“And it glosses over New Yorkers’ entirely legitimate concerns.”
“Mosque nanny,” from the New York Post, August 8:
[…] The notion that the mosque controversy is a battle over religious freedom is utterly bogus. And it glosses over New Yorkers’ entirely legitimate concerns.
Nor is there a question of whether the mosque should be forced to reveal the sources of its funding — though its failure to do so certainly heightens suspicions.
Let’s face it: The majority of New Yorkers who oppose the project have every right to do so — unless Mayor Religious Freedom doesn’t believe in freedom of speech, or freedom of opinion.
And New Yorkers have every right to be curious about this project, especially.
The mosque’s leader, Imam Faisal Abdul Rauf, claims to seek “interfaith understanding” — but just how “moderate” is it to launch a project he knows will inflame passions? Plus, he reportedly has ties to radical Islamists and refuses to label Hamas a terrorist group.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has been dedicated to spreading the Wahhabi ideology that spawned al Qaeda — and 9/11. If Saudi money is meant to make this mosque part of that cause, don’t New Yorkers (of all people!) have a right to know?
We don’t begrudge Bloomberg his opinion, of course — wrong as we think it is. But he has no right to begrudge others of theirs. And surely no right to insult them.
Give it a rest, Mr. Mayor.