# That guy in Katy, TX, who doesn't want to be a fucking laughingstock... **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 7, 2006, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-guy-in-katy-tx-who-doesnt-want-to-be-a-fucking-laughingstock/383261 "2006-12-07T20:27:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![lizardling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@lizardling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lizardling)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2006, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-guy-in-katy-tx-who-doesnt-want-to-be-a-fucking-laughingstock/383261/1 "2006-12-07T20:27:05Z")
…and all his ilk with him. [Houston suburb objects to mosque plans](http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Mosque_Pig_Races.html) I’m FROM Texas, you motherfuckers, and this attitude is completely, and totally, uncalled for. What the hell happened to being neighborly? I’m almost too angry for words. > [@](#): > > KATY, Texas – A plan to build a mosque in this Houston suburb has triggered a neighborhood dispute, with community members warning the place will become a terrorist hotbed and one man threatening to hold pig races on Fridays just to offend the Muslims. > > Many neighborhood residents claim they have nothing against Muslims and are more concerned about property values, drainage and traffic. > > But one resident has set up an anti-Islamic Web site with an odometer-like counter that keeps track of terrorist attacks since Sept. 11. A committee has formed to buy another property and offer to trade it for the Muslims’ land. And next-door neighbor Craig Baker has threatened to race pigs on the edge of the property on the Muslim holy day. Muslims consider pigs unclean and do not eat pork. While the concerns about property values, drainage, and traffic might be valid to some extent, the outright anti-Islamic responses really, really chaps me. You might not agree with Islamic beliefs, but these folks want to set up a mosque and a community center, not train up the next round of the Great Brown Threat in the middle of Texas. > [@](#): > > Cynthia Blackman wrote Radack that the center was a security risk: “Would you and your family safely and comfortably live next to this 11-acre Muslim mosque and facilities?” My _god_. I cannot believe the sheer… awe-inspiring attitude that this woman has. Maybe another one of you Dopers can provide suitable language to describe it – I can’t. What part of being a decent human being (and Christian, if that so describes you) includes this kind of reaction? I’m literally seething here. What, is this the 60’s with McCarthy and the Commies coming in the window in the middle of the night? Finally, Craig Baker’s quote. I’ll let it speak for itself. Okay, maybe not. What, you’re NOT a laughingstock now? > [@](#): > > Though he now concedes the Muslims are probably not after his land, Baker said he is obligated to go through with the pig races, probably within the next few weeks, because “I would be like a total idiot if I didn’t. I’d be the laughingstock now because I’ve gone too far.” ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2006, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-guy-in-katy-tx-who-doesnt-want-to-be-a-fucking-laughingstock/383261/2 "2006-12-07T20:31:33Z")
Pig Race Protest, their first album was pretty good but since then…meh. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2006, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-guy-in-katy-tx-who-doesnt-want-to-be-a-fucking-laughingstock/383261/3 "2006-12-07T20:37:46Z")
Katy = 10 miles from my house. :mad: This doesn’t surprise me at all. Makes me want to bake a pie and bring it over to the Katy Islamic Foundation, along with a nice vase of flowers and a sheepish “sorry we’re idiots here.” ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2006, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-guy-in-katy-tx-who-doesnt-want-to-be-a-fucking-laughingstock/383261/4 "2006-12-07T20:41:05Z")
I’ll chip in $5 towards the flowers. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2006, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-guy-in-katy-tx-who-doesnt-want-to-be-a-fucking-laughingstock/383261/5 "2006-12-07T20:46:50Z")
Yeah, I read about this in Sunday’s paper. The land is within a minute or two of my office. It’ll be interesting to watch this one develop. However, my sense is that most folks in the area are pretty normal and reasoned but that a couple of loud bigots are pushing their own ignorant agenda. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2006, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-guy-in-katy-tx-who-doesnt-want-to-be-a-fucking-laughingstock/383261/6 "2006-12-07T20:48:19Z")
[QUOTE=OneCentStamp] Katy = 10 miles from my house. :mad: This doesn’t surprise me at all. Makes me want to bake a pie and bring it over to the Katy Islamic Foundation, along with a nice vase of flowers and a sheepish “sorry we’re idiots here.” [/QUOTE] Make sure it’s not a pork pie. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2006, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-guy-in-katy-tx-who-doesnt-want-to-be-a-fucking-laughingstock/383261/7 "2006-12-07T20:54:23Z")
Irony being a powerful force in all of our lives, would this guy need some sort of special zoning permit to raise & race pigs on his property, on account of they’re, you know, unclean? ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2006, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-guy-in-katy-tx-who-doesnt-want-to-be-a-fucking-laughingstock/383261/8 "2006-12-07T20:56:58Z")
[QUOTE=D\_Odds] Make sure it’s not a pork pie. 🆒 [/QUOTE] Yeah; I thought they had their own preferred style of headgear. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2006, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-guy-in-katy-tx-who-doesnt-want-to-be-a-fucking-laughingstock/383261/9 "2006-12-07T20:58:40Z")
You can say goodbye to that. ---
