Plan for suburban Detroit mosque draws resistance

[rachel1]

WEST BLOOMFIELD, Mich. (AP) — A proposal to turn a vacant elementary school into a mosque and Islamic center has thrust a quiet site in suburban Detroit into the center of a legal battle.

The Islamic Cultural Association in West Bloomfield bought the old school last year for $1.1 million. But a Christian legal advocacy group is trying to derail the project as part of its goal to confront the "threat of Islam."

The Ann Arbor-based Thomas More Law Center supports a resident-led lawsuit to have the purchase overturned and has asked for a grand jury to investigate alleged corruption in the deal.

The Islamic association says the center is targeting Muslims because of their faith.

A judge dismissed the case, and residents are appealing. The mosque plans also need approval from a planning commission.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gSUZ91s2lLUWH3YLX_gnISOY1L1w?docId=43df30ff91cb448599098bc42323279c

Thankfully a judge had the sense to dismiss the frivolous case as a result of determining the lawsuit was filed out of Islamophobia and nothing else.

Quite despicable.

Something tells me those Islamophobic anti-equality bigots at Thomas More Law Center wouldn't have raised an eyebrow if a proposed Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, etc. religious center was considered for construction instead.

They might as well just propose amending the 1st Amendment to deny freedom of religion to all Muslims in that case!!!

[Romulox]

1. It was reportedly a *no-bid* sale. Not as cut-and-dry as you portray.

The district subsequently ordered an appraisal and negotiated the sale with the ICA, without inviting other bidders. The district wasn't required to bid out the property — but other potential buyers, including a synagogue congregation and a pastor of a church, had been told the property wasn't for sale only months before.

From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120830/OPINION03/208300390#ixzz25iqXl4pU

[AsahinaKimi]

2. I really wonder if you are right...However from my experience

I used to go to a Buddhist center in Los Angeles and it was always picketed by Fundamental Christians calling it Satanic. Note to say, I have been to visit a friend who worked at the Jewish Family and Children Services here in San Francisco, and believe it or not, there is a heavy gate at the door, and you have to be "buzzed" in, after they check you out on security camera.

[maryellen99]

3. I live in the Detroit area

West Bloomfield has a very large Jewish population and I think that's why there is opposition to building a mosque there.

[kestrel91316]

5. Oh, BS. The Jews don't care. And they tend to be very respectful of other religions' right to exist

because of their own history of religious persecution.

Whenever we see anti-Islamic hatred, it tends to be the Dominionist crowd of "christians".

[maryellen99]

6. Oh I agree with you

I remember reading an article about a Jewish group is opposed to it.

[riderinthestorm]

7. Actually maryellen is right kestrel. I was curious so I googled it

"Residents and activists say the plan has rankled some in West Bloomfield's large Jewish community, while the sale of the school to a Muslim association has drawn opposition from some other residents and a prominent Christian-rights group."

snip

"West Bloomfield, a township of about 65,000 that leans Democratic and liberal, has long been a haven for Metro Detroit's Jews, who historically were shunned in other upscale communities in the area. The township, about 25 miles northwest of Detroit, is home to a Jewish community center, a Jewish high school and a Jewish historical society."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444082904577606442578497450.html



Sounds like there really are religious tensions surrounding the proposed mosque as well as some questions on its "no bid" contract, and the parking logistics.

[kestrel91316]

4. That's why they claim Islam isn't a "religion" - so they can try to ban it.