I am very sensitive to the feelings of the families of victims of 9/11, as are my fellow leaders of many faiths. We will accordingly seek the support of those families, and the support of our vibrant neighborhood, as we consider the ultimate plans for the community center. Our objective has always been to make this a center for unification and healing.
Cordoba House will be built on the two fundamental commandments common to Judaism, Christianity and Islam: to love the Lord our creator with all of our hearts, minds, souls and strength; and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. We want to foster a culture of worship authentic to each religious tradition, and also a culture of forging personal bonds across religious traditions.
I do not underestimate the challenges that will be involved in bringing our work to completion. (Construction has not even begun yet.) I know there will be interest in our financing, and so we will clearly identify all of our financial backers.
Lost amid the commotion is the good that has come out of the recent discussion. I want to draw attention, specifically, to the open, law-based and tolerant actions that have taken place, and that are particularly striking for Muslims.
President Obama and Mayor Michael Bloomberg both spoke out in support of our project. As I traveled overseas, I saw firsthand how their words and actions made a tremendous impact on the Muslim street and on Muslim leaders. It was striking: a Christian president and a Jewish mayor of New York supporting the rights of Muslims. Their statements sent a powerful message about what America stands for, and will be remembered as a milestone in improving American-Muslim relations.
The wonderful outpouring of support for our right to build this community center from across the social, religious and political spectrum seriously undermines the ability of anti-American radicals to recruit young, impressionable Muslims by falsely claiming that America persecutes Muslims for their faith. These efforts by radicals at distortion endanger our national security and the personal security of Americans worldwide. This is why Americans must not back away from completion of this project. If we do, we cede the discourse and, essentially, our future to radicals on both sides. The paradigm of a clash between the West and the Muslim world will continue, as it has in recent decades at terrible cost. It is a paradigm we must shift.
Now you compare those words to the words of John Boehner, Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity or Sarah Palin, and you tell me WHO are the radicals in this debate?
>I am very sensitive to the feelings of the families of victims of 9/11
ReplyDeleteYes? Well, I understand your feelings, but what about the 7,689 motorists who were killed on the nation's highways last year? Twice as many as at Ground Zero.
The Imam's words are words that honor the best traditions of all faith communities of our own nation. He brings honor, hope and compassion to the table, and those who would not embrace his sentiments shame him and us.
ReplyDeleteYou do not have to be a person of faith to agree with his wisdom, but if you are a person of faith you should not deny it. Public figures such as Sarah Palin disgrace themselves and our nation when they speak against the proposed Community Center.
Wow 5:48, what exactly is your point?
ReplyDeleteMakes you wonder who we really should be afraid of...actually, it's painfully obvious.
ReplyDeleteThis is simply intolerable. . .
ReplyDeleteWe don't make churches justify their popping up in every corner of mainstreet America.
Sarah was as affected by 9/11 the same way she was affected by the Exxon Valdez oil spill - which was a blip on the radar screen of her attention span. Because she is incapable of compassion, empathy and living in someone else's bootstraps. For her to have identified this development (and she has a record of wild west development standards with no oversight) as worthy as an American culture war is a joke.
She did not deserve any kind of thanks or credit for her ghost-written post on condemning the book burning event while still heralding the 'insensitivity' of the community center near Ground Zero. It did fit Sarah's MO of being incapable of graciousness.
The barracuda delivers a nose blow with her sharp and bony elbows with a smile.
I am sad and angered that these faith leaders have to justify their community / bridge-building plans to millions of people who aren't even residents of that area.
The only thing Sarah doesn't appreciate is being told what to do, it is sensational that she seeks a position and status where she can tell millions of people just that. And Joe Miller also, too.
It appears we have at least one true christian congregation in all of the U.S....the Heartsong in Memphis. May they be "Christ's light" for the rest of us.
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of asinine comment is this?
ReplyDeleteWhy are you here?
Feisal Abdul Rauf speaks to my heart.Why can't more people come forward and share ideas how we can come together in cooperation and love for our brothers and sisters?
ReplyDeleteI hope ,out of this insanity,the Imam, becomes a major voice of our country.
Did you see this article on the Heartsong Church in Memphis? This is how REAL Christians act.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.wmctv.com/Global/story.asp?S=13107746
CORDOVA, TN (WMC-TV) - In New York protesters continue to demonstrate against a proposed mosque near the site of the September 11th attacks. This protest comes days after a Nashville Mosque site was vandalized. But here in the Mid-South there's a different sentiment. A Cordova church congregation is welcoming a new Islamic Center.
The words on the sign said it all, "Heartsong Church welcomes Memphis Islamic Center to the neighborhood."
"Once we put up the sign, within three days people from Memphis Islamic Center contacted us and were overwhelmed with emotion that we would be so welcoming."
Steve Stone, pastor of Heartsong Church, said when he heard about plans for the multimillion dollar Memphis Islamic Center Complex being built near his church, he knew he had to react.
"I don't know a lot about Islam and I only know one fellow who is a Muslim," said Pastor Stone. "So I knew it was going to be a learning process for me, but we follow Jesus and he tells us to love our neighbors."
Stone said he hopes that by putting out a welcome mat for Muslims, it will send a strong message to those who may have associated Christians with being anti-Islam.
"People that associate Christians with folks that are afraid of or don't like Muslims, I can't judge those people that are Christian. I believe that to take the name of Christ and do hateful things is a real insult."
To prove his point, Stone told Action News 5 that the Heartsong Church congregation is taking its new relationship with members of the Memphis Islamic Center one step further.
"Their facility is not quite finished and they came and asked us if they might be able to use our facility for Ramadan prayers which we took as a high compliment."
Stone said it's the beginning of a friendship he hopes will inspire others to love their neighbors.
According to Pastor Stone, the congregations of both churches have gotten to know each other on a first name basis. They even call each other brother and sister.
It really does seem to me that Americans are opposing the Koran burning for the purely selfish reason of preventing a kickback against their troops. That of course makes sense but pretending to be inclusive of Muslims and their faith is not going to sell.
ReplyDeleteThe story of the Heartsong Church was featured on KO last night and Keith interviewed the pastor and a representative of the Islamic center.
ReplyDeleteNow THAT'S a group of TRUE Christians!
We worry that burning the Quaran will incite hatred, shouldn't we also be aware that 'refudiating' a Moslem Community Center will also incite hatred?
ReplyDeleteBottom line, you don't punish the innocent for what the guilty have done.
ReplyDeleteWhat the Republican Brown shirts won't say out loud is this Imam walks the walk of faith and peace. The Republicans and their Brown Shirts don't.
The whole mosque controversy is ridiculous. People looking for reasons to be outraged. We have religious freedom in this country, the end.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised so many people still seem to take the 13 Arabs with box cutters scenario seriously.
Maybe this situation will spark a renewed desire to investigate 9-11. What if the Muslims were framed???