# Why are the media ignoring the protest against the ground zero mosque? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 8, 2010, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-media-ignoring-the-protest-against-the-ground-zero-mosque/542367 "2010-06-08T00:48:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 14
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2010, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-media-ignoring-the-protest-against-the-ground-zero-mosque/542367/261 "2010-06-11T21:26:59Z")
> [@Zeriel](#): > > Never had one what? When come back, bring sense. > > Are you planning on actually bringing anything of substance, by the way, or should I just ignore your pitiful mewlings? Say what you will about Valteron (and I have!), he at least is attempting, in his mediocre and ham-fisted way, to bring an argument. You haven’t managed an argument that wasn’t retarded this whole thread. ---
**Author:** ![Zeriel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/58956e/32.png) [@Zeriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeriel)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2010, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-media-ignoring-the-protest-against-the-ground-zero-mosque/542367/262 "2010-06-11T22:00:40Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > You haven’t managed an argument that wasn’t retarded this whole thread. You’re so cute when you bring no substance to a debate. So far you’re supplied half-assed vitriol and a few corrections to a single post earlier. What’s the matter, siding with Valteron in the bigot brigade but afraid to get called out on it, so you’ve decided to just insult me and hope no one notices that you got nothin’? ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2010, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-media-ignoring-the-protest-against-the-ground-zero-mosque/542367/263 "2010-06-11T22:07:03Z")
> [@Zeriel](#): > > You’re so cute when you bring no substance to a debate. > > So far you’re supplied half-assed vitriol and a few corrections to a single post earlier. What’s the matter, siding with Valteron in the bigot brigade but afraid to get called out on it, so you’ve decided to just insult me and hope no one notices that you got nothin’? What, you gonna come back and call me Hitler now? You’re a joke. Quit trying to impress your pit friends. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2010, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-media-ignoring-the-protest-against-the-ground-zero-mosque/542367/264 "2010-06-11T22:15:46Z")
> [@Valteron](#): > > Similarly, it was not every man, woman and child in Japan that attacked Pearl Harbour. But when it became a matter of defending ourselves against these agressive entities, we did not declare war on the Nazis or the Japanese militarists. We declared war on Germany and Japan. “Pearl Harbor.” It’s a proper name. But please, carry on with your bigoted babbling. ---
**Author:** ![Zeriel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/58956e/32.png) [@Zeriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeriel)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2010, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-media-ignoring-the-protest-against-the-ground-zero-mosque/542367/265 "2010-06-11T22:21:38Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > What, you gonna come back and call me Hitler now? You’re a joke. Quit trying to impress your pit friends. So what happened, did a Muslim piss in your Cheerios this morning, or what? ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2010, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-media-ignoring-the-protest-against-the-ground-zero-mosque/542367/266 "2010-06-11T22:24:50Z")
> [@Zeriel](#): > > So what happened, did a Muslim piss in your Cheerios this morning, or what? Ha, ha, ha! Idiot. I’m not **Valteron** , and I ain’t falling for your silly pit game. You are a moron. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2010, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-media-ignoring-the-protest-against-the-ground-zero-mosque/542367/267 "2010-06-11T22:49:52Z")
> [@Valteron](#): > > I love the way people assume that you must be ignoring their arguments if you have not been convinced by them. I have read them all. I find they are mostly apologetics by multiculturalists who want to close their eyes to an agressive, anti-democratic, theocratic and authoritarian ideology that is the principal threat to our western freedoms. Wake up, sheeple! We must destroy our fundamental freedoms such as free religious expression in order to prevent the Muslims from doing it first! Coward. ---
**Author:** ![Zeriel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/58956e/32.png) [@Zeriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeriel)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2010, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-media-ignoring-the-protest-against-the-ground-zero-mosque/542367/268 "2010-06-11T22:56:06Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > Ha, ha, ha! Idiot. I’m not **Valteron** , and I ain’t falling for your silly pit game. You are a moron. You do have one slight one up on me–up until this post, I was falling for yours. Kindly continue making yourself look stupid, if that’s your desire. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2010, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-media-ignoring-the-protest-against-the-ground-zero-mosque/542367/269 "2010-06-11T23:04:16Z")
> [@Zeriel](#): > > You do have one slight one up on me–up until this post, I was falling for yours. Kindly continue making yourself look stupid, if that’s your desire. Aw, don’t go away! Come back and bait me with some more Muslim stuff. That’s my favorite after the Hitler stuff and the racist stuff. Moron. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2010, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-media-ignoring-the-protest-against-the-ground-zero-mosque/542367/270 "2010-06-11T23:10:11Z")
