite of overwhelming evidence that abuse occurred and alienate or condemn the victims.
If you are operating under the illogical assumption that priests become pedophiles because of the vow of celibacy, then we must treat every unmarried person who works closely around children or has a position of trust and authority with suspicion, such as doctors, teachers, childcare workers, etc. However, as numerous studies have found, the majority of pedophiles are married.
By the way, as I mentioned in a comment on a different column, abuse commonly occurs in families. Quite often, the surrounding community is fully aware of it. A lady in a nearby town from where I live bore her own father three children when she was a teenager. The whole town knew about it, yet no one did anything. If you were to ask, I am sure the community members will deny that anything like that ever happened. Why are they any less guilty of cover-up? Does the town deserve to get sued by the victim? Quit picking on the Catholic Church specifically. There is no excuse for this in any group. I wouldn't be surprised if it happened your own community.
In any case, where did this come from? The discussion concerned prejudice regarding people of the Muslim faith. "Patrick" criticized those who call themselves Christian (no specific denomination) and are guilty of acts of hatred and violence. You are falling into the same trap of blind hatred where so many are already mire deep.
Comment: #19
Posted by: LibraryKat
Thu Sep 16, 2010 8:51 AM
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Re: LibraryKat -- I just assumed Jon was joking. I think he meant to point out the absurdity of punishing the many for the sins of the few, which is what a lot of people are trying to do to Muslims these days.
Comment: #20
Posted by: Van Wickle
Thu Sep 16, 2010 7:50 PM
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Re: Van Wickle--- Thank you Van Wickle. That's exactly the point I was making. I figured the absuridty of my own comments would help make it clear that I was being facetious towards people like Larry Meeks. But I realize that intent can easily be misunderstood in this type of forum, especially since we don't all actually know each other. That, plus the fact that many people love to generalize (especially Larry Meeks) makes it seem feasible that I wasn't kidding. Of course the post loses its kick once I start explaining it. ;-)
Comment: #21
Posted by: Jon
Thu Sep 16, 2010 8:14 PM
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@ Jon
Please accept my apology. I have been called out myself because someone misinterpreted an email message I sent once long ago. I should have realized the possbility that you were joking.
Now that I consider what you said, I see the point you were making. Again, I apologize and I hope my rant will not sour you on these messaga boards.
Comment: #22
Posted by: LibraryKat
Fri Sep 17, 2010 5:45 AM
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Sorry, that was supposed to be "message" not "messaga.". :)
Comment: #23
Posted by: LibraryKat
Fri Sep 17, 2010 5:50 AM
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Re: LibraryKat
No worries, Kat. I understand how it could have been misunderstood. Hindsight being 20/20, I probably should have put some indication in there that I was kidding. Plenty of people have posted comments that made bigger leaps than mine, and they were being serious. Not a problem. :-)
Comment: #24
Posted by: Jon
Fri Sep 17, 2010 7:19 AM
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:-)
Comment: #25
Posted by: Van Wickle
Fri Sep 17, 2010 8:46 AM
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Thank you. :)
Comment: #26
Posted by: LibraryKat
Fri Sep 17, 2010 9:04 AM
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Matt, you complain about comparing 9/11 to events 150+ years ago. I don't think those people killed in the name of God/Christianity/America suffered any less than those killed on 9/11, yet we stole their land and built churches all over this country, and keep in mind, someday 9/11 will be 150 years ago, too. And with so many Americans who laugh or spew hateful comments whenever they see footage of Hiroshima/Nagasaki, in which innocent children were completely vaporized, I quite frankly find the attitude of a lot of Americans regarding 9/11 extremely hypocritical and offensive.
Comment: #27
Posted by: Amanda
Fri Sep 17, 2010 10:00 AM
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I look at things the same way, Amanda. It's easy for people to think of suffering that occurred in the past as less real, but it was just as real at the time, and it should never be dismissed or belittled. Same goes for the suffering of people of other ethnicities, religions, etc.
Comment: #28
Posted by: Van Wickle
Mon Sep 20, 2010 1:36 PM
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Larry,
You are an idiot!
Comment: #29
Posted by: Vincent LeonGuerrero
Sun Sep 26, 2010 5:39 PM
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Larry,
You are an idiot!
Comment: #30
Posted by: Vincent LeonGuerrero
Sun Sep 26, 2010 5:39 PM
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