Miscellanea Agnostica

The Great Neocrusade pulled out all the stops in its effort to prevent a mosque from opening up in Murfreesboro, TN. I’ve blogged about the measures taken against it — both legal and illegal — by militant, furious Neocrusaders. But all of it was for naught. As the New York Times Lede blog reports, the mosque opened this weekend (locally-cached article):

After years of attacks, threats and court action, an Islamic center in Tennessee cleared one last hurdle that allowed it to open its doors on Friday to worshipers, allowing them to honor the occasion with prayers on what is Islam’s main congregational day of the week. But the opening of the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro was overshadowed by concerns after the shooting of worshipers at a Sikh temple on Sunday in Wisconsin and an arson attack on a mosque in Missouri this week. …

The mosque faced arson, vandalism and a court battle before it cleared [cached] a final step when it passed inspection this week and was given a temporary certificate of occupancy for 30 days.

Even in spite of their having ultimately lost this battle, some Neocrusaders still chose to be on hand to whine about the mosque’s opening:

Standing in the parking lot, Dan J. Qualls, 50, a former car plant worker, said he came to the center to protest. Mr. Qualls, wearing an “I Love Jesus” hat, said he understood that the First Amendment protects the right to worship freely but said he believed Islam represented violence.

To be clear, Mr Qualls and the rest of you Christofascist Neocrusaders … your own religion is violent, too. Moreover, you know it, even if you’d prefer not to have to admit it. Complaining about Islam being violent (and yes, it can be!) does not grant you the right to act as though your own religion is non-violent. It most certainly is not.

I suggest that Neocrusaders crack open their Bibles for once and actually read the reported teachings of Jesus Christ himself, the founder of their own religion:

“Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.” (Mt 7:3-5)

“Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye.” (Lk 6:41-42)

Before you militant Christians can presume the right to critique other peoples’ religions, you should begin following your own. Please start doing so.

Photo credit: Stephen Lance Dennee/AP, via the New York Times.

Tags: arson, christian, Christianity, christians, christofascism, christofascist, christofascists, Islam, islamic center of murfreesboro, Lk 6:41-42, mosque, mt 7:2-5, murfreesboro, murfreesboro TN, muslim, muslims, neocrusade, neocrusader, neocrusaders, Religion, religionism, religionist, religionists, vandalism

I’ve blogged about attacks on mosques around the US (including churches mistaken for moques!), and about a mosque in New York City that was Molotoved recently (although likely not for religious reasons). But this Neocrusading activity is not limited solely to the US. A mosque in Canada has been a repeated target of vandalism recently, as the CBC reports (WebCite cached article):

A mosque in Gatineau, Que., that has been a target of vandalism was spray-painted with graffiti overnight Thursday, prompting a condemnation from Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Workers at the Outaouais Islamic Centre awoke Thursday to discover swear words and derogatory references to Arabs and Allah spray-painted in white. …

The mosque had earlier been vandalized Monday morning when someone smashed the windows of two cars and attempted to set fire to them in the parking lot. …

Police said it was the fourth incident in the last six months.

Muslim and Jewish groups alike are condemning this vandalism … the latter possibly because stars of David were among some of the graffiti. At any rate, the lesson here is that Neocrusading is not a phenomenon unique to the US. It’s yet another American export that the rest of the world definitely does not need.

Photo credit: CBC.

Tags: canada, christian, Christianity, christians, gatineau, gatineau QC, Islam, mosque, mosque attack, mosque attacks, mosques, muslims, neocrusade, neocrusader, neocrusaders, outaouais islamic centre, quebec, Religion, vandalism

Update: There’s been some news about this mosque, which I’d missed; see below.

I already blogged about the mosque under construction in Mufreesboro, TN which was burned to the ground. And Tennessee’s Neocrusaders kept up their campaign against the project. But as CNN’s Belief Blog reports, their efforts have been for naught; the mosque is going to be built after all (locally-cached version):

It has taken months, but leaders of an embattled Murfreesboro, Tennessee, mosque say that construction of a new facility could start as soon as next month.

The Islamic Center of Murfreesboro has existed for more than a decade. As it surpassed 1,000 worshippers, its members planned to build a new 52,000-square-foot structure with a mosque, gym, playground and cemetery.

The Neocrusaders certainly did put up a fight, though, using the aforementioned arson and vandalism, as well as lawsuits, and intimidating potential contractors:

Some contractors weren’t willing to take the job. Mosque leaders said contractors told them it had become too much of a hot-button issue and presented too much of a risk to their business and equipment. Several contractors began the bidding process but never finished.

Mosque officials said a contractor told them that he needed the work but that the leaders of his own church were against the new Islamic center.

