Residents use pig races to deter building of mosque

KTRK/KATY, TX ^ | Ted Oberg

[Hank Kerchief]

Residents use pig races to deter building of mosque

Residents don't want group in their area

 By Ted Oberg

(11/29/06 - KTRK/KATY, TX) - There's an awful lot of exciting news when you round the corner on Baker Road. One of two big yellow signs announces a new neighbor is coming soon.

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K.I.A., that's the Katy Islamic Association, plan to build a mosque here.

"It's not an appropriate place to have a mosque or church," said resident Barbara Simpson.

It isn't going over real well.

"As a house of worship, they shouldn't be disturbing the peace and tranquility of 15 homes," said resident John Wetmore.

Neighbors tell us they're concerned about traffic and drainage and a little fear of the unknown. Some of the homeowners even offered to buy the land back for more than a million dollars. The K.I.A. doesn't seem very interested in the offers.

"We're not going anywhere," said Katy Islamic Association member Alvi Muzfar.

So it seems the community at the end of Baker Road has a pretty good fight. But this fight has gone much farther than many between two neighbors. You see in these fights, sometimes neighbors throw mud at one another. In this instance, they're wallowing in it.

Craig Baker owns pigs. He's the guy behind the second big yellow sign on Baker Road. That's the one announcing Friday night pig races.

"What does it matter, I can do whatever I want with my land right," asked landowner Craig Baker.

Sure can. But aren't pigs on the property line racing on a Friday night a little offensive to a Muslim neighbor?

"The meat of a pig is prohibited in the religion of Islam," said Katy Islamic Association member Youssof Allam. "It's looked upon as a dirty creature."

Yeah, there's that and also that Friday night is a Muslim holy day.

"That is definitely a slap in the face," said Allam..

Now before you go thinking Craig Baker is unfair, or full of hate, or somehow racist, hear him out.

Baker has long roots here. His family named the road and when the new neighbors moved in, he tells us, they asked him to move out.

"Basically that I should package up my family and my business and find a place elsewhere," said Baker. "That's ridiculous, they just bought the place one week prior and he's telling me I should think about leaving."

That new owners deny they ever said anything like that, but Baker isn't budging.

Baker admits the pigs are a message he is not leaving.

The 11-acre property is sandwiched between a pricey subdivision and Craig Baker's business.

K.I.A. eventually plans to build a mosque, a gym and a school there. There's no date for the groundbreaking ceremonies, or the first pig race.
(Copyright © 2006, KTRK-TV)

[patton]

If muslims don't like pig fat, what do they use for soap?

[GOPologist]

I believe that the pig farmer is going to lose this one.

I remember reading years ago when people, nothing to do with religion, began to build homes in a suburban area near a pig farm. In time, as new homes were built closer and closer to the pig farm, the new builders realized, too late, that pigs' dung stinks.

So petitions were raised calling upon the court to do something about the stink. Yes, something happened--the farmer was legally told to stop it. Pigs can't stop stinking. The result inevitably, was that the farmer closed down his business. The farmer lost.

[Melas]

You seem to be missing a major warning signal: the farmer claims that the Muslims were strongarming him into selling his land.

No, I'm missing nothing. I support the farmer and his actions. My posts were directed towards menemenetekelupharsin and his Kristelnacht fantasies.

The farmer is completely within his rights to have all the pig races he wants on his own property. If the Muslim's don't like it, well too bad, so sad, move on.

However, razing Mosques and rounding up Muslims in a pogramesque fashion is a different story altogether ,and that's what Mene was suggesting.

[Misschuck]

Ya right and a week or two ago a muzzie was arrested on his way to Michigan with $80,000, a laptop and cyanide. You don't have a clue what goes on in those places. Time to wise up.

[NTegraT]

This area is not in the City of Katy but in unincorporated Harris County. City of Katy does have zoning laws.

[LOC1]

I live near this new mosque. I've seen the home now being used as a place of worship, and I've seen the pig pen.

Some points of interest:

Craig Baker's family has deep roots in Texas that go back before the Texas Revolution from Mexico. There are over 450 mentions of the Baker name in the Handbook of Texas, some of them fairly famous. It is not clear who in that long list is directly related to Craig Baker, but certainly some of them are. In any event, the Baker family were one of the pioneer settlers in this area.

To be strong armed to leave the family property by new neighbors, who have only owned their property for a week, is a bit ridiculous. Craig Baker has offered to pay for a polygraph test for himself and the two owners of the mosque to determine who is telling the truth about that strong arm tactic. So far, no takers.

To develop the land the way the mosque has indicated in the press will require something like 25 acres. The mosque currently owns 11 acres. Coincidentally, Craig Baker owns about 14 acres.

The owners of the mosque have been offered a million dollars for their land, which they purchased for substantially less than that amount. Until today, they have refused to even discuss that offer. Today they told a reporter that the offer was way too low for them to purchase an alternative site.

The mosque has rebuffed requests from several surrounding home owners associations to discuss their plans. The mosque has been, and continues to be, very opaque about their plans. Further, they have begun construction of a parking lot without appropriate County approval. That has been stopped by local citizens and the mosque is now going through the approval process.

Local residents also protested when a Baptist Church was developed in the area, because the church destroyed a large number of trees and installed intrusive parking lights. Eventually, agreement was reached on using about 1/10th the number of lights, to lessen the impact on the neighbors. The point of this is that the community has a history of resisting intrusions that impact the quality of life as perceived by the residents, no matter what the religion. The opposition to the mosque really is not a religious thing at all.

