Written by Anti-Islam sentiment has been running high in the U.S. on that anniversary of the September 11 attacks. In New York, a man set fire to pages of the Koran just feet away from Ground Zero. Two pastors in the State of Tennessee are also said to have set light to copies of the Muslim holy book. Tension has also flared in New York over plans to build a mosque and Islamic Community Centre just blocks from the site of the World Trade Centre. Around a thousand people gathered near Ground Zero to support the construction, while several hundred demonstrators opposed to it, rallied nearby.
Posts in category Religion
Westboro Baptist Church to burn Qurans if Dove doesn’t
Westboro Baptist Church, the small Topeka, Kan., church that pickets funerals of American soldiers to spread its message that God is punishing the country for being tolerant of homosexuals, has vowed to hold a Quran burning if Gainesville’s Dove World Outreach Center calls its off.
“WBC burned the Koran once – and if you sissy brats of Doomed america bully Terry Jones and the Dove World Outreach Center until they change their plans to burn that blasphemous tripe called the Koran, then WBC will burn it (again), to clearly show you some things,” the church announced in a news release this week.
And Jones in the last day has indicated some reluctance to burn the Muslim holy book.
The Canadian Press reported Thursday that in an interview with a Canadian radio station, Jones said the church was considering calling it off.
“We are very much in prayer about it. There is the possibility, of course, that we will not do it,” Jones was quoted as saying.
Fla. minister cancels burning of Qurans on 9/11
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The leader of a small Florida church that espouses anti-Islam philosophy says he is canceling plans to burn copies of the Quran on Sept. 11.
Pastor Terry Jones said Thursday that he decided to cancel his protest because the leader of a planned Islamic Center near ground zero has agreed to move its controversial location. The agreement couldn’t be immediately confirmed.
Pentagon mulls intervention over Qur’an-burning
WASHINGTON – The Obama administration is discussing whether to call a Florida pastor to ask him to call off plans for a Qur’an-burning day that U.S. leaders have warned could endanger American troops abroad, the Pentagon said Thursday.
“That possibility is currently under discussion within the administration,” Pentagon spokesman Geoffrey Morrell said when asked whether U.S. leaders would call the head of the small Florida church. “I don’t believe they’ve come to any resolution yet.”
Orthodox Jewish youths burn New Testaments in Or Yehuda
Orthodox Jews set fire to hundreds of copies of the New Testament in the latest act of violence against Christian missionaries in the Holy Land.
Or Yehuda Deputy Mayor Uzi Aharon said missionaries recently entered a neighborhood in the predominantly religious town of 34,000 in central Israel, distributing hundreds of New Testaments and missionary material.
After receiving complaints, Aharon said, he got into a loudspeaker car last Thursday and drove through the neighborhood, urging people to turn over the material to Jewish religious students who went door to door to collect it.
“The books were dumped into a pile and set afire in a lot near a synagogue,” he said.
Pressure mounts in U.S. against Qur’an-burning plan
MIAMI – Civil and military leaders stepped up calls Tuesday for an obscure U.S. pastor to drop his plans to burn copies of the Qur’an on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, as fears grew it would fan religious hatred.
Pastor Terry Jones of the small Gainesville, Florida-based Dove World Outreach Center church, which has announced the Qur’an-burning for Saturday, said he was praying about the event but showed no immediate signs of backing down from his plan.
The planned public torching of the Muslim holy book on U.S. soil already has triggered angry protests in Afghanistan, where U.S. troops are fighting Taliban militants, and U.S. military commanders said the event could endanger Americans’ lives.
It comes at a time of heated debate in the United States over a proposal to build an Islamic cultural center and mosque close to the site in New York of the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center. Opponents of the building plan say it is insensitive to families of the victims of the 2001 attacks by by the militant Islamist group al Qaeda.
NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen Tuesday condemned the proposed Qur’an-burning, calling it disrespectful and saying it could put Western troops in Afghanistan at risk.
Authorities in Gainesville were preparing special security measures to prevent trouble Saturday at the event by the little-known church, which has about 30 members and calls itself a “New Testament, Charismatic, Non-Denominational Church.” It says it wants to “expose Islam” as a “violent and oppressive religion.”
The city’s mayor and police department repeated appeals to Jones call off the Qur’an-burning. They warned that while his First Amendment constitutional rights guaranteed freedom of speech, assembly and religion, he would violate city ordinances if he went ahead without proper authorization. City officials already have denied his request for a burn permit.
