Religious community center should be fully scrutinized because
of the potential threat to America
If Ms. Campeau could put down her pom-poms for a minute, I would like to respond to her recent column in which she admonishes readers to “embrace the Islamic House of worship” … While I am pleased that you have met some really nice Muslim people and that you even have someone of the Muslim faith as a member of your extended family, your editorial is strangely reminiscent of similar letters about black people during the civil rights movement of the ’50s. In some of these earlier writings, people were saying things like “Gee …They are really nice … They are just like us,” etc. etc.
DUH ! That was then … and this is now.
In this turned upside down , politically-correct world we live in, we seem to have forfeited our willingness to question anything that is being rammed down our throats … for fear of being called racist, bigoted, or worse.
I find it ironic that you seem to be so obtuse as to be blissfully unaware that the same United States Constitution and Bill of Rights that gives people of the Islamic faith the right to peacefully assemble and discuss their beliefs also grants the same rights and privileges to white Aryan groups (yes, even the KKK.)
(Who, by the way… have not hijacked any airliners, murdered flight attendants, and taken several thousand unwilling participants to their deaths while screaming “white power” while simultaneously steering a jumbo jet into the ground . )
An objective review of the teachings of this religion make it clear that non-believers are to be “converted” or “slain” … and makes reference to “Jihad” or “Holy War.” I would feel a lot better if prominent Muslim leaders in this country would publicly denounce this rhetoric, however, the opposite appears to be true. In a recent anonymous poll of Muslims, more than 25 percent of people surveyed stated that they did not have a problem with suicide bombings. As for your statement about their respect for women … that stands on it’s own.
Look, there have been documented cases of this type of facility being linked to funding of terrorist organizations. Do the research, this is fact not hyperbole.
Let me make my position clear – and I am sure that I am not alone in this thinking – failure and unwillingness of other cultures to assimilate has (in my opinion) taken this country a long way in the wrong direction.
Perhaps this same refusal to assimilate explains why other decent, hard-working people would sign legal documents which grossly and fraudulently overstate their income in a language that they do not understand, lose their homes to foreclosure and then blame the realtor! (Dispatch front page 5-31-07)
I do not wish for me and my family to be converted to Islam, nor do I wish for us to be slain. I only wish to be free to worship and believe as I wish and to question everything that comes across my radar screen without fear that some loopy, left-wing editorial will call me names for having a different point of view.
While my own personal beliefs do not align with either of the aforementioned groups, I nonetheless respect the process, as well as the right to ask questions about whether this type of facility is appropriate in this area. This makes myself and others neither racist nor bigoted, just well informed.
Santa Clara County Supervisor Don Gage and our other elected officials need to take their jobs seriously and consider all pertinent information objectively, not because they are pandering for votes or are in fear of being labeled or attacked as “politically incorrect”. Their actions today will have consequences many years after the pendulum of public opinion has swung from one extreme to another and back again.
Believe it or not Ms. Campeau, I even believe in the freedom of press which allows you and I to express our diverse opinions in an open forum, even with it’s twisted liberal bias (again… my opinion).
While I found your editorial somewhat offensive – especially the “Allah Akhbar y’all” thing – which I know translates to “God is Great.” (Certainly you must know that this is the most common phrase uttered by suicide bombers prior to their meeting with Allah in their quest for martyrdom.) I nonetheless will adamantly support your right to your opinion. That being said, perhaps you could extend the same courtesy to others and not be so condescending when granted use of the “bully pulpit.”
The project should be closely scrutinized and considered just like the fish processing place. Nobody had a problem opposing that. They should have to jump through all the flaming hoops with the county and other authorities having jurisdiction, just as the rest of us do.
Finally Ms. Campeau, I will “tolerate,” even “accept,” but perhaps not “embrace” the Islamic House of Worship in my hometown because I respect the law of the land and the freedoms granted to all of us.
Over time, if deeds match the rosy platitudes, I may even consider them “good neighbors,” high praise in these parts.
To do otherwise would be un-American. God Bless the USA!
Scott Thompson is a San Martin resident. Anyone interested in writing a guest
column may contact Editor Mark Derry at ed****@****ic.com
