It would appear--based upon
this incident--that upstate New York is also 'too close' to the WTC site for a mosque to exist.
Five teenagers have been arrested for disrupting religious services at a mosque in upstate New York after allegedly driving by the mosque during Ramadan services, honking their horns and firing a shotgun.
The five, who are all 17 and 18, have allegedly driven by the World Sufi Foundation mosque in Carlton, N.Y., during Ramadan services twice over the past week, yelling obscenities.
Last Friday, one of them also fired a shotgun into the ground. No one was hurt. He was charged with criminal possession of a weapon, a felony; the others have only been charged with disrupting religious services, a misdemeanor, but more charges are expected.
And before it is said:
1) Yes, it would be better if the 3000 people who died on 9/11 had not died. That said, this incident doesn't bring any of them back.
2) Acknowledging that incident is wrong and, in fact, a sign that this debate about the Cordoba house is about more than mere proximity of the center to the WTC does not mean that I am in bed with, encouraging of, or apologizing for terrorism NOR does it mean that I am pro-Islam (it's just more monotheism to me) or that I want sharia law applied to the United States. Clearly the issue is beyond proximity to the WTC site though. If it weren't then would it not be logical that it wouldn't *matter* where mosques were built as long as that distance was > N-distance from the WTC site?
3) If it's reasonable to hold Muslims who had *nothing* to do with 9/11 responsible such that building a mosque within N-distance of the WTC site is unacceptable then it is *equally* reasonable to hold opponents of the Cordoba house responsible for the incident above, and the one in Tennessee and the one in Seattle and the next incident and the one after that. Unless, of course, someone can tell me why it is reasonable to hold all Muslims accountable for the actions of some.
Cheers
Aj