So for those keeping score, Valteron runs away like a pussy. Levdrakon is snippy. And in a padded room, Perciful diddles her tard button. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2010, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-media-ignoring-the-protest-against-the-ground-zero-mosque/542367/271 "2010-06-11T23:55:45Z")
> [@Valteron](#): > > I love the way people assume that you must be ignoring their arguments if you have not been convinced by them. I have read them all. I find they are mostly apologetics by multiculturalists who want to close their eyes to an agressive, anti-democratic, theocratic and authoritarian ideology that is the principal threat to our western freedoms. I was completely unaware one of those freedoms was “freedom to oppress huge numbers of an arbirtrary group because a few of those people occasionally do something that scares me”. I think that’s a freedom I can do without. ---
**Author:** ![Zeriel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/58956e/32.png) [@Zeriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeriel)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-media-ignoring-the-protest-against-the-ground-zero-mosque/542367/272 "2010-06-12T03:37:56Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > So for those keeping score, Valteron runs away like a pussy. Levdrakon is snippy. And in a padded room, Perciful diddles her tard button. The independent implicit confirmation that I’m not crazy is nice, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![BrightNShiny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@BrightNShiny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrightNShiny)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-media-ignoring-the-protest-against-the-ground-zero-mosque/542367/273 "2010-06-12T06:27:03Z")
If someone is harming someone else without their consent, then I’m going to get upset about it. Hell, even if the harmed person consents, I still might get upset about it. And if someone is breaking a law, for the most part, I’m going to demand that they be investigated and put through the criminal court system. Building a mosque or a swimming pool or a cultural center doesn’t fall into any of those categories. If I were to find out that someone in my city was locking up his wife during the day, I’d be the first one demanding that the fire department and police department investigate. Hell, even if the wife completely and voluntarily consented to being left alone locked-up, I’d still be critical of the practice, and because I think it’s a fire hazard, I’d be demanding that the government prohibit such a practice. If it turns out that the people running this mosque are doing something illegal or immoral, then I’ll be happy to go after them. But since I don’t view building a mosque (or a swimming pool) as being illegal or immoral in and of itself, then I don’t give a crap if they build it. ---
**Author:** ![BrightNShiny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@BrightNShiny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrightNShiny)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-media-ignoring-the-protest-against-the-ground-zero-mosque/542367/274 "2010-06-12T06:34:32Z")
Just to add: I’m criticizing a practice (which I’ve never heard of as being widespread until this thread) of locking someone up and leaving them alone without a means of escape. If you’re into sex games where you lock your partner in a cage, and you supervise them properly, then I don’t care. ---
**Author:** ![Perciful](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b38774/32.png) [@Perciful](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Perciful)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-media-ignoring-the-protest-against-the-ground-zero-mosque/542367/275 "2010-06-12T14:24:23Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > **Perciful** , we’ve had a few threads about the mosque including this one. Read one and you might learn something. What am I supposed to learn? That 911 was not that bad and building an Islamic Mosque on the site of the tragedy is a great idea? They are rubbing our noses in the horror of what they did? That is not cool with me. If 911 was not a big deal then why are we at war with them over it? I know exactly what they do once they build mosques and infiltrate because I read about countries outside the US from non US newspapers. They are blabbing all over the internet about how they are going to own us. They think the US is dumb and so liberal they can use our laws against us. I can’t wait to see what’s down the road for us once the Muslims take over. Freedom will be a memory and we will be taken over by a culture that lives like they did 500 years in the past. Just because there is nothing wrong with something doesn’t mean there is nothing wrong with it. ---
**Author:** ![Perciful](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b38774/32.png) [@Perciful](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Perciful)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-media-ignoring-the-protest-against-the-ground-zero-mosque/542367/276 "2010-06-12T14:33:16Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > It’s pretty obvious to anyone reading your posts that you haven’t thought for years. I’m Teflon and your put downs have no effect on me. Go bully someone that cares. