Please post your "Letter to the Editor" that you started on 12/8. Remember to respond to two others' posts in a meaningful way.
48 Comments
Gavin (the G)Ray
12/9/2015 09:39:40 am
In Mr.Bloomberg's speech about the idea of building an Islamic mosque near the site of 9/11, he made points on both sides of the arguments surrounding the construction. He talked about how the site of the World Trade Center will forever have meaning to not only New York, but the world. He made it a point to include Muslim citizens in the United States, since 9/11 was the act of extremists, not normal people. My only question is, is it truly right for people of the Islamic faith to construct a place of worship near, what their religion's extremists would call, a great victory? This event is what caused so much violence and war in the Middle East, and this mosque would seem like a slap in the face of Americans everywhere. I can understand if that property was the only location large enough for the undertaking and close enough for the Muslim community, but couldn't the larger community have come to a compromise? That's how we have coexisted with most religions in the Land of the Free, letting them worship and (mostly) follow their religions. There are some things that are unacceptable in society today, especially involving places and events that have changed our view on the world. America's view on the Islamic faith was much more tolerable before 9/11, and there wouldn't have been a problem with this mosque back then. I think we shouldn't hold the acts of a few influence our opinion on the majority, but again, some things are just unacceptable in society today. I believe we should've tried to compromise with these people to ease aggressions, while still allowing people their God-given freedom.
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Loodachris
12/9/2015 09:44:11 am
a comprise was made, and a smaller building was put there for the Muslim community
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Gavin
12/9/2015 09:47:35 am
A better compromise I mean, like a different property maybe a few blocks away from the original.
Loodachris
12/9/2015 09:51:42 am
okay I understand what your saying
Ingalls
12/9/2015 11:37:19 am
The problem I see, though, is that it would potentially be a NIMBY (not in my backyard) situation. We say, "no mosque within 5 blocks of the memorial," then what happens when someone builds a memorial somewhere else? Do we keep pushing out boundaries? If we make these restrictions, do we have to ban all faiths that want places of worship near it? If we don't, we are treating one faith more favorably. Do we throw out the Constitution when people are angry or fearful?
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Harley
12/9/2015 06:14:51 pm
I see what you're saying, but I think this is unique. If someone else built a memorial somewhere else it wouldn't be as big of a deal to build a mosque. But this is close to the exact spot where the Twin Towers were destroyed, so I think it's respectable that some disagree with the construction of the mosque.
Loodachris
12/9/2015 09:40:08 am
New York City's mayor Michael Bloomberg, made some very good points in his speech regarding the plans for a mosque, and Islamic center near the ground zero of the world trade centers. Though the building would have been two blocks away from the world trade center, some thought that it was still too close. I understand why some would be upset about this, I think the building should have been built to its original plans. the original plans included a child care center, an auditorium, and even a memorial to the victims of the September eleventh terrorist attacks. There were already a couple of mosques near the world trade centers prior to the attacks, but those buildings couldn't hold all the people of the Muslim faith in that community. Also, the new building would have replaced an older building that was damaged in the attacks. My only question is why do other religions have their gathering centers but this particular religion can't because of the acts of a few?
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Logan
12/9/2015 11:16:46 am
I think that you are right Chris. We shouldn't deny the construction of the mosque based off of religion, or the fact that 9/11 happened because of the religious extremists, not all Muslims.
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Shelley Grace H.B.
12/9/2015 09:46:20 am
Michael Bloomberg,
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hayden
12/9/2015 09:55:34 am
I agree with what you said about the Muslims. If we were attacked by Muslims them then why should we include them in the 9/11 memorial.
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Alison Renee'
12/9/2015 10:02:45 am
I don't think that's what Shelley was trying to say Hayden, if I'm correct I think she means that we could have a memorial for the Muslims but really this incident doesn't give them a good structure for us wanting to have them. Also not all Muslims are bad people, trying not to make it sound like we are thrashing on Muslims that's why Shelley said that us- Americans are all perfect either.
