In this following, I agree with Mayor Bloomberg:
"“If somebody wants to build a mosque in a place where it’s zoned for it and they can raise the money, then they can do that,” he said. “And it’s not the government’s business.”"If the purpose of the community center/mosque is to build interfaith ties, then given the opposition to constructing it at this site (we are told Gov. Patterson offered up state land at another site), then it is off to a bad start.
PS: Patterson:
Paterson stated, "If the sponsors were looking for property anywhere at a distance that would be such that it would accommodate a better feeling among the people who are frustrated, I would look into trying to provide them with the state property they would need."
The Democratic governor admitted that he does not have issue with the Cordoba Initiative and supports their mosque proposal. However, the NY governor stated he is "sensitive" to the feelings of those adamantly opposed.
Mosque developer Sharif El-Gamal rejected the governor’s proposal for an alternative site and claimed a need to “serve Lower Manhattan.”
Another prominent mosque supporter also rejected the governor's proposal and stated, “Paterson's remarks validate the idea that all Muslims are responsible for what terrorists did on September 11, 2001.”
Logging you in...
natbas 2p · 763 weeks ago
""Continuing the chain of imaginary offensiveness to stereotypes, I plan to open a Babies R Us next to the gay bar next to the mosque next to Ground Zero. Next to the Babies R Us I will open a pornographic bookstore, and next to that I will open a police station..." - someone called Chris Mohney quoted at http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_d....
Would the mosque accept a gay bar next to it? I don't think that would be welcome.
Christopher Hitchens writes in The Slate, "I don't like anything much about the Cordoba Initiative or the people who run it. The supposed imam of the place, Feisal Abdul Rauf, is on record as saying various shady and creepy things about the original atrocity. Shortly after 9/11, he told 60 Minutes, "I wouldn't say that the United States deserved what happened, but the United States policies were an accessory to the crime that happened." He added, "In the most direct sense, Osama Bin Laden is made in the USA."..." http://www.slate.com/id/2263334/
I think they are just pushing it to see how far they can go...