Many, many nights and even into the early morning hours there is much action as I drive past a Mosque. Cars in and out all hours. Does anyone know what would be going on?? I find it to be very strange.

You could look up their event calendar and get some insights. Then it may not be so strange to you.

Prayer. Readings. Meetings. Religious stuff.

Why would any of this be suspicious? The mosque is one of the most important things in the life of a Muslim. IT gets more activity then most places.

The mosques near me have been busy accepting at all hours donations of food, clothing, disposable diapers, etc. to send overseas to Muslim refugee camps.

Don't know why they are sending donations to Muslim refugee camps overseas when the refugees are coming here. Look how much they can save on shipping.

Don't know why they are sending donations to Muslim refugee camps overseas when the refugees are coming here. Look how much they can save on shipping.
They aren't ALL coming to the US. And they need help asap.

They aren't ALL coming to the US. And they need help asap.

I hear you. Why can't some of the Rich Muslim Countries like Saudi Arabia with their banks full of American Dollars take in those people, why do we have to do the heavy lifting all the time? Particularly under the circumstances attached to the muslims.

I hear you. Why can't some of the Rich Muslim Countries like Saudi Arabia with their banks full of American Dollars take in those people, why do we have to do the heavy lifting all the time? Particularly under the circumstances attached to the muslims.
Because we're a Christian nation that believes in and practices Jesus' second commandment, the Golden Rule.

The Golden Rule or ethic of reciprocity is a moral maxim or principle which may appear as either a positive or negative injunction: One should treat others as one would like others to treat oneself (positive or directive form).

Does that include "Shooting One's Self in the Foot"?

The Golden Rule or ethic of reciprocity is a moral maxim or principle which may appear as either a positive or negative injunction: One should treat others as one would like others to treat oneself (positive or directive form).

Does that include "Shooting Ones Self in the Foot"?
I figured you had an agenda. Now, tell us what's REALLY bothering you.

I figured you had an agenda. Now, tell us what's REALLY bothering you.

Maybe you are wrong. I just asked a simple question or should I say a question that could be a problem and then again maybe not.

Maybe you are wrong. I just asked a simple question or should I say a question that could be a problem and then again maybe not.
Here's a cup of tea and a few cookies. Luisa's available later to give you a relaxing back and neck massage. Her hands are magic.

Here's a cup of tea and a few cookies. Luisa's available later to give you a relaxing back and neck massage. Her hands are magic.

I wuve you "Wonderwoman"

I wuve you "Wonderwoman"
Thanks. You just made my day! (Pssst, I named myself Wondergirl because, as a librarian and like the patrons I help, I wonder about stuff.)

Thanks. You just made my day! (Pssst, I named myself Wondergirl because, as a librarian and like the patrons I help, I wonder about stuff.)

You are welcome, never hurts to have a laugh once in a while. I still wuve You even if you are not Wonder Woman. Also being an ex Policeman, I too wonder.

I wuve her too! She gives out milk and cookies and massages and who knows what else while I'm still working up a froth. For a rant.

I guess if I were a mosque member, I'd be attending all sorts of meetings, even at all times because of work schedules, to see what I could do to prevent witchhunts, damage to my mosque, as well as how to help with refugees both here and elsewhere.

I don't know where people are getting the idea that refugees will be arriving in droves. My little state has admitted one family per YEAR since war broke out in 2011. FAMILIES. Not 10,000 men in New Orleans like I see all over those two bit sites online, run by socially inept guys in their mother's basements, whose biggest thrills are Photoshop and getting people to believe lies.

I don't know where people are getting the idea that refugees will be arriving in droves.
Listen to our esteemed Republican candidates.

Based on all the street urchins from Central and South America he forced on states without any consent. There is plenty of reason to be suspicious of claims by the Administration.

Based on all the street urchins from Central and South America he forced on states without any consent. There is plenty of reason to be suspicious of claims by the Administration.

Without being accused of having an Agenda, I have to agree with you on that. People have a habit of being to trusting and in the end they get burned. Good example of that is what happened in Germany.

Without being accused of having an Agenda, I have to agree with you on that. People have a habit of being to trusting and in the end they get burned. Good example of that is what happened in Germany.

What I'd like to see is them going after the troublemakers in their midst (and those that support them) with the same gusto and energy PUBLICALLY as they have for people that are suspicious of them. When people see that happening, people might be more willing to trust them.

But given events in the world in recent decades... nobody "DESERVES" to be assumed innocent. You don't let the over eager guy down the street babysit your kids, you don't Let the person down the street that's wrecked ever car they have owned drive your new car. You don't give the keys to your house to someone you just met to take care of your house when you go out of town.

And you don't trust any group implicitly any more than you would trust any other person you don't know.

After each person has earned your respect and trust... then you can. An abundance of caution in all things can prevent certain things from happening because many things can not be undone or forgotten once they happen. That's just the sad reality of the world today. One family I consider as some of my closest friends that have my full trust...are Muslim, several others are Bolivian, another Romanian, Italian, etc...

