What will we gain by allowing this to happen?

Mr. Thomas,

Do you really think that all or even many Muslims take the Koran and Hadith literally and are plotting to take over the world? Do you think that all or even many Muslims are lying and pretending to get along with us until they can conquer us? Do you even know any Muslims? And if you are going to judge Muslims (indeed all Muslims) based on the foundational documents of Islam, maybe you better take a look at the foundational documents of Judaism and Christianity which have many repugnant themes. For example, the "Old" testament includes genocide, infanticide, collective punishment, stoning of adulterers, ethnic cleansing, and the warrant for slavery, to name a few. The new testament includes one of the most heinous beliefs ever invented by man, eternal damnation in hell.

I know many Muslims who are good, upstanding Americans, and I am pleased that they are my neighbors. They certainly do not spread the message of hate that the likes of you do. I speak out on their behalf. You are nothing but a bigoted, rebarbative, contemptible human being, and the Washington Post should not give you a public forum for your delusional, paranoid schizophrenic hatred.

What we GAIN is a a very simple and obvious affirmation of fundamental American values that will shout out to the world our heartfelt and idealistic notions of religious freedoms. What we would LOSE by NOT allowing it is making the *very* public statement that NYC rejects those values in favor of parochial and emotional concerns.

Someone here mentioned Timothy McVeigh - which means that if we reject a mosque under these circumstances we must reject a Christian building in OKC. Americans are many things, and hypocrisy is too much a part of our national character already.

The irony of forbidding an Islamic religious edifice to be built in lower Manhattan is so severe as to be excruciating. (Check out the Latin derivation of that last word.)

We might as well let Japan put a victory memorial next to the USS Arizona at Pearl harbor or let Mexico put one next to the Alamo.

Very Simple to answer this one....If Cal Thomas is against it, the Mosque should be built!

My question is: What does Mayor Bloomberg have to gain by approving of this mega-mosque project? My guess: Perhaps it helps in international politics should he chose to run for President some day.

I agree with Cal Thomas.

Cal Thomas asks: "What will we gain by allowing this to happen?"

This is America. We don't get to "allow" or "not allow" what people build on private property, as long as they meet zoning laws. It is none of our business. Government officials and mass media blowhards are not authorized to run our lives.

You would be within your rights to organize a protest march, but that is all you can do.

The Muslim Faith nor the Muslim people did not attack us on September 11, a bunch of radicals who happen to be Muslim did. There are radicals in every religion that we care not own but we can't penalize everyone of that Faith for what some folk did.

Are we that ignorant and immature? Come on ADULTS. I agree with who said - this is the country that is free for all, freedom to practice religion, build the Mosque, please. Promote change, tolerance, peace etc. That's the only we heal as One.

The majority of Muslims are peaceful people, don't make them pay for someone elses sins.

All of us suffered and lost loved ones in the 9/11 attacks but we can't take that out on the MUSLIM FAITH!!!

If building a Mosque at Ground Zero bothers you - seek some mental help please. You have hatred for people of a different faith who didn’t do anything to you and that’s not right

That’s like me as a black woman blaming all white people for Slavery – that would not be right now would it.

Let the mosque be built. But, instead of naming it after Cordoba, name it after Tariq Amunullah, an Islamic community organizer who worked on the 96th floor of WTC2 and died on 9/11. Or Salman Hamdani, an ambulance driver who was killed by the falling debris. This way, the mosque honors the victims of 9/11.

Mr Thomas apparently you have read the quran and understand history as well. Your article is spot on. islam is here not to be equal.....islam is in conquest mode

Mr. Thomas has made several basic argumentative errors.

1. He has equated the practice of Islam in other countries as the equivalent of the practice of Islam here in the US. Where is the evidence for this? All of his examples of egregious behavior in the practice of Islam are from other counries. He does not explain how this particular mosque is a "beachhead" in America for those same practices or countries. Where is his proof? Such an extreme claim cannot be made in vacuum. He must cite his works and sources.

2. He assumes all Islamic practice everywhere is the same. The word usage of "thier", "those", "muslim nations", and "they" connotate an equivalence of all Muslim nations. Where is his proof of such a claim? Again such wide sweeping claims must be accompanied by proof. Proof cannot be found in isolated examples. Showing me a video of Palastinians or some Muslms in NJ celabrating 9/11 are not prima facia evidence of all Muslims everywhere and without corroberating documentation may only be evidence of egregious behaviour on the part of those individuals.

3. The reference to "beachhead" implies the US is at war with Islam. Mr. Thomas may actually believe this to be true. Clearly jihadist terrorists beleive this to be the case. But since neither the Bush nor Obama adminsitrations have made such a declaration nor to my knowledge has any "Islamic" nation where does this belief come from? And why would Mr. Thomas cite the behaviour of groups who are clearly psychotic in nature (al qeada) as representative of all Ismamic people everywhere? Again Mr. Thomas must cite his evidence and sources for these incredible beliefs. You cannot make such blanket stmts to intelligent people and expect them to be swallowed whole.

