Such embarrassingly shallow, ignorant, fearful perspectives come out as people in Murfreesboro  react to the proposed Mosque expansion

"We have a duty to investigate anyone under the banner of Islam," Allen Jackson, pastor of World Outreach Church in Murfreesboro, said during Thursday’s meeting.

OK,  Jackson,  you’re on my list of people to watch,  who foul the name of Jesus in the name of nationalistic ignorance.

Folks,  violent extremists are the spiritual and cultural equivalents of the KKK for Christianity.  They represent a vast minority;  a small segment.  If you refuse to recognize this ,  you are the theological equivalent of the atheist who rejects Christianity because of the bigoted hatred of the Klansmen,  who claim their stance as Biblical.  You protest, “But it’s obviously NOT”.  But such is the case with the Islamic violent extremists.  Muslim theologians say the same to them:  This is OBVIOUSLY not Islam.  

But Michael O’Bannon, senior minister at First United Methodist Church in Murfreesboro, said questioning the new mosque is not religious intolerance

Oh , good!  A United Methodist contributor to the ignorance on display!    NOT religious intolerance.  WHY?  Because that SOUNDS bad.  (Well,  because it IS).  But intolerance is a practice,  not a professed belief.  And people are formed in the PRACTICE by being subjected to slant like this:

It is a genuine concern based on the fact that, while we believe and practice freedom of religion, experience has taught us that a segment of Muslims are very hostile toward anyone who is not a Muslim.
"Their Quran is very explicit about how they should treat infidels," he said.

And we are to deduce from that , Mr.. O’Bannon,  that YOU are claiming tolerance.? You are demonstrating and embodying blind, self-righteous ignorance. 

Again,  look at Psalms 137,  the final verse of the revered “By the waters of Babylon passage.  “Blessed are they who dash their little ones against the rocks!”.  Oh , yeah.  Our Bible is very explicit about how we should treat infidels.  Right?   Sheesh! 

"Our fears as a community are based on previous experience of radical Islam practiced elsewhere in the Western world," he said. "We just really don’t know what to expect."

Who,  then ,  is doing the vandalism?  I think they KNEW what they could expect.  And it is not something we can be proud of.  It’s downright embarrassing.  No modeling of alternative behavior here.  No Jesus. Just the same irrational, ignorant, prejudice and hatred. 

George Erdel, running as a "tea party Democrat" in the 6th Congressional District, said the planning commission was "duped" into approving the Islamic Center.

"Islam is a system of government. Islam is a system of justice. We’ve got people here who remember Sept. 11, 2001. These people are scared.

"I’m afraid we’ll have a training facility in Rutherford County."

I think this is the guy I saw on the TV segment saying “we’ll have sharia law in this country”.  How absurd. 

And as for “Not a religion,  but a system of government”,  has he ever heard of “The Moral Majority”?  Has he seen my neighborhood,  where during the major presidential elections,  we are surrounded by Republican yard signs (and in 2004,  by a van sized Bush-Cheney sign on a trailer) ?

Mosque expansion proposal in Murfreesboro spotlights fear, shame | tennessean.com | The Tennessean