NEWS JUNKIE POST
Sep 1, 2010 at 11:55 amPat Robertson: Fueling The Mosque Arson
The planned relocation of a 30 year old Mosque in Murfreesboro, Tennessee has run into official difficulty, as well as arson and vandalism, after the 700 Club descended on the town. Having already obtained approval to build from the Rutherford County Commissioners, new concerns have been manufactured over the alleged increased traffic that may be caused by the Mosque. Anti-Muslim activists and the 700Club suggest that these concerns may be effective as a means of delaying, or possibly derailing, the plans.
During the August 19 episode of the 700 Club a segment over nine minutes long was dedicated to raising fear over the relocation of the mosque. The segment entitled ‘Mega-Mosque Nation,’ which begins at the 17 minute mark, and ends after the 26 minute mark of the broadcast, includes, among other things, footage of local officials being pressured into investigating alleged dangers proposed by the Mosque.
After explaining that every religion in the area is treated completely equally, Rutherford County Mayor, Ernest Burgess, is bombarded with accusations by 700Club staff that ‘The Islamic Brotherhood’ will infiltrate this Mosque with the intention of spreading ‘radical Islam.’ While Mayor Burgess was unfazed by the unfounded accusations and remains committed to the equal rights and freedoms of all individuals, County Commissioners have agreed to re-open the case based on the allegations featured in the 700Club episode.
The Murfreesboro Mosque has received recent media attention after fires were set on the property, damaging three vehicles, and their sign was defaced with the words ‘Not Welcome,’ in spay-paint. As the airing of the 700Club segment was prior to these actions, it’s difficult to ascertain whether they would have been committed without the fear-mongering and anti-Islamic propaganda provided by Pat Robertson and his staff.
As part of this anti-Islamic campaign, 700Club reporter, Eric Stakelbeck, interviewed Laurie Cardoza-Moore concerning her allegations that the approval for the Mosque relocation by the Rutherford County Commissioners was somehow achieved nefariously. Cardoza-Moore was introduced as a local activist and documentary filmmaker.
Cardoza-Moore is an outspoken Zionist who, as part of her ongoing anti-Islamic campaign, recently spoke at Park51 Mosque protests. In her speech at the Park51 protests, Cardoza-Moore claimed that Muslims can’t be considered “Real Americans” because they ‘didn’t fight in the revolutionary war.’ Cordoza-Moore believes that the relocation of this 30 year old Mosque is part of a larger conspiracy against the local Christian community and its book and music industry.
In an obvious attempt to stir up fear in the Murfreesboro community, Pat Robertson told his audience:
“It isn’t just religion, just isn’t. Mark my words. If they start bringing thousands of Muslims into that relatively rural area, the next thing you know, they’re going to be taking over the City Council. Then they’re
going to be having an ordinance that calls for public prayer 5 times a day. Then they’re going to be having ordinances that there’ll have to be facilities for foot-washing in all the public restrooms, in all the airport facilities, etc, etc. And, before long they’re going to demand, demand, demand, demand, and, little by little, the citizens of Murfreesboro, or whatever little town it is, are going to be cowed by these people. Not to mention their ability to bribe folks. I don’t know whether anybody is getting a pay-off, but it’s entirely possible.”
He goes on to completely besmirch the credibility of the local officials by suggesting that they can, and may very well have been, bought with as little as $300.00. He added that, in reference to the Muslim members of the Mosque, “these guys come in with pots of money.” Mr. Robertson rhetorically wonders for the cameras just how far $10,000.00 could go to buy political favor in a small place like Murfreesboro.
After looking into his studio camera and directly addressing United States representatives, telling them what he feels their actions should be, Robertson had the gall to charge the organizers of this local Muslim congregation with political activism. The blatant hypocrisy of his actions apparently lost on him. He then continues to allow his program to be used as a platform for anti-Muslim activists to spread the kind of propaganda that fuels actions such as the vandalism and arson committed only days later.
During the episode Rebecca Bynum is introduced as a ‘local journalist’ who infers that the funding for the Mosque is questionable. Her reason for making this accusation is that she has heard that other funding, for other Mosques, in other places, have been ‘accused’ of coming from questionable sources, and has therefore seen fit to level the same accusation against this Mosque. If this reasoning sounds sketchy, it may be because the ‘local journalist,’ Rebecca Bynum, is in fact an anti-Islamic propagandist that works for ‘The New England Review’ and has been the News Editor and Board Member of ‘Jihad Watch,’ a dedicated anti-Muslim organization. Her writings accuse Islam of not actually being a religion, and of being responsible for giving other religions a bad name.
The episode describes Murfreesboro as being the ‘buckle of the Bible Belt’ where many of the residents still focus on ‘God and Country.’ The narrative continues by describing how this ‘All-American feel’ will disappear thanks to plans for the Mosque. There is nothing subtle about the threat described by Pat Robertson, Eric Stakelbeck, Rebecca Bynum or Laurie Cardoza-Moore.