And nope....I don't trust ANY group or person implicitly, they all have to earn it, ( And quite a few have) and anyone that deserves it can earn it. Doesn't matter what religion or ethnic group they belong to. Got burned too many times in my youth, some by people I had considered friends. That was a hard learned lesson.

You know, if the Quran has all the verses that call for the maiming, mutilating, killing of people of non-muslim faith then I feel that, the muslim followers who are sitting in a Mosque and taking in those scriptures, they are no better than the terrorists that are full filling the Quran. They should be considered closet terrorists. Look at the masses who cheer what the terrorists have done. Are we to say that the cheerleaders are all terrorists no but they sure are influenced by terrorists deeds.

Just like Obama sitting in Reverend Wright's Church for 20 years. What does that make Obama? Besides his "bestest" friend.

The Old Testament has similar verses that are read in Christian churches every Sunday.

The Old Testament has similar verses that are read in Christian churches every Sunday.

Are Christians running around acting out the Old Testament?

Are Christians running around acting out the Old Testament?
Yup, the evangelicals and fundamentalists are.

Yup, the evangelicals and fundamentalists are.

Wonder how many Christians and Muslims have been killed, maimed, or beheaded by evangelicals and fundamentalists? Oh, and lets not forget Sharia Law "honor killings" even in this country. Very peaceful practices.

Not like we haven't been down this road before,

United States Policy Toward Jewish Refugees, 1941–1952 (http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007094)

People scare easily and act out of fear.

@catonsville, Aren't you exaggerating the masses who cheer for the barbarism of the thugs (most of whom are the victims) and minimizing the true masses who flee from them? Sure you are, just as you take the one comment out of the numerous he has made over years, of Rev.Wright (the church is multiracial, look it up) and conflated it way out of proportion.

I certainly understand your fear, but not when it distorts the facts and elevates a FEW cult thugs to a level they do NOT deserve. Dangerous and a threat that must be dealt with like any disruptive criminal organization, but factually, few Muslims are running to their call and MANY are doing just the opposite.

How do you ignore the fact that 1.7 billion are NOT supporting these criminals?

All I can say for sure is be vigilant. When you have 1.7 billion, how many does it take to form a mass? I am afraid this government is not willing to do all that they could do to protect the country. You seem to be cool with what is happening, would you be happy for a mass of muslims ,say even a small mass, taking over your local government and telling you that you are now governed by Sharia Law? If you come back and say I am putting words in your mouth, well I feel the same way.

Yup, the evangelicals and fundamentalists are.Got to disagree with you on that point Wondergirl.

If that was happening you WOULD be hearing about it non-stop on the liberal anti-christian drive by media. And we aren't.

I still think you are letting the actions of a few define the many. One guy can scare the hell out of a community and we can't stop him either, as in the case of school shootings, movies, and restaurants, and they aren't Muslims.

The part about local government imposing Sharia law is outlandish unless you have some examples we could examine. Clearly under US law the barbarism is totally illegal, and violators go to jail so what's up with that?


Got to disagree with you on that point Wondergirl.

If that was happening you WOULD be hearing about it non-stop on the liberal anti-christian drive by media. And we aren't.

The media critics are themselves Christians.

I still think you are letting the actions of a few define the many. One guy can scare the hell out of a community and we can't stop him either, as in the case of school shootings, movies, and restaurants, and they aren't Muslims.

The part about local government imposing Sharia law is outlandish unless you have some examples we could examine. Clearly under US law the barbarism is totally illegal, and violators go to jail so what's up with that?



The media critics are themselves Christians.

The Media themselves are HIGHLY biased against anyone who is not Atheist or liberal, in fact they have a particular bias against Christians and Jews.. If the Evangelicals or Fundamentalists were doing anything they would take great delight in reporting on it.

And a highly biased media NEEDS a lot of critics pointing out their actions.

What the world needs more than anything...is a media that ISN'T biased. And just does their job reporting on facts without twisting them...spinning them, omitting inconvenient facts or fabricating them to fit the story, as many have been caught doing. ( Like that actually has any chance of happening in our lifetimes)

Got to disagree with you on that point Wondergirl.

If that was happening you WOULD be hearing about it non-stop on the liberal anti-christian drive by media. And we aren't.
We have heard about it. Worse than killing -- destroying lives and reputations because of supposed sins committed against misunderstood Biblical laws.

We have heard about it. Worse than killing -- destroying lives and reputations because of supposed sins committed against misunderstood Biblical laws.

Wondergirl, sorry you sure make me wonder.

I still think you are letting the actions of a few define the many.
I agree, and The Center for American Progress, an independent nonpartisan policy institute, reported --

The Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, or ISIS, is pursuing a strategy explicitly desined to provoke hostility toward innocent Muslims in Western society in order to radicalize these communities and recruit them to their cause. Listening to the American political debate in the wake of the tragic terrorist attacks in Paris, that strategy may be working. Islamophobic rants are both morally offensive and factually inaccurate and play right into the hands of our terrorist enemies.