Islam as a culture has become viewed with suspicion throughout out the world, by people who are not members of that culture. The reasons are obvious. Locally, two aspiring Muslim jihadists were arrested within the past few days and charged with conspiracy to aid the Taliban. The arrests followed their observed firearms training in a facility north of Houston owned by the Islamic Society of Greater Houston.

Part of the basis for suspicion is the stated philosophy that lying and deceiving outsiders is an acceptable tactic within Islam, if it furthers that group's aims.

Because of the existing well founded suspicion of Islamic culture, it is incumbent of the developers of the local mosque to be particularly open and transparent with their plans and intentions. Otherwise, the surrounding community justifiably views their intentions with concern and dismay. Today's issue of the Houston Chronicle has two articles of interest on this subject, including a discussion of the recent arrest of two local muslims and a fairly in depth discussion of the controversy surrounding this new mosque. The newspaper may be viewed on line at www.chron.com

[Colorado Buckeye]

If someone were to accidentally dump a truckload of bloody pig carcasses on the land where the mosque is to be built, would this desecrate the land to the point where another location would have to be chosen?

[knarf]

If Islam was a 'passive' religion, I'd have no problem with a mosque nearby. I doubt if I could have one in my neighboehood.
That being said, it is my understanding of Islam that they want to dominate the world.

I attend a Baptist church and I participate in door to door evangelism ... the Jehovah's witnesses engage in door to door evangelism, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints participate in door to door evangelism ... none of us have a hidden agenda .. we all, in our faith, believe we have something good to offer people that may not know or agree with us about our religions but we believe it is God's will to take the gospel to all the people of the earth. We send out missionaries to other country's and try to convert non-believers into believers.

We don't try to alter a country by our beliefs .. we try to convince people to see spiritual things in a different way than by thinking in a non- spiritual way.

Muslims have a different way of operating ... they move in and demand that we tolerate them.
They use our laws against us and make no effort to evangelize except to force themselves on us.

When I go door to door, I'm instructed to leave if I am asked to ... Muslims practice a sort of mass, in-your-face kind of proseletyzing ... they show up as a community, not a congregation and infiltrate the schools with their religion. They don't ask permission and they don't go away when asked to. They get the schools to install pro-Muslim programs and help fight to eliminate Jesus from the American consciousness.

I understand the freedom of religion clause and agree, but I don't ... no ... I can't see Islam as a religion of peace, as a religion dedicated to the betterment of man, but rather, a religion of dominance.

We, as Americans will always rise up against forced dominance ...

I can choose to leave my Baptist church and become a Muslim ... Muslims cannot leave Islam and become a Baptist ... not without being in fear for their lives.

Anyone that lives in a Muslim neighborhood and says the Muslim community is peaceful and nice people and that they reject their radical brother's actions have bought into, IMO, an insidious propaganda Geobbles would be proud of.

Where's the peace loving Muslim in FreeRepublic?

I know non-Muslims attempt on Muslim boards to engage in discourse as an effort to understand ... and yes ... evangelize.

[FreedomPoster]

>>a little fear of the unknown.

It isn't unknown unless you've been totally asleep at the wheel since 9/11.

[Fraulein]

Apparently, they don't like dogs either.

A Muslim minicab driver refused to take a blind passenger because her guide dog was "unclean." Abdul Rasheed Majekodumni told Jane Vernon she could not get into his car with the dog because of his religion. Islamic tradition warns Muslims against contact with dogs because they are seen as impure...

'Unclean' guide dog banned by Muslim cab driver

[trillabodilla]

I agree with you up to a point.

If America starts limiting religion, then this will affect me, too, as a Christian, will it not?

But, Islam has shown itself to be a blood thirsty religion.

Moslems will soon have more rights in America than Christians.

It's sad that in defending our own right to freedom of religion, we must defend the rights of this murderous cult.

What is the answer? I don't know.
All I can do is pray for our country.

[Uncle Billy]

i can't wait.

[Petronski]

I don't have any problem with the pig races, or political opposition to placement of mosques, or the volume of their call to prayer, etc.

But this "raze all mosques" talk is a recipe for a pogrom. I think it's important for us all to reject preemptive religious violence.

[savedbygrace]

You are deceived by deceivers. Islam isn't a religion; it's a violent cult comprised of practitioners of violence and supporters and enablers of violence. The supporters and enablers of violence within Islam have been trained to lie to non-muslims.

Are there exceptions? Yes, but not a large number.

[tpaine]

The story may also seem a bit funny, but there is nothing funny about the threat to property rights, free speech, and Western society this story represents.

-- Oath of Citizenship --

I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God. --"

The 'bold' part of the oath above can lead us to the question:

Do american Muslims "-- absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty --"? -- And thus, -- does their belief prevent them from bearing "-- true faith and allegiance" to the US Constitution?

[Petronski]

If America starts limiting religion, then this will affect me, too, as a Christian, will it not?

Of course it will. It's a pity Pastor Neimöller's words are so soon forgotten.

[Leftism is Mentally Deranged]

The radical freedom-hating left will surely try to stop this. Instead of eliminating the threat from radical throat-cutters, they will silence normal people.

[Petronski]

Demolish every mosque, kick out every Muslim (well most, there are exceptions) and send them home in cargo ships (airplanes are too risky).

Jawohl Obersturmbannführer!

[kenth]

Now before you go thinking Craig Baker is unfair, or full of hate, or somehow racist, hear him out.

Just like the media, to brand him hateful and a racist in an indirect way. Because, in this day of muslim terrorism, why would one assume his dislike of Islam irrational?

Besides, just when did Islam become a race? As for hate, they started it long ago. I probably wouldn't hold pig races, but I might be tempted to hock BLTs and BBQ at appropriate times of the day; a call to pork as it were.