International Burn-a-Quran Day

[raptor]

Christ this is getting ridiculous.

[snusgetter]

Christ this is getting ridiculous.

Kinda like life nowadays

[truthwolf1]

Somebody needs to give Donald a copy of loose change.

[RobsanX]

This jackass preaches that Islam is no different than Satanism, and now he's negotiating with Muslim leaders. I think he is realizing that he has severely had his ass handed to him. What a sad little man, and not worthy of any more attention...

[snusgetter]

Which way is up?

~
Pastor cancels burning, says mosque moving

But sources close to imam behind NYC project deny there's a deal

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The pastor planning to burn Qurans on Sept. 11 said Thursday that he had called off the event after receiving assurances that a proposed Islamic center would be moved away from the World Trade Center site.

But sources close to the imam behind the project denied a deal had been struck.

And Sharif Al-Gamal, owner of the building where the mosque and cultural center would be housed, told NBC News that there had been no discussions with Jones.

The Rev. Terry Jones insisted, however, that he had the imam's "word that he will move the mosque to a different location."

It wasn't clear if he was referring to Imam Muhammad Musri of the Islamic Society of Central Florida, who appeared at the press conference with him, or Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, leader of the New York cultural center project.

Jones also said he would travel to New York on Saturday to meet with officials of the mosque project.

Jones said Musri told him that officials would guarantee that the mosque would be moved.

"I asked him three times, and I have witnesses," Jones said. "If it's not moved, then I think Islam is a very poor example of religion. I think that would be very pitiful. I do not expect that."

Musri thanked Jones and his church members "for making the decision today to defuse the situation and bring to a positive end what has become the world over a spectacle that no one would benefit from except extremists and terrorists" who would use it to recruit future radicals.

"We are, of course, now against any other group burning Qurans," Jones said during a news conference. We would right now ask no one to burn Qurans. We are absolutely strong on that. It is not the time to do it."


MORE

[sgreger1]

This is a small backwoods church. It is a publicity stunt, they are trying to attract others who are islamophobes. Also, the guy hosting this event just published a book on how evil islam is and it is all just for publicity. Don't feed the troll.

[sgreger1]

~
Trump offers to buy out NYC mosque investor

He says he wants to end 'a very serious, inflammatory, and highly divisive situation'


NEW YORK — Donald Trump is offering to buy out one of the major investors in the real estate partnership that controls the site near ground zero where a Muslim group wants to build a 13-story Islamic center and mosque.

In a letter released Thursday by Trump's publicist, the real estate investor told Hisham Elzanaty that he would buy his stake in the lower Manhattan building for 25 percent more than whatever he paid.

"I am making this offer as a resident of New York and citizen of the United States, not because I think the location is a spectacular one (because it is not), but because it will end a very serious, inflammatory, and highly divisive situation that is destined, in my opinion, to only get worse," the letter said.

Trump also attached a condition to his offer: He said that as part of the deal, the backers of the mosque project would need to promise that any new mosque they constructed would be at least five blocks farther away from the World Trade Center site.


MORE


What took him so long?

See! THAT is the American way baby. Good man. God I wish I was rich like that.

[snusgetter]

Donald, YOU'RE FIRED!!

See! THAT is the American way baby. Good man. God I wish I was rich like that.

Mosque investor nixes Trump's buyout offer

NEW YORK — Donald Trump's offer to buy an investor's stake where a mosque is planned near ground zero is falling flat.

Wolodymyr Starosolsky is a lawyer for the investor in the real estate partnership that controls the site. He says Trump's offer is "just a cheap attempt to get publicity and get in the limelight."

In a letter released Thursday by Trump's publicist, Trump told Hisham Elzanaty he would buy his stake in the lower Manhattan building for 25 percent more than whatever he paid.

Trump says he's making the offer not because he thinks the location is spectacular, but because it would end "a very serious, inflammatory, and highly divisive situation."

Critics say building a mosque so close to where Islamic extremists brought down the World Trade Center would be an insult.

Trump had also attached a condition to his offer: He said that as part of the deal, the backers of the mosque project would need to promise that any new mosque they constructed would be at least five blocks farther away from the World Trade Center site.

The current planned location is just two blocks north of the site. Opponents argue it's insensitive to families and memories of Sept. 11 victims to build a mosque so close to where Islamic extremists flew planes into the World Trade Center and killed nearly 2,800 people, while proponents support the project as a reflection of religious freedom and diversity.

It's unclear how much control Elzanaty has over the property, which is owned by an eight-member investment group led by Soho Properties.


