I find this kind of ban to be offensive. It's clearly not motivated by women's rights concerns, any more than
opposition to the building of mosques in a number of states here in the U.S. is.
"Mosque construction plans have encountered resistance nationwide in recent months. Proposals to build mosques in Tennessee, Wisconsin and near ground zero in New York have all been met with protests.
'When churches decide to expand or build facilities, what's the purpose behind that?' asked Affad Sheikh, civil rights manager with the Greater Los Angeles Area chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. 'Why is this question being asked of the Muslim community?'"
and...
The mosque would be built next to Calvary Baptist Church. Pastor Bill Rench worries the mosque is too large for the site.
But he said he's particularly concerned about what he described as "the whole issue of Islam and what it stands for."
"It's certainly a religion that is not only different but contrary to Christianity," he said.
"Where it's dominant, religious freedom goes out the window ... the message of Islam is the spread of Islam by whatever means necessary."
Putting the mosque next to Calvary is "almost like trying to put oil and water together," Rench added.
The longer all these debates rage on, the more it becomes apparent to me that the opposition to Islamic veils, or mosques, or whatever else Islam-related is motivated by ignorance and flat-out bigotry. I'm getting sick to death of it.
Sorry Deckard - I don't mean to hijack the thread into mosque-protest-land. I only posted it because it seemed somewhat pertinent to the discussion.