Overall this is a childish polemic written at a sub high school level.

"While that doesn't mean that the majority of Muslims are terrorists, one must ask why there was no outcry amongst Muslims after 9/11. "

There wasn't? I remember a large number of Muslims and Muslim leaders speaking out and saying that the actions of the terrorists were not only un-Islamic, but repulsive to Islam. Somehow, though, people who want to believe the worst never seem to listen to anything that might challenge their prejudices.

"Shouldn't tolerance and understanding cut both ways? "

They won't if we don't show it first. We've got to be the good guys here.

And as for finding nasty stuff in the Quran and nasty stuff preached in mosques, people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. Mr. Thomas is very comfortable with a religion that preaches that all non-believers deserve to burn alive in horrible torment forever and ever, and that the God who does this to his brothers and sisters should be flattered, fawned on and praised as the source of all goodness. Christian dogma has been used to justify great cruelties in the past, including making war on people and murdering civilians, children and the elderly just because they weren't Christian, or even because they belonged to the "wrong" Christian sect.

People tend to shape their religious beliefs around their own temperament, rather than shaping their lives and temperament around their religious beliefs. A kind, loving and peaceful person will be so whether they are Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, Wiccan or atheist, and will find justification to be so in their religious or moral beliefs, and so will a self-righteous arrogant snot, who enjoys looking down on others. And so will a murderous terrorist (ask anyone in Northern Ireland about whether Christians can be terrorists). What religion you are has less influence on your moral character than your moral character has on the interpretation of your religion.

Whatever happened to the sacredness of property rights, Mr. Thomas? They own the space, they are complying with all applicable zoning laws - shouldn't it be theirs to do with as they please, without Big Government stepping in?

Or are property rights only for people whose religious views conform to yours?

Should there be a mosque near Ground Zero?

Change the context of the question and you will get yo8r answer.

Ask your selves should there be any Christian Churches in the Middle East and why or why not and you have the same answer as to should there be a Mosque in New York Ground Zero or anywhewre else in the state of New York?

Religious discrimination is a slippery slope. I am a Buddhist and welcome all differences. Christian, catholic, Muslim, Aethists, all equal.

"Don't we know why our enemies desire a beachhead in America?"

Sorry, Cal, they've already established that beachhead. It's called Fox News. I guess you didn't get the memo.

Cal Thomas is completely insane. Why is this man being given a forum?

What gives you people the right to deny a permit based on religious discrimination?

When you start prohibiting Catholic churches near middle schools your arguments won't ring with shallow bigotry.

Cal, you have always been a religious bigot. To claim that nowhere in the Bible does it say to turn away from those who are not Christian, and at the same time cherry pick the Qu'ran for verses is hypocritical. And for those like ASK26, are you suggesting that the literal bible, does not endorse slavery, stoning of adulterers and equally barbaric sentaments? Don't let your hate blind you.

Don't we know why our enemies desire a beachhead in America? They wish to launch new terror attacks and forcibly convert Americans to their way of thinking and believing. What will we gain by allowing this to happen?

- Cal Thomas

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Don't we know why our enemies desire a beachhead in the Muslim World? They wish to launch new terror attacks and forcibly convert Muslims to their way of thinking and believing. What will we gain by allowing this to happen?

- Muslim fundamentalists, extremists, terrorists

Triumphalism is evangelical and fundamentalist christians closing the doors to all but themselves.

Ask26: The Old Testament is a guide to genocide. Period.

Right on, Cal!
There is a fear that Islam is not just another religion like Christianity or Buddhism or whatever. These fears are well-founded. In fact, Islam is NOT a religion like other religions; and Islamic scholars are the first ones to say so. For example, Yusuf Qaradawi (the most influential Muslim cleric in the world today, the spiritual head of the Muslim Brotherhood) said: "Islam is not a religion in the common, distorted meaning of the word, confining its scope only to the private life of man. By saying that it is a complete way of life, we mean that it caters for all the fields of human existence. In fact, Islam provides guidance for all walks of life — individual and social, material and moral, economic and political, legal and cultural, national and international." This "complete way of life" is the Sharia sacred Islamic law which calls for the legal subordination of non-Moslems to Moslems and of women to men; it requires death for homosexuals, apostates and blasphemers. And, it calls for eternal war (jihad) against non-Moslems until Islamic law dominates throughout the world. These doctrines all come from the Koran and the sayings of Muhammad which are preached and taught in every mosque in the world, and will be taught in the proposed mosques. People questioning the new mosques need to understand why Islam is unique and not like other religions. Then they would know that mosques are not like churches because mosques are centers for the propagation of sharia law. If Islam is not like other religions, it should not be treated like other religions. If mosques are not like churches and other houses of prayer, then mosques should not be treated like other houses of prayer. Mosques are centers for the propagation of Islamic supremacist ideology, and they should be treated like other centers for the propagation of supremacist, violent and imperialist ideology, such as the Communist Party or the Nazi Party.