MORE

[sgreger1]

~

"We are, of course, now against any other group burning Qurans," Jones said during a news conference. We would right now ask no one to burn Qurans. We are absolutely strong on that. It is not the time to do it."

LOLOOL, this guy is hilarious. This was such a publicity stunt. I will be amazed if this one whacko pastor gets the guy to call off this multi million dollar deal for the mosque. I will be utterly amazed if they actually come to a compromise where they resolve this issue by both of them deciding to not do something that is going to spark controversy. This would be a major win for everyone, and for rational minds across the world.


Imagine, a christian and a muslim, wait for it, WORKING TOGETHER, to accomplish something that pleases everybody. This would have to be some kind of worldwide precedent.

[tom502]

He was probably paid off.
I guess the terrorists win.....................again.

[raptor]

- no demagoguery zone -

[snusjus]

The Quran burning was CANCELED:

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010...-urges-pastor/

[shikitohno]

The secular nations are the most free, and welcoming, and tolerant of them all. If not, why do all these people want to come here, and if not, why is every religion able to have it's Moques, and Temples? Where is the religious openess and freedom of religion in the majority Muslim nations? You open a Mosque on your block, yet I dare you to open a Dharma center in Afganistan.

There are few officially Christian states any more tom. Look at Latin America and Africa, they're shitholes, comparatively speaking, and that's where most of your Christian nations, bot official and by majority of population are found. They have tons of dictatorships, intolerance, and fewer freedoms than many places. Europe and the US bucked the trend precisely because we abandoned letting Christianity decide everything. That along with the whole prime resources, harbours and having an East-West axis of orientation, but I'm sure none of that played a role in it.

[Joe234]

The Koran is Already Being Burned... on YouTube

http://www.opposingviews.com/i/the-k...ned-on-youtube



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Koran Burning Pastor In Florida Inspires Copycat in Tennessee

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmem..._copycat_i.php

[shikitohno]

Religion has killed more people than anything else. Perhaps not all of them are responsible for death and destruction, but I'd argue that by and large organized religion creates more problems on this planet than is helps.

I haven't set foot in a church in a long time. I went a year or so ago just for...well...I'm not sure really. My wife goes every now and again and she just enrolled the kids in catechism. Huh. Anyhow, I looked around and tried to see if I felt that these people that were there praying were true believers...would they die in the name of their god? I think that there isn't a chance that even a fraction of a percent of people would. I felt that most people there were there to make themselves feel better about things, themselves, life, others, whatever. Just a thought I had once...

Perhaps the radicals that are willing to kill and die for religion are the true believers, if that's the case it should be acknowledged but it only supports the argument that organized religions are a delusion of what people really need. Too often we are led to believe what people tell us to believe instead of listening to the purest thoughts of what is right or wrong...those thoughts that come from within.

This type of behavior also proves that religion degrades the progress of the human species.

I'd love to hear Shiktohono (sp) chime in on this one.

First, to respond to sgregers question of why people on the left stand up for Islam. I can't speak for anyone else, but my reasons are twofold. First and foremost, I enjoy playing the Devil's advocate. I have fun taking a difficult position in an argument and arguing it just to see if I can win it. Secondly, I just feel like a lot of the resentment over this is just directed at the wrong people. I get pissed off when I see people ripping on my Muslim friends, or giving anyone who looks vaguely Arab (particularly if I know the guy they're hassling isn't even as Muslim) a hard time for something entirely out of their hands.

As for responding to the quote, personally I would prefer it if religion just died out. If you're going to do religious violence, one group attacking another, I'm down as long as every group gets taken out. In my opinion, organized religion is the number one perpetrator of evil and the top cause of death. And by organized, I basically mean anything more complex than people just meditating to think deeply on something or gain some sort of knowledge. If the faith you follow has any sort of clergy, scripture or organization behind it, I'd prefer to see it wiped out to anything else. Religion breeds fundamentalism, mob mentality, poor critical thinking, and violence. If Christians practised their faith as it's written in the Bible they should, they should be out doing the same exact things as the radical Muslims. The death penalty should be in force in every Christian nation and no other religion should be tolerated, were it practised as the "divine word of God" instruct us it should be. People don't practice it that way though, and that's just about the most important reason we're able to have a civilisation like we do. If religion still wielded the influence it once did, we'd all still be living in a feudal society, and I doubt very much their would be an internet for us to have this conversation on.

Honestly, I hate religion, all of them. I'd say it's the single worst invention mankind has ever produced. This is also why you don't see me expressing my opinions on religion here very often, since it would likely piss off too many people I like here.