Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown discusses proposed NYC mosque

[liberal N proud]

CLEVELAND - As politicians debate the idea of building a mosque blocks away from Ground Zero, Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown (D) gave his take on the issue during a live interview Tuesday on Good Morning Cleveland.

“That’s a local decision,” Brown said. “We’re not at war with a religion, we're at war with terrorism."

Brown suggested that opponents of President Obama are using the mosque controversy to stall the President's agenda.

"Conservatives that simply want the president to fail are using issues like this--the 14th Ammendment, the mosque--to distract the public away from what we need to be doing," Brown said.


Full article and video at link: http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/news/political/sherrod-brown-discusses-proposed-nyc-mosque

[tanyev]

1. Good article, but it's sad that Channel 5 apparently doesn't spell check

their articles before posting.

Ammendment?

[liberal N proud]

2. Last week they had a plan crashing 150 YEARS from a pier

[tanyev]

3. Oh, dear.

Even spell check wouldn't catch that one.

[Deep13]

4. "We’re not at war with a religion, we're at war with terrorism."

First of all, I concede that the 1st Amendment means that there is no legal basis to oppose the mosque or community center. I'm not talking about the building here.

Speaking as a vocal supporter of Sen. Brown who knows him personally and who donated the Federal maximum for his '06 election, he managed to get the whole thing wrong in one sentence. Terrorism is a tactic, not an enemy. Being at war with (actually against) terrorism is like being at war with bullets, entrenchment or motor vehicles. Those are specific tactics, not the actual enemy.

Does anyone know anything about the suicide bomber that killed a bunch of trainee cops in Bagdad today? Was he educated? Middle class? The son of a laborer? What music did he like? What was his favorite food? We have no idea, of course. One thing we do know, however, is his religion. We know this because militant Islamists (people who want to impose Islamic government on a nation or the world) are the only people presently practicing suicide bombing. So while we are not at war with Muslims per se--many abhor violence--it is far more accurate to say we are at war with Islam as a system than it is to say we are not. Or rather, it is more accurate to say Islam is at war with the world. Again, I'm speaking about the belief system and not the individuals who have varying degrees of faith in that system. Kind of like how I'm not against Christians and recognize their right to build churches, but still think we would be a lot better off without Christianity or its churches.

I'm a little surprised to see the "professional left" going out of its way to defend this building project. Islam in its present form is against everything we stand for: secular government, free inquiry and scientific progress, labor rights, sexual nonrepression, equality for women and religious minorities and equality for gays etc. I will concede that Islam does not appear to be infected with the racism (except for antisemitism) that permeates Christianity.