ISIS is not hiding its objectives. In its publications, it talks of forcing the world into two camps by “destroy[ing] the grayzone” between itself and the forces aligned against it. For ISIS, the grayzone is inhabited by those who have yet to commit to one side in its clash of civilizations. In the February edition of its official magazine Dabiq, an ISIS writer outlined a plan to compel “the crusaders [the West] to actively destroy the grayzone themselves” by generating anti-Muslim hysteria in the wake of terrorism. Attacks such as those in Paris are designed to get Western governments to alienate their Muslim populations and push them toward ISIS.

This fits with what Graeme Wood wrote in the March Atlantic -- What ISIS Really Wants - The Atlantic (http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/03/what-isis-really-wants/384980/)

AND “The greater the hostility toward Muslims in Europe and the deeper the West becomes involved in military action in the Middle East, the closer ISIS comes to its goal of creating and managing chaos,” write Scott Atran and Nafees Hamid in “The War ISIS wants (http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2015/nov/16/paris-attacks-isis-strategy-chaos/),” an article in the New York Review of Books.


Wondergirl, sorry you sure make me wonder.
I grew up and lived for years in the insulated world of fundamentalism and evangelicalism. I don't wonder at all what that kind of thinking has done to upset and ruin people's lives.

We have heard about it. Worse than killing -- destroying lives and reputations because of supposed sins committed against misunderstood Biblical laws.

Must be local news... Pretty rare anything like that makes national news. And even then it is usually someone getting frisky with someone they shouldn't.

Which is really something quite common among the population... (and for a fact does happen frequently among Muslims too, The stories I could tell you that I've been told by Muslim friends, except for the Hyman restoration surgery so they can pretend to be virgins again...the rest is quite a lot like every other group). They are no more faithful to their spouses than anyone else. Though they may be a bit more tolerant of it (meaning not as quick to divorce)

Now what Jim Baker did a long time ago... he did rightfully go to jail for.

Must be local news... Pretty rare anything like that makes national news. And even then it is usually someone getting frisky with someone they shouldn't.
Nope. Has been happening for years right under your nose.

Nope/ Has been happening for years right under your nose.

No different than the media does to Republican Candidates while ignoring transgressions of the Democrats... etc... etc... and again we are back to the bias of the media.

Must be local news... Pretty rare anything like that makes national news.
I didn't say anything about national news. The personal heartbreak and social stigma produced by fundamentalists and evangelicals don't make the papers, but they are real and devastating nonetheless.

I didn't say anything about national news. The personal heartbreak and social stigma produced by fundamentalists and evangelicals don't make the papers, but they are real and devastating nonetheless.
Atheists do it constantly too... you see a sample of it on this site.

What's that biblical saying... Let he without sin cast the first stone. If that was followed nobody would ever be picking up rocks to throw at anyone anyplace.

Atheists do it constantly too... you see a sample of it on this site.

What's that biblical saying... Let he without sin cast the first stone. If that was followed nobody would ever be picking up rocks to throw at anyone anyplace.
So let's you and me start a site-wide effort not to cast stones! (Right now, the stones in my yard are covered by seven inches of heavy, wet snow. And it's still falling. Sooooo pretty, but....)

So let's you and me start a site-wide effort not to cast stones! (Right now, the stones in my yard are covered by seven inches of heavy, wet snow. And it's still falling. Sooooo pretty, but....)

Snowballs are fun.. and relieve stress as long as they aren't iceballs... or have stones in them.

Please keep all that snow up there... I don't want any of it this winter.

Snowballs are fun.. and relieve stress as long as they aren't iceballs... or have stones in them.

Please keep all that snow up there... I don't want any of it this winter.
But but but it's so pretty, like a living snow globe! And covers all the evergreens and cars and houses with fluffy and creamy white icing.

But but but it's so pretty, like a living snow globe! And covers all the evergreens and cars and houses with fluffy and creamy white icing.
It is but I've got another week or two work to do outside... and I hope to finish it before it does.

It is but I've got another week or two work to do outside... and I hope to finish it before it does.
Well, okay. We won't push it your way. It's certainly quelling unrest in the 'hood in Chicagoland. The thugs are making angels in the snow right now.

So let's you and me start a site-wide effort not to cast stones! (Right now, the stones in my yard are covered by seven inches of heavy, wet snow. And it's still falling. Sooooo pretty, but....)

So Smoothie and Wondergirl are going to start a site-wide effort not to cast stones. Wow! Sounds like a plan.

Count me in.

So Smoothie and Wondergirl are going to start a site-wide effort not to cast stones. Wow! Sounds like a plan.

Count me in.
We're all joining hands around the roaring campfire at 8 p.m. to sing Kumbaya and other favorites. Our Muslim friends will bring shish kebabs and will teach us a few songs. Then we will all roast weenies and toast marshmallows. Hope you will be there!

We're all joining hands around the roaring campfire at 8 p.m. to sing Kumbaya and other favorites. Our Muslim friends will bring shish kebabs and will teach us a few songs. Then we will all roast weenies and toast marshmallows. Hope you will be there!

I'll bring the beer - dear.

I'll bring the beer - dear.
I was hoping you'd volunteer...dear.