Suburb Objects To Mosque, Threatens To Hold Pig Races To Offend Muslims (Latter-Day Saints, virtual)

[Bishka]

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Originally Posted by article

KATY, Texas - A plan to build a mosque in this Houston suburb has triggered a neighborhood dispute, with community members warning the place will become a terrorist hotbed and one man threatening to hold pig races on Fridays just to offend the Muslims.

Many neighborhood residents claim they have nothing against Muslims and are more concerned about property values, drainage and traffic.


But one resident has set up an anti-Islamic Web site with an odometer-like counter that keeps track of terrorist attacks since Sept. 11. A committee has formed to buy another property and offer to trade it for the Muslims' land. And next-door neighbor Craig Baker has threatened to race pigs on the edge of the property on the Muslim holy day. Muslims consider pigs unclean and do not eat pork.


"The neighbors have created havoc for us and we didn't expect that," said engineer Kamel Fotouh, president of the 500-member Katy Islamic Association....


The dispute began when the group asked Baker to remove his cattle from their newly bought land. Baker agreed but mistakenly thought the Muslims also wanted him off the land his family has lived on for more than 100 years.



The rumor spread.
Baker, who makes marble and granite fixtures for kitchens and bathrooms and also owns livestock, said he got so mad he put up a sign announcing the pig races.
(Baker's attempt to offend missed its mark, according to Fotouh. Muslims do not hate pigs, he said; they just don't eat them.)


As for the Web site, the address is virtually identical to that of the Katy Islamic Association. The site claims the neighbors will have to hear the Muslim call to prayer from the mosque's minaret five times a day -- the Islamic group denies that -- and offers an audio sample.


Besides keeping track of the running total of post-Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the Web site provides home addresses of some association members and advises people who see anything suspicious to contact the FBI. Many people have sent anti-Islamic e-mails to the site.


A few complaints about the mosque project have also trickled in to Harris County offices: The "Coming Soon" sign was on government property; the parking lot gravel was piled up without a permit; the project would increase traffic in the quiet neighborhood.


County Commissioner Steve Radack said traffic concerns can be addressed as they are elsewhere, with off-duty police officers. He also noted the group has said it would comply with rules on drainage and flood control.


Cynthia Blackman wrote Radack that the center was a security risk: "Would you and your family safely and comfortably live next to this 11-acre Muslim mosque and facilities?"


The reaction has not been all negative. Fotouh said one man came to the mosque on a Friday afternoon and apologized for his neighbors. "He moved me, really," Fotouh said. "The sense of fairness, the sense of standing by the underdog."


Though he now concedes the Muslims are probably not after his land, Baker said he is obligated to go through with the pig races, probably within the next few weeks, because "I would be like a total idiot if I didn't. I'd be the laughingstock now because I've gone too far."

And it's supposed to be Christmas time where we show 'goodwill' and 'peace' to all men....that is excepts the Muslims.

Why do people think this sort of thing is okay?

[jewscout]

Originally Posted by beckysoup61

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And it's supposed to be Christmas time where we show 'goodwill' and 'peace' to all men....that is excepts the Muslims.

Why do people think this sort of thing is okay?

hatred and/or misguided fear

[Djamila]

Hehehe, sounds like a typical northern Bosnian town to me. It's more good-natured there, but people are just as weird.

[Scuba Pete]

Pig race? Who's gonna win it, the Mayor or the Cheif of Police?

[SoyLeche]

Originally Posted by NetDoc

Pig race? Who's gonna win it, the Mayor of the Cheif of Police?

The Cheif of Police has a Mayor???

[Bishka]

This story actually reminds me of several similar stories that have happened to the Latter-day Saints when they wanted to build a temple.

There were protests, vandalisms, etc.

One story I can recall is the Billings Montana temple. The local newspaper 'drew up' what the temple was supposed to look like without even consulting the local LDS community and they protrayed it to be a gothic, horrible looking place.

My friend who lived there spend a lot of her time at grocery stories, libraries, etc., with a real picture of the proposed temple and petition for people to sign.

Eventually the temple was built. Most people are worried that their will be traffic when these temples all built, but that's hardly the case. In 9 times out of 10, the temple makes their property value sky-rocket.

[jamaesi]

Lovely.

I'm unsurprised.

Cynthia Blackman wrote Radack that the center was a security risk: "Would you and your family safely and comfortably live next to this 11-acre Muslim mosque and facilities?"

How are we supposed to feel safe and comfortable in our places of worship and homes with people threatening us?

[Terrywoodenpic]

Bradford has a wild boar in its crest.

Bradford college has a town crest over its coat of arms, on its main entrance.
We wondered why the Thousands of Muslim students avoided going in that way.(Nearly half of the then 28,000 students)
There was a fuss for a while but it calmed down in the end.