Posted on 08/25/2010 6:27:04 PM PDT by markomalley
NEW YORK, Aug. 25 (UPI) -- About 40 religious and civic groups announced Wednesday they have formed a coalition to support construction of an Islamic community center in New York.
Organizers of the coalition said a candlelight vigil will be held at the site of the proposed project on Sept. 10 -- the eve of the ninth anniversary of the terrorist attack that killed almost 3,000 people and destroyed the World Trade Center twin towers.
Opponents of the project object to its proximity to Ground Zero.
Talat Hamdani -- whose son Salman, a New York City police cadet who was killed while responding to the attack -- told CNN the issue "is not about location. It is about our rights as Americans."
"All those people who died that day ... they were murdered for being Americans," Hamdani said. "We should honor those people who were murdered that day by living up to America's core values."
Debra Burlingame, whose brother was the pilot of the plane hijacked by terrorists and crashed into the Pentagon Sept. 11, 2001, said the Islamic center is "nothing short of a provocation, an insult to the families of people who were murdered, whose bodies were scattered all across that site."
New York Mayor Michel Bloomberg Tuesday reiterated his support for construction of the center.
"We are Americans, each with an equal right to worship and pray where we choose," he said. "There is nowhere in the five boroughs of New York City that is off limit to any religion."
Organizational Members:
Arab Muslim American Federation, American Civil Liberties Union, Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), Auburn Theological Seminary, Brennan Center for Justice, Brooklyn for Peace, Center for Constitutional Rights, Center for Understanding Islam, Citizen Action of New York, Common Cause/New York, Community Voices Heard, Convergence of Cultures/NY, Council on American-Islamic Relations-NY, Demos, Downtown Independent Democrats, Good Jobs New York, Greater NYC for Change, Greater New York Labor-Religion Coalition, Interfaith Center of New York, Islamic Mission of America inc., Jews for Racial and Economic Justice [JFREJ], Judson Memorial Church, League of Women Voters of the City of New York, Lower Manhattan Democrats (LMD), Manhattan Young Democrats, Middle East Crisis Response (MECR), Muslim Bar Association of New York, Muslim Consultative Network, Muslim Public Affairs Council –NYC, New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU), New York Theological Seminary, New York City New Sanctuary Movement, Pax Christi Metro New York, Planners Network, The Dialogue Project, The New York City Chapter of Humanist Party, The Shalom Center, Woodstock International, Workmen's Circle/Arbeter Ring
Individual Members (organizational affiliation for identification only)
Talat Hamdani, Mother of Mohammad Salman Hamdani NYPD Cadet, EMT, WTC II
Adem Carroll, Muslim American Civil Liberties Coalition
Debbie Almontaser, Founding and Former Principal of the Khalil Gibran International Academy
Hester Eisenstein, Sociology, Queens College and the Graduate Center
Jennifer Baumgardner, Co-Owner, Soapbox Inc.
Dr. Lucinda Allen Mosher, Interreligious Relations Consultant
Serene Jones, President, Union Theological Seminary
Rev. Charles H. Straut, Jr., DMin, Consultant in Ministry, New York Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church
Dr. Diane Steinman, Co-Chair, New York State Interfaith Network for Immigration Reform
Luis Barrios, Ph.D., BCFE, St. Mary's Episcopal Church, Professor, John Jay College of Criminal Justice- Department of Latin American & Latina/o Studies
Peter Marcuse, Professor emeritus of Urban Planning, Columbia University
Rev. Bruce Southworth, Senior Minister, The Community Church of NY Unitarian Universalist Forty
Rev. Freeman Palmer, Metro Association Minister, United Church of Christ, New York Conference
Rev Dr Rita M Root, Interim Conference Minister, New York Conference, United Church of Christ
Rev. Dr. Robert L. Brashear, Pastor, West-Park Presbyterian Church
Tarak Kauff , Veterans For Peace, MECR, Editor Woodstock International newspaper
Sounds like a real broad-based religious coalition, doesn't it?
The usual suspects. Investigate all of them. Khalil Gibran is from a Christian family, a Maronite. Most Arab-Americans are Christians.
I hope they are the around to support that Gay bar going next door to the mosque..... /s =.=
Any Catholic organizations/churches?
Pax Christi is a major dissenting kind of organization that associates itself with the Church. In fact, one could call it a dissident organization. Thanks be to God that is it, though.
Indeed. A little bit of common sense and CONSIDERATION.
Uh, oh. UPI called the ACLU a religious group. Now they’ll get sued for libel.
Hey, Pelosi Lady, who is funding these organizations?
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