**Author:** ![rayh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@rayh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rayh)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2006, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-guy-in-katy-tx-who-doesnt-want-to-be-a-fucking-laughingstock/383261/10 "2006-12-07T20:58:53Z")
[QUOTE=Ethilrist] Irony being a powerful force in all of our lives, would this guy need some sort of special zoning permit to raise & race pigs on his property, on account of they’re, you know, unclean? [/QUOTE] IANAM, but would a Muslim object to pig racing? The prohibition is against eating them, not watching them run around a field. ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2006, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-guy-in-katy-tx-who-doesnt-want-to-be-a-fucking-laughingstock/383261/11 "2006-12-07T21:18:59Z")
This is another instance (or at least linked to other instances) of chickens coming home to roost and all that. Multiple times Conservative Christian groups have claimed the application of planning/zoning laws to churches in the same way as to non-religous organizations violates Freedom of Religion, and have been successful at least on lower levels in getting legislation exempting churches from many of the restrictions placed on other buildings. Suddenly people then discover that a mosque is not subject to the same noise restrictions as any other building would be when calling people to prayer multiple times a day, for example. If they want to build a Wal-Mart next door to you, you may be able to stop it. They want to throw up a Mega church with exactly the same traffic consequences, you are likely SOL. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2006, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-guy-in-katy-tx-who-doesnt-want-to-be-a-fucking-laughingstock/383261/12 "2006-12-07T21:22:05Z")
[QUOTE=rayh] IANAM, but would a Muslim object to pig racing? The prohibition is against eating them, not watching them run around a field. [/QUOTE] IANAM either, but I believe the Muslim reaction to pig racing would be similar to the Jewish, Christian, Baha’i or atheist reaction, namely: **What the fuck is that redneck doofus doing?** 😕 :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2006, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-guy-in-katy-tx-who-doesnt-want-to-be-a-fucking-laughingstock/383261/13 "2006-12-07T21:33:50Z")
[QUOTE=rayh] IANAM, but would a Muslim object to pig racing? The prohibition is against eating them, not watching them run around a field. [/QUOTE] If the pig racing is done with the expressed intent of being a jerk toward Muslims, they’d probably object. But as far as I know, the prohibition is just against eating them. If the guy wanted to be a real asshole, a dog track might be worse. At least Baker’s quote is funny. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2006, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-guy-in-katy-tx-who-doesnt-want-to-be-a-fucking-laughingstock/383261/14 "2006-12-08T13:47:07Z")
Well, another Houston suburb has adapted pretty well to an “exotic” house of worship (I used to drive by it all the time, and it looked rather weird plunked down in the middle of tract housing). Maybe the Muslims would like to build their mosque next to [this](http://www.meenakshi.org/index.php). Or, maybe not. ---
**Author:** ![Carl\_Corey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Carl\_Corey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carl_Corey)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2006, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-guy-in-katy-tx-who-doesnt-want-to-be-a-fucking-laughingstock/383261/15 "2006-12-08T14:20:52Z")
Sigh. Dumbassery abounds. Good rant, **lizardling**. But I have to take a point off. McCarthy’s hearings were in the fifties, not the sixties. But a good rant. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2006, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-guy-in-katy-tx-who-doesnt-want-to-be-a-fucking-laughingstock/383261/16 "2006-12-08T14:21:04Z")
[QUOTE=Jackmannii] Well, another Houston suburb has adapted pretty well to an “exotic” house of worship (I used to drive by it all the time, and it looked rather weird plunked down in the middle of tract housing). Maybe the Muslims would like to build their mosque next to [this](http://www.meenakshi.org/index.php). Or, maybe not. [/QUOTE] I could handle that easier than I could handle this: [Touchdown Jesus (Gone), Monroe, Ohio](http://www.roadsideamerica.com/attract/OHMONjesus.html) ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2006, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-guy-in-katy-tx-who-doesnt-want-to-be-a-fucking-laughingstock/383261/17 "2006-12-08T15:23:57Z")
If I lived in Katy and I had to spend six hours on I-10 commuting to and from Houston five or six days a week, I’d probably be insane too. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2006, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-guy-in-katy-tx-who-doesnt-want-to-be-a-fucking-laughingstock/383261/18 "2006-12-08T15:26:44Z")
[QUOTE=pravnik] If I lived in Katy and I had to spend six hours on I-10 commuting to and from Houston five or six days a week, I’d probably be insane too. [/QUOTE] Seriously. I live in Houston and work in Spring, which means I miss the traffic both ways. I don’t know how the real commuters do it. I’d kill someone. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2006, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-guy-in-katy-tx-who-doesnt-want-to-be-a-fucking-laughingstock/383261/19 "2006-12-08T15:43:24Z")
[QUOTE=Kalhoun] I could handle that easier than I could handle this: [Touchdown Jesus (Gone), Monroe, Ohio](http://www.roadsideamerica.com/attract/OHMONjesus.html) [/QUOTE] Snerk. Look at the nighttime reflecting-pool image. Why, yes, I DO have a filthy mind. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2006, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-guy-in-katy-tx-who-doesnt-want-to-be-a-fucking-laughingstock/383261/20 "2006-12-08T15:48:59Z")
[QUOTE=Kalhoun] I could handle that easier than I could handle this: [Touchdown Jesus (Gone), Monroe, Ohio](http://www.roadsideamerica.com/attract/OHMONjesus.html) [/QUOTE] TOUCHDOWN!! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-guy-in-katy-tx-who-doesnt-want-to-be-a-fucking-laughingstock/383261.md?page=2)