Somehow I Didn’t Hear This In The Major Media

September 11, 2001 attacks in New York City: V...

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At 6:30 pm today, the Ground Zero Mosque will open its doors. Front Page Magazine reported today on the scheduled opening.

At its opening today, the Mosque will show a photo exhibit in its community space. The article reports:

The exhibit, called “NYChildren,” will showcase the work of Danny Goldfield, who photographed children in the city originating from 171 countries around the world. About $70,000 was raised in less than two months for the temporary community space through KickStarter.com. Over 700 invitations have been distributed for the grand opening, and visitors to Park51’s website are registering to attend now. The exhibit will be up for three months. The site will be open Monday through Friday, 12:30 p.m. to 9:00 pm beginning on Thursday. 

The article further reports:

The Ground Zero Mosque continues to suffer blows to its public image. The top financial backer, Hisham Elzanaty, is being sued by Allstate Insurance for $5.1 million. He is accused of orchestrating a “highly developed and sophisticated kickback scheme.” State Farm is also suing him for $1.9 million, and Geico for $1.7 million. He also donated to the Holy Land Foundation, a front for Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood, in 1999. This only adds to the significant concern over the sources of the money behind the project. Even supporters of the Ground Zero Mosque may be convinced to withhold their donations because of this development.

Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, the original “face” of Park51, also showed how moderate he really is during a speech he gave earlier this year where he said that criticism of Islam shouldn’t be protected speech. “I believe that the insulting or mocking of others’ religious symbols, icons, prophets, etc. should not fall within the realm of free speech,” he said. The statement is a reminder of the extremist beliefs and affiliations of those tied to the Ground Zero Mosque.

If it is extreme to oppose this mosque at this location, then I am an extremist. Islamic tradition builds a mosque whenever it designates a site as a ‘place of victory.’ The mosque is constructed to be a monument to that victory. We are fools to let the construction of this mosque at this site continue.

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