WP: Cross Set Afire at College Park Mosque

[LauraK]

A three-foot-high wooden cross was set afire on a grassy knoll outside a Prince George's County mosque and Islamic school early yesterday in what authorities said was a hate crime.

The cross, soaked with a flammable liquid, was pushed into the ground and ignited shortly before 2 a.m. in front of the Dar-us-Salaam mosque and Al-Huda school in College Park, said Fire Chief Ronald Blackwell. A videotape from a surveillance camera on the property shows at least two people carrying out the cross-burning, Blackwell said.

The mosque said that it has about 400 members and that about 100 children and adults attend programs at the school. ...

The mosque and school have received a few nasty e-mails and sustained minor vandalism in the past, but yesterday's fire was by far the most unsettling incident, said Jose Acevedo, the vice principal at Al-Huda.

"We are a strong group, and we pray we are not intimidated by this, that it makes us more vigilant," he said. "In terms of the children, it's always difficult to explain hatred."

More here

[Name removed]

1. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Name removed]

4. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Tinoire]

6. Christians would not burn a cross!

I don't know what kind of riff-raff did this but I assure you they were not Christians. A cross is too sacred to Christians.

[DUreader]

8. kkk THINK they are christian

other christians disagree

[noonwitch]

11. There's christians and then there are those who follow Jesus' teachings

Ritualized religon, full of rules and contradictions, is not what Jesus was advocating. That was what Peter and Paul advocated. Jesus taught individual spirituality, doing good by others and treating all people as you would like to be treated. There are a lot of christians who put more emphasis on the teachings of Paul than the Sermon on the Mountain (Matthew 5-7). I really don't think Paul would have had too much trouble with his followers burning crosses to intimidate non-believers. He certainly pissed off the Ephesians, who worshipped Diana.

[Tinoire]

13. Noonwitch, DUreader, I still disagree

I well realize the difference between real and fake Christians (who are either extemely confused or Christians in name only).


Christians in name only might do such a thing and that applies to the KKK but they are NOT Christians and should NOT be grouped as such!

No Christian, no matter how cold in his faith would burn a cross just as no Jew, not even the most vile KKK Jew would burn a Torah.

I know that 2 people who made that comment here are not big on religion and clump everyone together, but I as a person of faith, would ask that DUers stop lumping Christians and CINOs in the same category.

It's like lumping the Dems and DINOs in the same and blaming one for the sins of the other. KKK 'Christians' don't even use the Bible- no matter how off the translation- they have their own special bibles with all sorts of twisted things written into it. You cannot call those people Christians. Even the racist ladies you see walking out of Church celebrating that we killed Saddam's sons would never burn a cross or condone it.

One of our biggest problems is in not being able to differentiate between the false and true elements within any group. It's like the seething hatred of Republicans on this board- there are good Republicans and until we learn to differentiate we're playing right into the hands of the dividers. So please choose terms wisely.

Btw, I do think Paul would have had a problem with burning crosses. Burning a cross is destroying it and Christianity is into the worship of Jesus and the sacrifice he made on the cross- not its desecration. The desecration of the cross comes from thta 'other' side.


Have you ever seen the Believer? About the Jewish neo-Nazi skinhead who persecuted others? But when he got to the Torah- that was a different story.

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/news2002/mar02/mar11/5_fri/news4friday.html

[Rose Siding]

14. I am a Christian

When one professing Islam does something hateful, would "stupid Muslims" not be an intolerant and hateful remark?

[hang a left]

2. Where is College Park?

By the way, disgusting

[leQ]

3. in maryland

n/t

[DemoTex]

5. PG County, Maryland

Enough said.

On edit: It so happens that Alabama Governor George C. Wallace was shot by Arthur Bremer in Laurel, Maryland (PG county) on May 15, 1972.

[EOTE]

12. Hey now, we can stop the state bashing.

Maryland is a very progressive state. We went for Gore by a huge margin. College Park is the home of UMD which is a very liberal college. You'll be hard pressed to find any city in the country which doesn't have it's share of assholes. What happened there was an anomaly and is very rare for the area.

In my opinion, Montgomery and Prince Georges counties rank amongst the nation's best in terms of integrated communities. I think we have a more diverse and civil population than even NYC or San Francisco can claim to have. Why is it necessary when something ugly happens to immediately make broad generalizations about an area?

[newyorican]

9. College Park in right off the DC Beltway

Within driving distance for Delay and Co.

Where were all of the neo-confederates last night??

[Nottingham]

7. Oh Here we go! Ugliness starting!

:bounce:

[Trek234]

10. Christian racist view of muslims

Some racist posted this on a computing forum I visit yesterday in an OT thread. Probably goes a long the same beliefs of those who lit the cross.

Ignorant damn fools.

"have you ever read the bible? no because it would be a waste of your time right? and why would that be, because you cant understand, or do you want to understand it at all? yes, many, many religions are corrupt, but what i believe is not corrupt, nor is it perfect. we baptists have our own set of faults, yet we do not believe like muslims whose religion is reminescent of people worrshipping satan. why do i say that, you may ask? simple, any religion that believes in killing innocent people to make their god happy is just plain wrong. and, take a look where muslims are: the middle east, mostly desert, little water, mostly third world countries. why are they there? because they worship satan, a cold, hard, fact but also very true. take a look at the united states. world's largest superpower, but not without its own set of problems. yet it is far more prosperous than the middle east combined. why is this? because the united states was found on the religion of christianity. thats why. the united states has many problems because its populace has turned from the god they once believed in, and are now being punished for it. just like in the bible, when israel got away from god, its people wandered in a desert for 40 years as punishment."

[On the Road]

15. I Live a Mile and a Half from There

and it's surprising to me. It's a student and working class old suburban neighborhood pretty far from downtown -- looks like the mosque backs up against the beltway.

Close Up Map

Wide Area Map

I got the maps because I had never heard of this place. There have been a lot mosques being built in the DC area, along with Hindu and Buddhist places of worship.

There's nothing that I know that would make this a particularly likely site for religious or ethnic hate crimes.