Mr. Thomas , you don't get it do you? It isn't about them, it's about us. We do things differently here and that's what sets us apart.....makes our way better than the rest of the world. We believe in right and justice and even in the rights of those we don't agree with...especially in their rights. We rise above our personal prejudices......well real freedom loving Americans do anyway. Diversity is our heritage and our richness. most of our ancestors came from somewhere else and we believe all people have rights given to them from God not man and we built a country to show the world that we believe it so strongly we will put it into practice for all to see. We don't want to be like those countries that ban things because that'e the way they act about the things we believe in. We are above that.....That is why we're right .......we should not desire to be like them in anyway.

Amazing; NO GRACE!

Now The Ex-[real]Cannibal's suddenly Converted to Saudi, via Wahhabi & Irani Ayatollah Umma now say THIS

"Muslims have been told by religious leaders in Malaysia to stop wearing Manchester United football shirts because the image of the famed red devil is forbidden in Islam"

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/malaysia/7900366/Muslims-ban-Manchester-United-shirts-over-red-devil-image.html

Note & Remember; It was NOt so long ago when these ex-[real]-Indonesian (Malaysians also) ex-Cannibals unlike the "Eucharist" Symbolic Cannibalsits, Had proclaimed, via their IMAM-under-boss's THAT

Their Word "A L L A H" is forbidden for US "KAFIR" Ummah (none Ishlami's) to Use Such holy iSHLAMi word [Not Our] Mr. "ALLAH" & or by HIS(?) 99 other Names be Such Deity's?

Soo; IF "ALLAH" is not same as "G-D" (note: spelled w/out "O" between; but use of a hyphen forever; which islami's must use an "O" in between; This Way Their "ALLAH-GOD" is NOt same as OUR "EHLAH/G-D"; two different Animals ina REAL World.).

NOTE ISLAMi(s): Ye art Forbidden to Use Our Word via the HOlyi COsmic FEelers FAith, Belief, like a Religion but Better, the word for "G-D" & or "EKLAH". So keep "GOD" & keep ALLAH"; WE APOCALYPTIC-ON's Don't Need Ye gods [a SYSTEM]!

iMportant: The "iSlami Scare" or "islami-Creep" in U.S.A. & Elsewhere is just as real or more than the 'COMMUNIST THREAT/SCARE" era. But this "Big-Bad-Wolf" is different! It's "Big-BAd-Satanic-Versus" scare!

HiNT: These Secretive iSlami "AL TAQIYAH" Soldiers of the Int'l Religio Mafia Brigade, via al Ummah are Conspiring Together with the Commy SINO"S To Take Over U.S. Cities & INDIA & More Conspiracy's.!

Beware also sneaky Commy SINO's great-distractor (besides Iran, Syria et al) islami TURKEY, dressed in Secular Clothing, who DO & speak in Forked Ways, is a big time triple Face Agent.

Note: Besides Many "Phobia's; that

"I S L A M ai - P H O B i A" is a RIGHT (& it's right)to Think, not Close Mind, or to FEEL (Guts + Heart) such happenings as REAL(ity) as ice-cream and Apple Pie! Hint again: Using the BIG LIE trick is what AL TAQiYAHist bank on. They want YOU/US to Think as If they are TRULY? (opposite MYTH) Peaceful!?

I absolutely agree. We have here an Imam who considers America - at least - partly to blame for 9/11 lecturing us about "healing," while exploiting the pain and the anger of this atrocity for religious gain. It is utterly distasteful, utterly debased. Small wonder that even here, in liberal NY, the mosque is opposed by the majority of citizens.

While Islam is most assuredly not a religion of peace, and Mr. Thomas makes some very good points, it would be wrong of us to stoop down to their level. Simply because Islam is intolerant and brutal, does not mean we should act the same way. An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. Not to say we should not defend ourselves, but if we compromise on our ideals and principles towards Muslims, that would ruin the very essence of what makes us American. We should lead by example.

That said, anyone who has read the Qu'ran or even studied the history of Islam and the rhetoric of its religious officials cannot with any semblance of honesty say that it is a peaceful religion. While that doesn't mean that the majority of Muslims are terrorists, one must ask why there was no outcry amongst Muslims after 9/11. There was certainly nothing comparable to the outrage provoked by Danish cartoonists.

A religion is measured not only by the rhetoric of its book (which openly commands murder against kafirs or non-believers, and taqqiya, which is the sanction to lie to non-Muslims), but the actions - or inaction - of its people. Christianity and Judaism have similarly archaic and barbaric rhetoric in their books, but no longer is it followed. Nor is it any longer acceptable practice to convert by the sword. Muslims are making no effort to change the actions of their people. Silent acquiescence is tantamount to approval.

If they really want to turn Islam into a religion of peace, Muslims should start making the effort to denounce the inflammatory statements of their imams, to revise some of the most disgusting aspects - like the divine sanction to kill all kafirs, rape the women and keep them as chattel. That is what the Qu'ran says, and it is unacceptable by any standard of decency. Yet we should allow the mosque to be built, because we are American, and America is liberty and freedom for ALL.