FACT CHECK: Islam already part of WTC neighborhood
WASHINGTON – A New York imam and his proposed mosque near ground zero are being demonized by political candidates — mostly Republicans — despite the fact that Islam is already very much a part of the World Trade Center neighborhood. And that Muslims pray inside the Pentagon, too, less than 80 feet from where terrorists attacked.
And that the imam who’s being branded an extremist has been valued by both Republican and Democratic administrations as a moderate face of the faith.
Even so, the project stirs complicated emotions, and Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf is a complex figure who defies easy categorization in the American Muslim world.
He’s devoted much of his career to working closely with Christians, Jews and secular leaders to advance interfaith understanding. He’s scolded his own religion for being in some ways in the “Dark Ages.” Yet he’s also accused the U.S. of spilling more innocent blood than al-Qaida, the terrorist network that turned the World Trade Center, part of the Pentagon and four hijacked airplanes to apocalyptic rubble.
Palestinians denied mosque access on Ramadan
On the first Friday prayers in Ramadan, the Muslim Holy Month, thousands of Palestinians flocked towards the Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem to attend prayers.
But, as is often the case, many were not allowed inside to pray.
Israeli authorities have put restrictions on who can attend prayers at the holy site, but they say they are trying to accommodate as many worshippers as possible.
Special permits are available but just for women between the ages of 30 and 45 and men between 45 and 50.
Palestinian officials say that such restrictive measures do not respect the sanctity of the month.
Al Jazeera’s Nisreen El-Shamayleh reports from occupied East Jerusalem
Vatican Makes Ordination Of Women To Become Priest A Grave Crime
July 15, 2010 CNN
Church ‘breached international law’
A leading abuse survivor has suggested the Vatican had breached international law over the child sex abuse scandals.
Colm O’Gorman also said he believes it is “technically possible” for Pope Benedict to be arrested when he visits the UK later this year.
At the Hay Festival of Literature and the Arts in Wales, Mr O’Gorman claimed the Vatican was implicated in grave crimes.
“There are moves on foot to start to look to international law, although I’m not quite sure how that may work out, to secure his (Pope Benedict) arrest,” he said.
“I do think that that arrest in a country where the rule of universal jurisdiction and international law is perhaps more robustly applied than others is a distinct possibility. It is technically possible – it may well happen.”
Pakistan court orders Facebook ban
A Pakistani court has ordered the government to block the social networking website Facebook temporarily because of a page that encourages users to submit images of Islam’s Prophet Mohammed.
The Facebook group Everybody Draw Mohammed Day! has generated criticism in Pakistan because many Muslims consider images of the prophet, even favourable ones, to be blasphemous.
Thousands Of Israelis Demand An End To Occupation Of West Bank
May 16, 2010 News Corp
Nate Phelps: The Grayness Of Life
Nate Phelps is one of the estranged children of Pastor Fred Phelps of the Westboro Baptist Church. Since Pastor Phelps began his latest assault on various segments of the world in 1991, Nate has been providing his perspective on the dark (or perhaps darker) side of Pastor Phelps.
Centre For Inquiry has invited Nate to Calgary to share his insights with the Calgary community. Knowing how groups like Westboro Baptist work is not only fascinating, but helpful in countering their message.
Westboro Baptist is famous for their “God Hates Fags” campaign and protesting of high profile funerals. Though based in the United States, WBC still attempts to influence Canadians, but they have been blocked at the border while traveling to protest funerals in our country.
Son Of Hate Church Founder Speaks Out!
May 05, 2010 ABC News
Will You Hide a Muslim in Your Attic?
2010 Leave a Comment
There’s some scary stuff happening in this nation right now. It has to do with Muslims. No, I am not afraid of Muslims. No, I do not believe that they are out to destroy our way of life. No, I do not believe that they are inherently violent people who see Christians and Jews as demons that need to be wiped from the face of the Earth. No, I do not believe they are the new boogie man hiding around every corner with a belt of explosives waiting to duck into some nightclub to kill himself and as many other innocent people as he can in a blaze of glory. It is not the Muslims that scare me. It is the people who are trying to make me so paranoid of the Muslims that I will forsake my principles and turn against my fellow human beings because their ways are different than mine that scare me. It is those who believe that people should be treated differently simply because of their religion that scare me. READ MORE »