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-media-ignoring-the-protest-against-the-ground-zero-mosque/542367/277 "2010-06-12T14:52:58Z")
> [@Perciful](#): > > That 911 was not that bad and building an Islamic Mosque on the site of the tragedy is a great idea? What does it feel like to have an out of body experience? Can I borrow some of your good shit? You know, the kind that makes you feel like you’re several blocks away from your body? ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-media-ignoring-the-protest-against-the-ground-zero-mosque/542367/278 "2010-06-12T14:54:14Z")
> [@Perciful](#): > > What am I supposed to learn? That 911 was not that bad and building an Islamic Mosque on the site of the tragedy is a great idea? It’s not on the site of the WTC. > [@](#): > > They are rubbing our noses in the horror of what they did? That is not cool with me. Who’s “they”? The folks building this mosque have nothing to do with the 9/11 attacks or any anti-western ideology. > [@](#): > > If 911 was not a big deal then why are we at war with them over it? Hint, we’re not at war with the people building the mosque. > [@](#): > > I know exactly what they do once they build mosques and infiltrate because I read about countries outside the US from non US newspapers. They are blabbing all over the internet about how they are going to own us. They think the US is dumb and so liberal they can use our laws against us. Too stupid to bother responding. > [@](#): > > I can’t wait to see what’s down the road for us once the Muslims take over. Freedom will be a memory and we will be taken over by a culture that lives like they did 500 years in the past. Paranoid rantings from a sad, little person. > [@](#): > > Just because there is nothing wrong with something doesn’t mean there is nothing wrong with it. You escaped the realm of reason with this one. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-media-ignoring-the-protest-against-the-ground-zero-mosque/542367/279 "2010-06-12T15:04:56Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Too stupid to bother responding. Ironically, that’s the one that’s closest to the truth. Of course, the number of muslims would have to be more than double that currently in any western nation, and they’d have to be less liberal than these (although it certainly wouldn’t require fundamentalists.) In a further irony, the protests against the mosque act as evidence that a Muslim-majority America would gladly force a change of lifestyle upon us, because that’s exactly what the protesters are trying to do. Human nature doesn’t change much between religions. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-media-ignoring-the-protest-against-the-ground-zero-mosque/542367/280 "2010-06-12T16:23:48Z")
> [@Perciful](#): > > I’m Teflon and your put downs have no effect on me. The only teflon I see is that protecting your brain from genuine information. The Muslim community has been in lower Manhattan for decades with a mosque dating to at least 1990 and possibly 1983 or older\*. The Cordoba Institue that wishes to construct a community center has been there since 1997. The founder of the Cordoba Institute has worked with the FBI in the wake of the WTC attack. Your paranoid fantasies of some great Muslim takeover of the U.S. are exact parallels to the nonsense about “Communist infiltrators” that I grew up hearing from Birchites and other loons. - [Wikipedia gives 1983 as the date when Feisal Abdul Rauf became the imam of the Masjid al-Farah.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feisal_Abdul_Rauf) Other sites say that Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf founded the mosque in 1990. However, two sites discussing art works note that those works were installed in the1981 mosque in 1982 and [1983](http://books.google.com/books?id=14H6gpbn4SMC&pg=PA157&lpg=PA157&dq=Masjid+al-Farah+155+Mercer+St.&source=bl&ots=ArfqWwSZIU&sig=Vq_dJZvfCeRm65f7LD5QNT0HleY&hl=en&ei=8a4TTL2kIoOB8gbYsqydDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBgQ6AEwADgK#v=onepage&q=Masjid%20al-Farah%20155%20Mercer%20St.&f=false). A specific timeline is not clear, [but the most probable dating would indicate that the artwork was commissioned for a building on Mercer St. in 1979, but that the mosque leased the building around 1981](http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-184866469/revaluing-minimalism-patronage-aura.html), keeping the commissioned art, and that Imam Rauf became imam in 1990. Later, Masjid al-Farah moved from Mercer St. to Broadway Ave., still in the same neighbornood. The Muslim community has existed within a couple of blocks of the WTC site for twenty years prior to the attacks, (nearly thirty years, now), and the current plans for a cultural center are nothing more than a growing local organization looking for a place to expand without having to leave their long established neighborhood. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-media-ignoring-the-protest-against-the-ground-zero-mosque/542367.md?page=13) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-media-ignoring-the-protest-against-the-ground-zero-mosque/542367.md?page=15)