This sort of incitement through disinformation and deliberate propaganda is inexcusable. This has the appearance of a deliberate attempt to cause civil unrest and promote hatred against a specific group of visible minorities within a community. Law enforcement is currently investigating these hate crimes that seemed designed to inspire terror in the victims. Pat Robertson has voiced his bigotry and biases in the past, but this latest act of conspiracy with other discriminatory groups, to spread a message of fear and intolerance that may have resulted in acts of terror, may just be criminal.
You are a first-class FOOL!
Your children will inherit the ISLAMIC STATE that you are endorsing.
Scumbag.
Your despicable comment should be deleted. However, NJP wants its readership to fully appreciate the scope of your insane hatred for a religious group.
My standard for judging fools? – agreeing with ANYTHING Pat Robertson says !
I refuse to live in any state dominated by any religion. This is a First Amendment issue.
I agree with Liam. But more than that, and Cardoza-Moore should also document herself on this, this is the kind of propaganda that the Nazis used to turn the Germans against the Jewish people. There are many examples available on the Net, starting with ones like Pat Robertson’s that declare “it isn’t religion,” to more nasty ones that call the Jewish people “bacillus”, rodents, etc. (kind of like the ones that we saw recently caracturizing Obama as a monkey). But here is one to make you go cold. In fact it is the Nazis telling the other Germans why they should hate the Jewish and go to war against them. Sounds like what this crowd wants to do for the Muslims!
In December of 1939, Robert Ley gave a speech in occupied Poland. He developed the Nazi propaganda theme. According to the Nazi propaganda, the Jewish wanted War and the German defeat would signify that the extermination of the Germans by the Jewish. All during the WWII, many documents and speeches were delivered with much detail about the barbarian intentions of the Jewish against the Germans if ever Germany was defeated. It didn’t matter that the Jewish had no active role in the international conflict. And in fact, these details were exact descriptions of the horrors that the Nazis themselves committed towards the Jewish.
Here is what Robert Ley said: “We, the Germans know that if England is victorious, the German people will be entirely exterminated; men, women, and children. We know. The Jew lathers in blood. He erects bonfires in order to burn us[…] But we will stop them. On the contrary, it is they that are going to roast, they that are going to burn, they that are going to starve to death, they that will be exterminated.” These statements were followed with applause.
We had better wake up. This is nothing but racial extremist right wing hatred disguised into Populiste chewing gum, ABC (already been chewed!).
My grandparents were Christians in Northern Ireland. She was Protestant, and he was Catholic. They had to flee after death threats.
I volunteered and joined the Army, and I served as an 11B Infantryman. Most of my time in the field was in squad or platoon size operations. We would have discussions about what we were fighting for. It always came back to the “Bill of Rights”. To me the most important was “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”
What did our Founding Fathers have to say about religion:
“Question with boldness even the existence of a god.” – Thomas Jefferson (letter to Peter Carr, 10 August 1787):
“All natural institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian, or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions, set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit.” Thomas Paine, The Age of Reason;
“Religion and government will both exist in greater purity, the less they are mixed together.”, John Madison;
“Lighthouses are more helpful than Churches”, Benjamin Franklin
I volunteered and joined the Army, and I served as an 11B Infantryman. Most of my time in the field was in squad or platoon size operations. We would have discussions about what we were fighting for. It always came back to the “Bill of Rights”. To me the most important was “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”
Well stated. Thank you very much for this comment.
Yes, it is insufficient to go back to our founding fathers if we refuse to look at the constitution that they drew up, and to use this document as a basic tool of reflexion.
Here’s another that should calm the discussion about the religious belifs of our President, because irrelevant :
Article 6, Section 3, of the Constitution of the United States of America states:The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States. »
You may appreciate this then – ‘Obama and the No Religious Test Clause’
http://newsjunkiepost.com/2010/08/22/obama-and-the-no-religious-test-clause/
Yes thanks Liam. I had missed that one.
Medal of Honor: Set To Be Banned In The UK…
I found your entry interesting thus I’ve added a Trackback to it on my weblog
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Excellent article!
When will the “anti-Islamists” realize that they’re behaving EXACTLY like the Nazis did in the late 1930′s? They’re singling out a group of people for bigotry and persecution based on their religious preference.
Notice I said Nazis of the 1930′s….When the “anti-Islamists” cross the line and actually start killing Muslims, which is what people like Robertson are trying to encourage, they’ll then resemble the Nazis of the 1940′s….
If your creed is nothing more than an effort to restrict 1st Amendment rights, you’re not an American.
Yes, I wonder if you folks have seen this video. It will send shivers down your spine! I imagine that the camps for other terrorists in the making are no different. Only the language and the religion changes. The hate and the idolatry is the same.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LACyLTsH4ac