Alison Renee'
12/9/2015 10:04:40 am
***** aren't all perfect- sorry bad typing today!!!
Dakota Lynch
12/9/2015 10:43:28 am
In paragraph eleven, on page 489, Bloomberg wrote, "Let us not forget that Muslims were among those murdered on 9/11 and that our Muslim neighbors grieved with us as New Yorkers and as Americans. We would betray our values - and play into our enemies' hands - if we were to treat Muslims differently then anyone else. In fact, to cave to popular sentiment would be to hand a victory to the terrorists - and we should not stand for that." This is exactly why the Muslim immigrants should and are included in the 9/11 memorial.
Mason H
12/9/2015 09:47:00 am
Letter To the Editor
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Loodachris
12/9/2015 09:53:24 am
this is a good response
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Wyatt
12/9/2015 09:58:58 am
I also really like the idea of the Muslim interfaith in the community, I think it could really help shine a positive light on the religion itself.
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Alison Renee'
12/9/2015 09:48:25 am
Dear Michael Bloomberg,
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Shelley Grace H.B.
12/9/2015 09:51:33 am
Yes! I agree with everything you've written. Americans won't be pleased with everything that occurs in the U.S. but they'll just need to build a bridge and get over it. We don't all agree on everything (i.e music, food, etc.).
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Hayden
12/9/2015 09:59:24 am
Well written! I agree with the very last sentence you wrote.
Hayden
12/9/2015 09:50:52 am
Dear Michael Bloomberg,
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Alison Renee'
12/9/2015 09:55:51 am
I like what you said Hayden.(most) People still have respect, but respect gets damaged if something destroys it. Some people are sick in the head and don't think about anything and how it affects others, its not just our own personal world that we can go around destroying and its sad that people think we don't share it with others.
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Mason H
12/9/2015 09:57:37 am
Did the attack on 9/11 take away our freedom though? In fact did we ever really have freedom in the first place?
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Ingalls
12/9/2015 11:44:22 am
I think it depends on what you mean by "freedom." Certainly our freedoms have been restricted after 9/11--just think of those TSA lines at airports (my brother and I both get pulled out and patted down every time we travel--which never happened previously). The Patriot Act was a direct response to the attacks, and it is, arguably, in violation of human rights, in general (completely up-heaving years of Constitutional Law on Search and Seizure)
Shelley Grace H.B.
12/9/2015 09:58:22 am
I agree with you to a certain extent. I agree about obeying the U.S. rules if you are an immigrant coming to the U.S. I disagree with your last 3 statements. I wouldn't say "Nobody trusts anyone" because people do respect each other and they do trust each other. Just with all of the recent attacks occurring, Americans are fairly skeptical about letting more people of the same religion that has continued to betray us into our nation.
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Wyatt
12/9/2015 09:53:11 am
Mr. Bloomberg’s speech given in regards to the construction of mosque in Lower Manhattan, was undoubtedly one of the best examples of how we should perceiving our Muslim brothers in a time of tragedy like what happened on the day of September 11th, 2001. Bloomberg reminds us that among those that died that day, many were Muslim. This is humbling in a sense that this wasn’t an attack from one religion focused on another, this was an attack on the liberties of America.
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Gavin
12/9/2015 09:57:23 am
Exactly, just because one person in a group wants to do something, and does it, doesn't mean they all do.
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Mason H
12/9/2015 10:09:38 am
I like what you said about how the Mosque wanted to "reach beyond its walls to build and interfaith in the community," this tells me that they want to help, because they are not all bad only a limited group. In fact, I believe that the attacks unified and brought the community and the nation, even some parts of the world, closer together than they ever have been.
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Ingalls
12/9/2015 11:50:09 am
I think you are right to a large extent, Mason. I certainly never saw my country more united and more pitied than on that day. Tragedies have a way of doing that in the moment; however, as we are 15 years away from the event, our reactions to it (and to several Islamic States in particular) have been ultimately divisive. Think about Donald Trump's recent statements regarding keeping Muslims out of the US. It is part of the aftermath of those 9/11 attacks, and the U.S. isn't looking very united or very well-liked within and abroad.
