Orland Park officials approve mosque

[Cocoa]

kudos to these village officials for unanimously approving the new mosque (not that federal law would have allowed otherwise).

But the real story is the opposition. NPR played some audio from the town meeting, and I was shocked by the ignorance and bigotry of some of these people. People were talking about muslims as if they were synonymous with terrorists, one woman said "If you build it, they will come." Like I said, I was shocked.



http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/040621/481/han10106211033&e=3

After hours of heated and emotional debate in which opponents expressed fears that a proposed mosque would foster terrorism, the Orland Park Village Board voted unanimously Monday night to annex the mosque site and allow construction to begin.

Although speakers at the Orland Park Civic Center were about evenly divided between supporters and opponents, catcalls and boos reverberated around the room when a supporter said it was wrong to fear the Muslim house of worship.

Veronica Mattera, a village resident, reminded the more than 400 people in attendance that the meeting had started with the Pledge of Allegiance, which ends with the phrase "liberty and justice for all."

"Under the Constitution, everyone has a right to a place of worship," she said.


more...