Islamic Center Imam Pens New York Times Op-Ed
September 08, 2010 11:12 am ET by Joe Strupp
We are proceeding with the community center, Cordoba House. More important, we are doing so with the support of the downtown community, government at all levels and leaders from across the religious spectrum, who will be our partners. I am convinced that it is the right thing to do for many reasons.
Above all, the project will amplify the multifaith approach that the Cordoba Initiative has deployed in concrete ways for years. Our name, Cordoba, was inspired by the city in Spain where Muslims, Christians and Jews co-existed in the Middle Ages during a period of great cultural enrichment created by Muslims. Our initiative is intended to cultivate understanding among all religions and cultures.
He also wrote:
From those who recognize our rights, from grassroots organizers to heads of state, I sense a global desire to build on this positive momentum and to be part of a global movement to heal relations and bring peace. This is an opportunity we must grasp.
I therefore call upon all Americans to rise to this challenge. Let us commemorate the anniversary of 9/11 by pausing to reflect and meditate and tone down the vitriol and rhetoric that serves only to strengthen the radicals and weaken our friends' belief in our values.
The very word "islam" comes from a word cognate to shalom, which means peace in Hebrew. The Koran declares in its 36th chapter, regarded by the Prophet Muhammad as the heart of the Koran, in a verse deemed the heart of this chapter, "Peace is a word spoken from a merciful Lord."
How better to commemorate 9/11 than to urge our fellow Muslims, fellow Christians and fellow Jews to follow the fundamental common impulse of our great faith traditions?
Fox News' Hate Machine will Crush anyone not of the White Race.
It has gotten so Bad even i as a Black Man feel a since of Unease.
A Race War? Perhaps not, but has that stopped Megyn Kelly from giving it a Daily Tease?
Speak truth to power.
Mr. News
CNN is slowly getting a Reputation for hiring Racist Radicals who Aspire.
Aspire not to Bring America Together, but through Subtle Racist Hints to Tear us Apart.
Tucker Carlson saw Photos of President Obama's Children & his Hatred went Right off the Charts.
Speak truth to power.
Mr. News
It reflects poorly on elements of the U.S. citizenry that when offered the hand of friendship and reconciliation by a group of peace-loving, deeply spiritual Muslims who have done them no harm they offer hatred and vicious insult in return, all the time proclaiming their Christianity. What a bunch of lowlife hypocrites!
Perhaps she should get one here,
http://americanpowerblog.blogspot.com/2010/09/debra-burlingame-slams-imam-raufs.html
Imam Rauf, stealth terrorist.
And as another poster has asked , what other religious figures have approved of this project?
These?..
http://bigpeace.com/jmwaller/2010/08/24/more-muslims-speak-out-against-ground-zero-mosque/
http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/muslim-miss-usa-against-ground-zero-mosque-46379
Akbar Ahmed, an Islamic studies professor at American University in Washington D.C. says Muslims have failed to fully realize the depth of the effects on the American public due to the 2001 September 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.
"I don't think the Muslim leadership has fully appreciated the impact of 9/11 on America. They assume Americans have forgotten 9/11 and even, in a profound way, forgiven 9/11, and that has not happened. The wounds remain largely open," Ahmed said. “And when wounds are raw, an episode like constructing a house of worship – even one protected by the Constitution, protected by law - becomes like salt in the wounds."
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2010/06/06/a_mosque_at_ground_zero/