“I had a contractor tell me, ‘I don’t want to get on bad terms with my preacher,’” said Essam Fathy, a member of the Islamic Center’s board of directors.

This isn’t surprising, since it happened in Tennessee, the state whose lieutenant governor once proudly declared that there is no freedom of religion for Muslims in the U.S.

Surely this is the Religion of Love at work, isn’t it? (That’s a little sarcasm, folks.) Way to go, people. Way to go. Your Jesus would have been so proud, I’m sure. Really.

Update (7/18/2012): Last month, local county officials — no doubt driven by Neocrusading furor — brought this project to a halt. But as The Tennessean reports, a federal judge threw a wrench in the Right’s machinery and set it back on track (cached). Not surprisingly, mosque opponents are upset, and claim they were cheated of an opportunity to try to stop the project. This is truly laughable and pathetic, given all they’ve done, for a couple of years now, to try to keep this mosque from being built. These people desperately need to fucking grow the hell up.

Photo credit: CNN Belief Blog.

Tags: arson, christian, Christianity, christians, christofascism, christofascist, christofascists, intimidation, Islam, islamic center of murfreesboro, mosque, mosque arson, murfreesboro TN, muslim, muslims, neocrusade, neocrusader, neocrusaders, religionism, religionist, religionists

So, what do Neocrusaders do when they hear about a Muslim terrorism suspect being arrested in a sting operation (WebCite cached article)? Why, obviously, they torch a mosque that the suspect attended. WMTR-TV in Eugene, OR reports on the suspected arson (cached article):

A fire early Sunday morning at the Salman Al-Farisi Islamic Center attended by Mohamed Osman Mohamud has been declared arson by the Corvallis Fire Department.

Officials said that the fire — which was contained to one room — was intentionally set.

The FBI has offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in the case.

That’s right, folks. Before all the facts have been revealed, before there’s been a conviction, before even the trial has begun — the Neocrusaders have already pronounced sentence; the Salman Al-Farisi Islamic Center has been found guilty of its complicity (in what hasn’t even been determined a crime yet), and set ablaze.

Why, absolutely this is justified. After all, didn’t Muslims kill Americans on September 11, 2001? Shouldn’t all the mosques around the country be set on fire? Please note, this is not the first mosque that’s been torched by enraged Neocrusaders, I’ve already blogged about another mosque arson.

Can we finally decide that, maybe — just maybe — it’s time for people to fucking grow the hell up, fercryinoutloud, before someone gets killed?

Photo credit: TV Tropes.

Tags: arson, attempted bombing, burning, corvallis OR, mohamed osman mohamud, mosque, neocrusade, neocrusader, neocrusaders, neocrusades, salman al-farisi islamic center, terror, terrorist

The nation’s Neocrusaders continue their war against Islam within the US. They really don’t care that what they’re doing is wrong, because — according to them — the Constitutional principle of religious freedom doesn’t apply to Islam. And they’re so insanely, childishly furious about the existence of Islam, that they sometimes miss their targets. An example of this can be seen in this report filed by The Atlantic‘s Wire blog (WebCite cached article):

Some vigilant citizens in Phoenix, Arizona are up in arms over a domed church that they wrongly believe to be a mosque. The large building, still under construction along a busy interstate, is actually a nondenominational church.

That’s right, the horrific mosque that Arizona’s Neocrusaders are up in arms about, is actually a church! Said church has even taken measures to defuse the furious Neocrusaders:

The backlash has been severe enough that the church’s leaders have hung a giant banner over the dome: “IF YOU THINK DIFFERENT YOU ARE WRONG — WE ARE BUILDING A CHRISTIAN HOUSE OF WORSHIP.”

It’s not as though domed churches have never been built anywhere, but apparently, the Neocrusaders think there are none and assume any domed structure must be a mosque.

Isn’t it time for you people to grow the fuck up already?

Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Tags: christian, Christianity, christians, light of the world church, mosque, neocrusade, neocrusader, neocrusaders, neocrusades, phoenix, phoenix AZ, protest

The Neocrusaders who want to eradicate Islam from the United States continue to beat the drums of their militant Christian-inspired hatred. This week they twice vandalized a mosque in Huntington, NY (on Long Island), as reported by WPIX-TV out of New York City (WebCite cached article):

Hate crimes detectives are investigating after a jar of nails was thrown into the driveway of a Long Island mosque in what’s now the second incident in a week.

According to Suffolk County police, authorities were called to the Masjid Noor mosque in Huntington at around 7:45 p.m. after shards of glass and nails were discovered outside the place of worship.

I suppose the vandals might have been teens just looking to make trouble … but this appears too consciously targeted not to have been cooked up by a Neocrusader. I also suppose they could have done a whole lot worse, as did the Neocrusaders who torched a mosque under construction in Murfreesboro TN.

