Comments on: “America has disgraced itself” http://blog.adlermusic.com/2010/08/america-has-disgraced-itself.html thoughts on music, politics, and the world Mon, 05 Mar 2012 21:20:37 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: admin http://blog.adlermusic.com/2010/08/america-has-disgraced-itself.html#comment-784 admin Thu, 02 Sep 2010 19:29:02 +0000 http://blog.adlermusic.com/?p=1549#comment-784 Randy, by that logic, we'd have to ban the building of Jewish synagogues in New York, for they too are routinely threatened by Islamist extremists. It is the job of federal and local law enforcement to thwart violent plots, and they've had considerable success doing so. The rest of us — and Muslims as much as anyone else — must be free to go on with our lives. Randy, by that logic, we’d have to ban the building of Jewish synagogues in New York, for they too are routinely threatened by Islamist extremists.

It is the job of federal and local law enforcement to thwart violent plots, and they’ve had considerable success doing so. The rest of us — and Muslims as much as anyone else — must be free to go on with our lives.

]]> By: Randy Sandke http://blog.adlermusic.com/2010/08/america-has-disgraced-itself.html#comment-783 Randy Sandke Thu, 02 Sep 2010 17:38:52 +0000 http://blog.adlermusic.com/?p=1549#comment-783 What all these incidents show is how volatile Islam is at the current time. It's undergoing a reformation akin to what happened in the West in the 16th Century, resulting in hundreds of years of bloodshed and conflict. The question regarding the proposed Islamic Center is: do we want to invite this conflict to a location that has already suffered three attacks? In addition to the two attempts to destroy the World Trade Center, there was the 1994 slaying of 16-year-old Ari Halberstam. This occurred when a militant islamist opened fire on van full of Yeshiva students at the Manhattan-side on-ramp to the Brooklyn Bridge, roughly two blocks to the east of the proposed Islamic Center. Understand that there is a difference between bias and hatred as opposed to legitimate concerns rooted in current reality. Perhaps you want to invite all the problems of the Middle-East into your neighborhood, but at least don't be blind to the inherent dangers. As the NYT op-Ed suggests, much violence against Muslims is perpetrated by Muslims. Who's to say that one Muslim faction wouldn't take it upon themselves to blow up an Islamic Center, particularly one endeavoring to promote peaceful rapprochement between East and West? Obviously, Mosques enjoy no special dispensation from sectarian violence in the Middle East. What all these incidents show is how volatile Islam is at the current time. It’s undergoing a reformation akin to what happened in the West in the 16th Century, resulting in hundreds of years of bloodshed and conflict.

The question regarding the proposed Islamic Center is: do we want to invite this conflict to a location that has already suffered three attacks? In addition to the two attempts to destroy the World Trade Center, there was the 1994 slaying of 16-year-old Ari Halberstam. This occurred when a militant islamist opened fire on van full of Yeshiva students at the Manhattan-side on-ramp to the Brooklyn Bridge, roughly two blocks to the east of the proposed Islamic Center.

Understand that there is a difference between bias and hatred as opposed to legitimate concerns rooted in current reality. Perhaps you want to invite all the problems of the Middle-East into your neighborhood, but at least don’t be blind to the inherent dangers. As the NYT op-Ed suggests, much violence against Muslims is perpetrated by Muslims. Who’s to say that one Muslim faction wouldn’t take it upon themselves to blow up an Islamic Center, particularly one endeavoring to promote peaceful rapprochement between East and West? Obviously, Mosques enjoy no special dispensation from sectarian violence in the Middle East.

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