I was browsing BBC Radio 4 podcasts1 and came across the Beyond Belief programme2, and a particular podcast titled ‘The history and place of Islam in America’ (Mon 4th Oct 2010). The discussion warmed with an introduction as to how Islam spread to America, and then moved onto the main topic of whether it is right to build an Islamic Centre on Ground Zero3.
You can download the podcast here (12.7mb)
The following quote is from Pamela Geller4. Start listening from 13mins 30sec:
It's not two blocks from the site, it is Ground Zero. That building was partially destroyed in the attacks of 9/11. The landing gear crashed into the roof and to erect a fifteen storey mega-mosque and Islamic centre in a building that was destroyed in 9/11 is deeply offensive and insulting and deliberately provocative. Why there?...We have hundreds of mosques in New York City, we have thousands across America, it's not an issue of religious liberty. No-one has suggested abridging or invoking the first amendment, it's an issue of common decency and human compassion. We're constantly being schooled in this hypersensitivity in the Muslim world; you can't run the Danish cartoons, you can't say the word Muhammad on Comedy Central or run Muhammad in a huggy bear costume because it's deeply offensive. And yet, there's no reciprocity. You know, where is the mutual and mutual respect? Where is the mutual and mutual understanding? Over 70% of Americans are opposed to this mosque. It's deeply offending, it's painful. Many moderate Muslims, Muslims of conscience feel that a mosque on Ground Zero is deeply offensive and wrong. (15.42 onwards)
What do you think about the issue? Which side are you on?
Do you agree with her when she says:
In the Shari’ah you cannot insult Islam, you cannot defame Islam… (15.08)
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Title: Breaking the habit – Linkin Park
1The podcasts for BBC Radio 4 can be found at the following address: http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4
2Debate exploring the place of religion and faith in today’s world (BBC Radio 4): http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/belief
3Also known as Park51, the Mosque & Community Centre’s team’s blog can be accessed here: http://park51.org/
4Pamella Geller, who featured in the discussion, has her own website, on which her biography can be found: http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/about.html
5Proposed picture of Park51 taken from: http://batteryparkcity.com/real-estate/developer-sharif-el-gamal-sees-park-51-mosque-as-empire-state-building/
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