Texas, Mosque, Idiocy

[d_rawk]

Anybody else see this?

(Katy, Texas) A plan to build a mosque in this Houston suburb has triggered a neighbourhood dispute, with community members warning the place will become a terrorist hotbed and one man threatening to hold pig races on Fridays just to offend the Muslims.

Many neighbourhood residents claim they have nothing against Muslims and are more concerned about property values, drainage and traffic.

But one resident has set up an anti-Islamic website with an odometer-like counter that keeps track of terrorist attacks since Sept. 11. A committee has formed to buy another property and offer to trade it for the Muslims' land. And next-door neighbour Craig Baker has threatened to race pigs on the edge of the property on the Muslim holy day. Muslims consider pigs unclean and do not eat pork.

"The neighbours have created havoc for us and we didn't expect that," said engineer Kamel Fotouh, president of the 500-member Katy Islamic Association.

[...]

The dispute began when the group asked Baker to remove his cattle from their newly bought land. Baker agreed but mistakenly thought the Muslims also wanted him off the land his family has lived on for more than 100 years. The rumour spread.

Baker, who makes marble and granite fixtures for kitchens and bathrooms and also owns livestock, said he got so mad he put up a sign announcing the pig races.

(Baker's attempt to offend missed its mark, according to Fotouh. Muslims do not hate pigs, he said; they just don't eat them.)

As for the website, the address is virtually identical to that of the Katy Islamic Association. The site claims the neighbours will have to hear the Muslim call to prayer from the mosque's minaret five times a day, the Islamic group denies that, and offers an audio sample.

[...]

Though he now concedes the Muslims are probably not after his land, Baker said he is obligated to go through with the pig races, probably within the next few weeks, because "I would be like a total idiot if I didn't. I'd be the laughingstock now because I've gone too far."

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[Dr_Evil_Mouse]

I saw that one this morning. Pretty absurd.

It wouldn't be much fun to be anything but Christian in Texas. Evidently there's a lot of tension with Hindus there as well.

[Davey Boy 2.0]

i wonder if it would be legal for them to open a shooting range on the premises?!?

[Dr_Evil_Mouse]

I find it curious that there's been no mention of what kind of Islam it is. Were they talking about Christians, you could be sure they'd clarify whether it was Roman Catholic, Southern Baptist, Methodist, or whatever.