By the way, the name of this Long Island mosque happens to be very close to one in Bridgeport, CT that had been protested back in August by a bunch of Neocrusaders from Texas, about which I blogged at the time.

Oh, and no, I haven’t failed to notice that it was militant Islamists from Yemen who seem to have tried to send bombs to Chicago synagogues via UPS international delivery (cached article). We’re under siege by militant religionists on all sides.

Photo credit: WINS-AM 1010.

Tags: anti-islam, anti-muslim, huntington NY, long island, militant religion, mosque, mosque vandalism, neocrusade, neocrusader, neocrusaders, neocrusades, new york, religionism, religionist, religionists, vandalism

Based on this latest piece of news, I can conclude nothing else than that there is a war going on against Islam in the United States, and as far as I can tell, it’s fueled by the Religious Right. I just blogged about a mosque construction site in Tennessee being set ablaze; but now, a mosque in San Antonio has been vandalized, as KENS-TV reports (WebCite cached article):

A San Antonio mosque has been hit several times in the past week by vandals.

Tensions are already running high with the mosque controversy in New York City. Now, the Islamic Center of San Antonio has become a target.

Vandals spray-painted symbols and letters on the facade of the new building.

Members of the Islamic center near the Medical Center in northwest San Antonio said they came out from prayers Sunday to find the cars in the parking lot vandalized with graffiti and anti-Islamic messages.

Here’s the televised report:

Although I’m no fan of Islam, any more than I’m a fan of Christianity, I can’t see any valid, rational, morally-sound reason for this kind of behavior. It’s destructive; it’s violent; it’s criminal; and it’s dangerous. I’m also not alone in being alarmed at what appears to be a war on American Islam … Slate ran a piece on it (cached). This pushback against Muslims in America is worse than pretty much anything that happened in the immediate aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks … and that makes little sense, because there hasn’t been any such event recently.

I suggest it’s time for the militant Right to grow the fuck up and stop this violent crap, before someone dies.

Hat tip: Little Green Footballs.

Update: KENS-TV reports (again, with HT from LGF; cached version) that this is not being treated as a hate crime. However, the FBI remains on the case … which suggests the opposite, to me anyway.

Photo credit: david_shankbone.

Tags: christian, christian right, Christianity, christians, christofascism, christofascist, christofascists, ground zero mosque, hatred, intolerance, islamic center of san antonio, mosque, religiofascism, religiofascist, religiofascists, Religion, religious, religious right, san antonio, san antonio mosque, san antonio TX, vandal, vandalism, vandals

Religious Right outrage over the so-called “Ground Zero Mosque” (which is really a cultural center, and will be built near, not on top of, the site of the former World Trade Center, as I blogged already) has been palpable over the last several weeks. For the most part, opponents have said they’re not really opposed to the building of a mosque in the US, just not near the World Trade Center. The problem with this claim, though, is that it’s a lie! All over the country, proposed mosque constructions have run into opposition by the Religious Right … not just the Cordoba Center/Park51 project. One example of this has been in Murfreesboro TN, as the Washington Post reported recently (WebCite cached version). Well, opponents of the Tennessee mosque appear to have ratcheted the heat up — literally; the AP (via Google News) reports that the ATF and FBI have found that its construction site had been torched (cached article):

Federal investigators said Friday that a suspicious fire that damaged construction equipment at the site of a future mosque in Tennessee was arson and offered a $20,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.

The future mosque in Tennessee, like other houses of worship for Muslims across the country, has been drawn into a fierce debate surrounding a proposed Islamic community center two blocks from Manhattan’s ground zero, and opponents are becoming even more hostile and aggressive.

The construction site arson frightened members of the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro. Firefighters had said there was a strong smell of diesel from the fire that engulfed the cab of a dump truck last weekend, and authorities found fresh fuel pooled under a second dump truck, according to an incident report from the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Department.

Still, authorities did not officially rule the fire an arson until laboratory tests on samples from the burned dump truck tested positive for accelerants.

The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and FBI is offering a $20,000 reward to anyone with information leading to an arrest.

Way to go, people. What an inspiring example of how the Religion of Love takes care of things.

Photo credit: AP Photo / The Daily News Journal, John A. Gillis.

Tags: alcohol tobacco and fireams, arson, atf, bureau of alcohol tobacco and firearms, christian, christian right, Christianity, christians, fbi, federal bureau of investigation, fire, ground zero mosque, mosque, mosque opposition, murfreesboro mosque, murfreesboro TN, neocrusade, neocrusader, neocrusaders, neocrusades, Religion, religion of love, religious right, reward, rutherford county, tennessee, tennessee mosque