RkFast

Youre being a jackass. Educate "me" or anyone else who has concerns about this mosque about who is building it, what its being built for and alleviate concerns over what the building of it really means. People have legit concerns. I would think that if for nothing else than good community relations, the people building this thing would reach out to the folks who have questions to educate and alleviate them. This guy Rauf prides himself on "building bridges between Islam and the West." Im asking him to do no more than that.

OK fine, but Im not willfully ignorant here. I live and work on Long Island. How the !@#$ would I know whats going down there? And like MOST, I have zero clue that this site is already used in that capacity. And again...BACK TO MY ORIGINAL POINT, where are all those "in the know" to help educate those who are not? Who is REALLY "wrong" here...those who dont know and have concerns, or those who DO know and wont open their traps to educate? I say the latter.

You know that becuase you work there. How about the rest of the planet?

Yeah...becuase a quick google search or a trip to the library is gonna answer all the questions one might have about a religion and how its practiced. People devote their life's work to studying a religion. Why should it be incumbent on THEM to explain things when we have Google?

Well, that proves my point! If Im ignorant, Id like to think NOT on purpose, then this Imam or others in the Muslim community should be TEEACHING ME....TELLING ME what this is all about. If I have an idea on something, one thats not correct, its up to the scholars to tell me whats up. Not the other way around.

I guess I dont understand why Rauf cant just address the issues that most people like myself seem to have with this thing. Do you or do you not feel that the US was complicit in 9/11? Do you or do you not seek to advance Sharia law in the US? Do you feel it has a place in the US? How would you address the concern that that some have that this building would be a symbol not of outreach, but of conquest or "victory?" The first two questions come out of comments Rauf, himself made. The third is historically based. He would quell A LOT of concerns over this proposal if he just manned up and spoke to people. Maybe, just maybe if he clarifed his postion and his motives, he would garner some support and covert many of the opposed. But I guess its easier to keep quiet and just call people bigots, or stupid, or Islamophobic, etc. And not for nothing...lets see a Christian group try to build a Church in "Londonistan" or some of the neighborhoods in the midwest that have a large Muslim population. Would we see the "tolerance" we are all expected to show right now? I doubt it.

Please illustrate......Ga' head.

I find it more hilarious that the "offended" have the need to whine about it constantly.

Im willing to bet lotsa cashola that if "The Rush Limbaugh Center for Advanced Conservative Studies" was in the works to be built in the middle of Berkeley, CA, Seatttle, Austin or smack dab in the middle of some other liberal hotbed, we wouldnt be hearing too much about "tolerance."

With all due respect, as an Italian American, I dont wanna !@#$ing hear your whining. More or less on a daily I gotta see the latest "dumb Italian du jour" trotted out on TV like some circus seal for our entertainment. If it aint The Sopranos, Im subjected to "Snookie"...or some cafone !@#$ from Jersey who they call a "real housewife." And eeeeverybody laughs along. And when all those shows go off, I gotta see some commerical on TV with the latest "dumb ginzo Brooklyn Italian heeeyyy.....yoooo!" stereotype. So HTFU and deal. Youre far from alone.

Says the guy who has one himself. God, you really are unbeleivable.

Im thinking conner's idiocy has reached critical mass.

He gets on someone for listening to Limbaugh to make their point....then uses Jon Stewart to make his. Only conner.

Ladies and gemmen...the right-wing conner.

He and Lori are at some dark bar, downing glasses of Maker's Mark.

No....thats "ey"

See, I think "anonymity"s got ZERO to do with it. PLENTY of people here who arent very anonymous and are still douchebags.

Eh?

I loved Trading Places. If you didnt, thats your problem.

I heard you play the Bonerphone.

t-bars? never tried those...are they like aero bars? I think tri-geeks are ghey. Ever notice how all the tri-geeks who are on that "Team in Training" are all short legged, fat women. Ew.

Im managing to get your panties in a bunch.....thats important.

Lighten up, Francis.

Ah, I see....someone stopping a car to talk to their friends bothers you.....becuase you have no friends. I got it now. You should have told us you have no friends. Im sorry.

I dont have a radio on my bike and I sure as **** dont eat fastfood on it. Ive been known to sing loudly and spid a mouthful of sports drink on the sidewalk from time to time, though. I do occasionally ride slow past the neighbors, when riding. My shaved legs, green lycra and the smell of used chamois creme gets them all kinds of uncomfortable. On the ride this past weekend, a guy in our group got clipped by some nimrod wo was putting on makeup. So we're even.