Posted on 12/02/2006 10:01:25 AM PST by LOC1
KATY — All snout and tail, the pink and brown pigs contentedly rooting in the wire pen behind Craig Baker's stone shop seem piggishly comic. They're racing pigs, after all, and that's got to be funny.
But few in the sprawling subdivisions along Baker Road are laughing.
These pigs are subtle weapons, here to show the new neighbors — the Katy Islamic Association — they aren't entirely welcome. Tension has been growing in this west Harris County community since September when the Muslim group announced it had purchased 11 acres south of Interstate 10 to build a mosque, school, community center and athletic facilities.
Hard feelings started when Baker met association officials, who, he said, advised him he should move his stone shop.
"They told me it was time for my family to pack up," said Baker, whose family has occupied its land since the early 1800s. "They said a mosque and a marble shop didn't go too good together."
Angered by the perceived insult and aware of Islamic dietary laws banning pork consumption, Baker responded by announcing he would stage weekly pig races on his Muslim neighbors' holiest day of prayer.
Since then, the conflict has escalated as residents called a town hall meeting to discuss the planned complex and an anti-mosque page featuring a cartoon pig and a running tally of terrorism victims was posted on the Internet. Numerous complaint calls have been made to county officials.
Claims and counterclaims have flown. Critics raise concerns about traffic congestion, flooding, possible adverse impact on property values and the "unknown."
(Excerpt) Read more at chron.com ...
Related thread at:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1747446/posts
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.
MORE PIGS PLEASE!!! What a GREAT idea!! B-B-Q RIBS EVERYWHERE!!
"B-B-Q RIBS EVERYWHERE!!"
Yum. I can't think of a more delightful aroma than that on a Friday night.
Forget Fish Fries....B-B-Q only now!!
Here is an instructive tale for any other "houses of worship" in
the area to steer wide and clear of the Islamics.
Give the Muslims an inch...they'll take a mile (or much more).
And maybe effectively take your church's parking lot.
http://www.sperryfiles.com/corridor.shtml
(you'll have to scroll about half-way down for the passage reproduced below)
DAR AL-HIJRAH
After 9/11, Dar al-Hijrah tried to strike up an interfaith dialogue with
area churches. The neighboring Church of Christ, for one, was willing
to participate -- that is, until the mosque wanted its pastor and
flock to accept Islam. The church, along with a neighboring
church, nonetheless have agreed to allow the growing mosque to
use their parking lots during Friday prayer services, which draws
some 3,000 Muslims from around the Washington area. But for their
generosity, the 9/11 mosque would be out of business.
Wherever a Muslim foot has trod, that land forevermore shall be subject to Islamic rule.
Nothing bashful about those fellows, is there? The ratchet is only supposed to work one way.
Here's to more pigs everywhere, and remind these Muslims, that a lot of the place they step here in the North American continent, there have been pigs here long before they were, and pigs have dropped a considerable amount of poop.
So somewhere, they won't know beforehand, they are going to walk exactly where some pig has passed excreted material onto their paths.
And some few among us Americans really like the taste of pork, in several different forms. "High on the hog" means something here, in terms of social standing.
Incidentally, does the Koran even actually MAKE any references to consumption of the flesh of swine? Only that they believe that the Jews are simply apes and swine made over into human form, but there is no reference as to how this situation came about. Just that the pigs and monkeys are unclean and not "halal".
Eating pork is some form of cannibalism?
I would be in favor of setting up a bratwurst stand across from every mosque in this country.
Propose to build a mall on the location, tout the massive tax revenues generated by such a mall, and then use eminent domain to get the property. A recent Supreme Court decision said that is OK!
Massive hog roasts all over America. Serve hog in front of every mosque!
Gee. It would be a shame if Baker were to open a kennel, too, considering how Muslims feel about dogs...
2,000,000 of fried porkrines ground to a fine powder. The gently sprinkled over the whole country. Leave not an acre untouched
"the Muslim group announced it had purchased 11 acres south of Interstate 10 to build a mosque, school, community center and athletic facilities."
What athletic facilities? Stoning fields and honor killing courts.
They can inhale them and really send Allah on a toot!
BTTT
"Massive hog roasts all over America. Serve hog in front of every mosque!"
Gotta be on Friday and gotta get a street permit. We have thousands of traveling barbecuers with grills in tow in this nation. Perhaps it's time to round them up to help us fight these mass murderers planting themselves on our soil.
If Islam were a true religion of peace, I would never be for the above action. But because Islam is a "religion" of hate and murder, perhaps we should consider the Baker example to let these mass murderers we will not tolerate them nor their murdering "religion."
I would. Love those smoked ribs and ham. Ha ha What true harm can a hog roast do to anyone. Well...er..maybe cholesterol. Seems like a jovial way to civil disobedience.
Just a way for Americans to say we are sick of them and their ways. They don't like it? Go to their native soil. I love freedom, wish everyone could enjoy it.
This has all got to stop. Any religion advocating violence and supporting (directly or indirectly) beheading of anyone for religious reasons has go to go. It can NOT be allowed to practice in this country. Anyone who can see this as being a fundamental truth is insane.
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