Seth Wadsworth
12/9/2015 09:55:03 am
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twistie
12/9/2015 09:59:09 am
Dear Editor,
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Wyatt
12/9/2015 10:05:08 am
You start of by pointing out that all religions were working together in the time of tragedy, but then you go and categorize one religion on the acts of a few by using "they" in your statement "However I personally don't think they should be putting a Islamic prayer cite so close to Ground Zero because of what they did to America." By saying this you're saying that all Muslims are "murderous" creatures.
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Logan
12/9/2015 10:03:37 am
To Mr. Bloomberg,
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Emily
12/9/2015 10:08:52 am
I never really thought about the fact that not building the mosque would make it seem like we are denying the proposal to build the mosque because we as a nation do not like the Muslim people because of 9/11. This is not true at all, but in denying the mosque it might seem so. I totally agree with the letter, great points.
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Emily
12/9/2015 10:04:40 am
Dear Michael Bloomberg,
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Ingalls
12/9/2015 11:53:18 am
When did we become a "Christian nation"? What was the tipping point? We have a godless Constitution, had a godless Pledge of Allegiance . . . when did it shift?
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blake
12/9/2015 10:07:18 am
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12/9/2015 10:11:00 am
Dear Michael Bloomberg,
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Dakota Lynch
12/9/2015 10:48:14 am
Well said, Cody. It was very wrong, legally and morally, for the government to turn down the Muslims petition for the right to build the mosque and in order to settle the disputes between the two groups would be for the New Yorkers to realize that, while they believe the Muslim immigrants are the ones going against "conduct" and are causing the problems, they are actually the ones acting out.
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Harley
12/9/2015 06:41:30 pm
You make really good points. I think you're right about the sensitive views towards this situation, and the feelings that the majority of Christians share about the Muslim religion. We (should) all disagree with religious persecution, but it's still hard to ignore that barrier that 9/11 built between the Muslim religion and the rest of America.
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Ingalls
12/10/2015 07:39:16 am
I agree that it is very difficult to balance these things, and I also agree with what you said before, Harley, that this is a unique situation. I wonder, though, if it is the duty of a government to eschew sensitivity in favor of equitable justice? The statue of the the woman balancing the scales of justice is blindfolded . . .
Dakota Lynch
12/9/2015 10:44:32 am
Dear Mr. Bloomberg,
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Harley
12/9/2015 06:35:52 pm
Dear Mayor Bloomberg,
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Ingalls
12/10/2015 07:43:12 am
Very well stated and well supported! You did an amazing job of parsing our Bloomberg's speech, disagreeing with him without disrespecting him. I am humbled by your skills in this letter. Nicely articulated, Harley!
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Layne Harris
12/10/2015 09:56:32 am
I understand you mentioned that "not all Muslims are are extreme radicalism" but then you continue on to say that Bin Laden said "this matter concerns the whole Islamic nation". Isn't this a bit contradictory? Or even the same this as me having the idea that all Christians belong to the KKK?
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william
12/9/2015 07:02:13 pm
bloom bergs speech discussed the proposed construction of a mosque near ground zero. and given the circumstances, I feel that to some it could be offensive. but an important and rather humbling thing that he mentioned is the fact of the Muslim brothers who were grieving with us. and I find that to be important because it shows that it wasn't nessicerily an act of crime towards a specific race. but an attack on our nation of great cultural and racial diversity, but we at the same time are all joined by the same love for this country. the site of 9/11 is a site of great significance not only for America, but for the rest of the world as well. and despite our country supposedly providing equal opportunities to every citizen, I believe that ground zero should be left as it is in memorial to the tragic event.
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Layne Harris
12/10/2015 09:23:49 am
Dear Bloomberg:
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Dylon
12/10/2015 10:38:33 am
Dear Mr. Bloomberg,
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Abbi
1/7/2016 09:09:08 pm
Dear Mr Bloomberg,
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