I am an Atheist and about these Mosques.......

[KansasVoter]

I do not give a crap where people build them.

I have 3 churches within 1 mile of my house. A mosque would not bother me either.

If you want to worship God, Allah, Zeus, a dead chicken or the Flying Spaghetti Monster I am fine with it.

And now, the damn GOP is against religious freedom. What a joke that party is!

[mitchtv]

1. they would all bother me

but that's life. Religion is poison.

[Hello_Kitty]

2. Yes, but lots of beliefs are poisonous.

However, religion is unique in America in that it's given tax-exempt status.

[customerserviceguy]

5. I'm with you

And it seems to me that the most recent adherents to Islam are no better than the Christian fundies. A lot of the atheists and agnostics are going to get caught in the coming crossfire.

[nadinbrzezinski]

7. I refer you to this

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.<1>

Even if it bothers you...

[dkf]

Yet there are zoning laws preventing churches in certain areas.

[nadinbrzezinski]

16. And synagogues and temples and mosques

the zoning laws apply to RELIGIOUS buildings, not one religion. If they specifically say Christian Temple, that is a violation of the Establishment Clause.

[dkf]

19. If we had true religious freedom we would let those Mormons have 3 wives.

I think religious freedom is a sham. We only let it exist to a point of societal acceptance which isn't very free to me.

[nadinbrzezinski]

20. That;s your opinion

but people who come from nations where it does not exist, could teach you why it is as real as it gets in this country.

By the way Mormoms have been persecuted across their very short history, which makes them quite hilarious when they persecute others.

[mitchtv]

15. doesn't help

proximity to religion is nausea inducing. like i said. "that's life". I had to do some creative planting when a church was built diagonally across from my house. It worked

[nadinbrzezinski]

17. It might make you sick

but the government cannot prevent them. It is part of that silly shit called civil society.

I may not like it. Hell for all I care I would love to greatly reduce the influence. But the establishment clause is quite clear.

[freesqueeze]

3. In the USA, "religion" means "christian"

have you ever perused the religion section of your local bookstore? Should be called the christian section. It may not be this way all over the place but in the deep blue state of texas when a person says they favor religious freedom they are referring exclusively to the right of christians (and only christians) to promote their religion anywhere they like whether you or your five-year-old wants to hear it.

"Flying Spaghetti Monster?" ... Dawkins fan?


< < < peace > > >

[KansasVoter]

4. Dawkins, Harris, FFRF.Org, Hitchins. All of them!

[freesqueeze]

9. ah...

I'm reading The God Delusion now. Great book...everyone should read it (but they won't).

[KansasVoter]

12. I agree, "Letter to a Christian nation" from Harris is great also.

[Marr]

11. Exactly. Our forefathers came over here so they could worship as they wanted!

Anything but Protestant Christianity is an insult to that heritage!!!!

[nadinbrzezinski]

6. For the life of me I have not been able to find the canon

of the FMS.

On a serious note, even if it bothered me... there is this thing about the Establishment Clause.

We were thinking of going to a counter protest (next time our local tea baggers go there, we will, learned of it last night on the daily show)... my sign will HAVE the Establishment Clause... I will even try to keep it neat.

(My penmanship sucks)

[verges]

8. Just PLEASE double check---

nay, triple check your spellings on everything!!

[nadinbrzezinski]

10. Copying will take care of that

But still, my penmanship SUCKS.

[verges]

13. Even copying, mistakes can creep in!

For pity's sake BE CAREFUL!!

[Jackpine Radical]

22. Bad penmanship

can cover a multitude of other sins.

If you can't spell, then at least learn to write unintelligibly.

[applegrove]

14. Imagine a world where there is a huge muslim middle class in the west. These people are moderates.

They have money like the middle class does. They also have a mosque near ground zero. Jihadists around the world will have to compete with this reality as they try to groom a new generation of jihadists. Who wins? I say the moderates. People around the world will be in contact with each other through the internet. The reality of the great muslim situation in the USA and other western countries will be well known. It is the only way to win this war on terrorism in the end.

Build that mosque near ground zero right now!!

[krabigirl]

18. I agree with you. I am not religious, but i don't care about this.

[Jackpine Radical]

21. I don't think they should allow Catholics

to build churches within 1000 feet of parks, schools & other places frequented by children.

[kctim]

23. I too am an atheist and agree, who cares

let them build it and do whatever the hell it is they do in those things. BFD!
Hell, while they are doing that, let that guy build the gay bar on their doorstep and let the NRA build a gun store and target practice facility across from Columbine High.