Georgia (Again): Newton County in Uproar Over Planned Mosque
I… does the fearful gibbering & hatred below seem familiar to anyone? 😒
These are the same type of people who will claim to revere the Constitution, especially the First and Second Amendment protections, which they’re always squealing they’re currently being (or will soon be) deprived of. It’ll be a miracle if we make it to the end of this election season without anyone getting killed.
This crap is going on all over the country every freaking day—I know because I get the Google Alerts, of which I only post a fraction (today’s first batch of 10 alerts came in around 45 minutes ago—I can guarantee you there will be many more before the day is over). I can’t even begin to accurately express to you how deeply sick & tired I am of the non-stop ignorance, bigotry and scare-mongering.
Anyway, moving along to the story, emphasis is mine (except for the ALL CAPS stuff, which belongs to the pee-pants brigade):
The Al Maad Al Islami mosque in Doraville bought 135 acres on Georgia 162 last year and received a county permit for a place of worship. But when an engineer hired by the mosque met with county development staff two weeks ago, word spread.
Many residents reacted angrily to the news and demanded the county commission put a stop to the project. Earlier this week, the commission issued a five-week moratorium on construction of new places of worship. […]
“STAND STRONG,” reads a post on the STOP the Mosque Newton County Georgia Facebook page, which as of Friday had 645 likes. “THIS IS OUR COUNTY!!! GO SOMEWHERE ELSE. IF YOU BUILD IT, THEY WILL COME.”
John Douglas, the county commissioner who represents the area, expressed similar fears to The Rockdale Citizen.
“Would building those things make us a prime area for the federal government to resettle refugees from the Middle East?” he asked the paper. “So I do have some concerns, like the people who live down there.” […]
Gosh, all that Christian persecution is just horrible, isn’t it? // insert dripping sarcasm
The NAACP and more than a dozen Muslim groups have characterized the county’s handling of the mosque as discriminatory and called for a federal probe of the county by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Newton County Attorney Megan Martin said the moratorium was designed to give the county time to study and possibly update its rules on “campus-like” places of worship that include schools, residences and other facilities. She said the county had no intention of violating the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act or the Constitution.
“Blocking a mosque is illegal” she said. “There are Constitutional protections for those seeking to exercise their faith.”, […]
Well gosh, at least the County Attorney has a basic understanding of the First Amendment, huh? Good freaking grief. *shaking my head*
A few other bits & pieces fro around the web:
Lines wrapped around the courthouse for Newton County Commissioners meeting on cemetery and mosque. #11Alive pic.twitter.com/mWa1NHQDym
— Chris Hopper (@Chris11Alive) August 16, 2016
Standing room only at Newton Co. Commish meeting w people angry about Muslim Cemetery #fox5atl pic.twitter.com/1oiU4SgNAO
— George (@gfrancofox5news) August 16, 2016
Watch this room full of bigots clap & cheer over the five-week moratorium: “Yay, we (temporarily) prevented them from having the same religious freedoms we enjoy!” Also note that it’s NOT only white people. All that’s missing are the torches & pitchforks.
NOTE: I’m having issues with the Flash plug-in refusing to load, so if you experience the same you might want to try viewing it at the Atlanta TV station I got it from.
Oh, the irony of seeing black faces in the crowd and knowing that the NAACP is getting involved on behalf of the mosque. It never ceases to amaze me that people who have themselves had to fight for equal treatment (and who still don’t really receive it) would conspire to deny others the same equality they & their forebears fought for.
BTW, the title reads “Georgia (Again)” because I’ve tracked others, but I’m not going to post about them right now because dealing with it wears me down badly. If you want to go wade around in the muck you can start with the nearly half a million Google results for mosque controversy georgia.
As for me, I have plenty of work sitting on my desk to attend to, so it’s better that I go bury my head in that as a distraction for the time being.