The Atlanta Journal Constitution’s coverage of yesterday’s public hearing in Covington, Georgia, about a building permit request for a new mosque in Newton County, brought out the worst in many local citizens, according to an article by Meris Lutz.
Lutz quotes a woman who said, “To say we wish to disallow this project based on religious discrimination … is ludicrous and hypocritical,… They are discriminating against us by calling us infidels who do not believe in their religion.”
Lutz includes that the woman did not give her name.
Think about that- an adult woman took time to go down to the county’s public hearing on a building permit, she said that Muslims discriminate against “us,” but she refused to tell the reporter what her name is.
In today’s America, and especially in the South, when people show up like this over anything to do with a mosque, I’m confident that the “us” she’s talking about are right-wing Conservative Christians. They qualify as one of America’s most paranoid groups.
What I find curious, is that if you aren’t willing to put your name on your convictions, then what are your beliefs and convictions worth anyway?
This issue isn’t going away quietly. A follow-up post this afternoonhttps://ruralandprogressive.org/galloway-and-wingfield-weigh-in-on-the-outcry-over-proposed-mosque-in-newton-county/
Yes Laura, YOU SAID IT PERFECT! And that was in the FIRST session for YOUR experience. My experience in the SECOND SESSION… WE WERE called “YOU PEOPLE, FULL OF HATE” by the “transplants” that were in line with us outside and inside, and she sounds IDENTICAL to your person, and when I attempted to give her a hug, I explained to her , “none of us are perfect or say the right thing and I’m apparently not alike the “YOU PEOPLE” she has met in the past, I’m here with peace”, during the attempted hug, OH HOW COLD she was and the other one as we walked out the courtroom doors was as well!! They did not want to be on camera, was calling the news people cheaters and liars because they did not ask permission for their pictures etc… We were told we did not have to say our name (due to concerns of liability if people are threatened etc)
My point to make was “Lets leave RELIGION out of this and base it on the FACTS”… The facts are The lawsuits iman IGNORES, They ALL IGNORE OUR CONSTITUTION AND LAWS OF OUR LAND” The law suits for nuisance, noise ordinances broken, trash, sewage back up, the stinch smell that makes I-285 smell like a rose garden! Oh and..Newton COunty is BROKE, who is going to pay for all the law enforcement calls, code violations etc. when they have been exhausted because of these KNOWINGLY LAW BREAKING REFUGEES?? .I KNOW the County will receive $100 or more PER REFUGEE, but the EXPENSE and COST to upkeep their LAW BREAKING ways will not cover it and SHOULD NOT BE OFFERED ANYTHING because they should not be here, (not right now anyways, America needs to get her act together) WE NEED TO TAKE CARE OF OUR AMERICANS, VETS etc FIRST before allowing this. The fact that AMERICANS are SICK AND TIRED of being disciplined and ticketed and charged fines while they get away with it, what will happen when people start to realize that as well, they may start to act out, and the other poin, t they are TAX EXEMPT, NOT MADE TO WORK because they are not of our language and land (they are laughing at us on that one, we pay them to be here!!),they receive grants from tax payers for THEIR QURAN education NOT EVEN AMERICAN HISTORY or LANGUAGE?? Our schools are failing because we give everything away to the GOVERNMENT and THEIR REFUGEES..,they receive BENEFITS PER refugee that comes over and that is what is in the mosque we already have proof. SO MANY FACTS IGNORED, THEY LIED AT THE PURCHASE OF THE LAND …..DECEIT from the beginning (their nature)….AS UNIFIED CITIZENS in GA, ..THE LAW NEEDS TO CHANGE FOR ALL BUSINESSES, RESIDENTIAL and COMMERCIAL PROSPECTS when purchasing land /building AT THE TIME OF THE SELL, MUST PROVIDE A PLAN and CAUSE that CANNOT CHANGE (the name can change with proper papers etc.), but the ORIGINAL PLAN IS FRONTED AT THE SELL, non reversible (unless proper channels and PUBLIC informed) AND RESIDENTS NEED TO BE NOTIFIED BEFORE THE SALE IS Finalized, residents in the surrounding zoning area should especially be notified.
Of course I am a BELIEVER and at the end I prayed for everyone (silently), and like I said, I tried to comfort the girl leaving the courtroom after she spewed THE HATE, not us and she was sooooo COLD, FREEZING as a matter of fact. I should have just said “JESUS LOVES YOU” to ALL OF THEM.
Lord be with us all… ….amen and amen
Wow- I am horrified at the bias of this article. I was at this meeting and I can say with certainity that this woman that is being referenced as a “coward” was not. She did not “refuse” to give her name, but was one of many concerned citizens that had to cut their opinions short to a two minute segment, which the Commissioners had to put in place in order to allow the hundreds of people time to speak. Before the Commissioners opened the floor for the citizens- they gave us all a set of instructions in order to allow the meeting to go as smoothly as possible and allow the most people the opportunity to be heard. One of the things that they said was that we did not have to give our names. While some people made a big deal out of their names and titles that people would recoginze in the community-such as pastors and medical proffessionals- the majority of people just wanted to use every second of their two minutes to get their concerns out. The news media picked and choosed which residents they broadcasted and took pieces of their opinions and focused on the ones that would make the most impact on their news story or as my grandmother would say the ones that would “stir the pot” or “create waves” in a primarily peaceful community. This meeting did not bring out the worst in people, like stated above. While most people are against this development, there were more concerns regarding the water and sewer, fire and rescue, and road issues than there were people talking against Islam. Our community is very upset because the company that purchased the property misled the county as to what they were going to use it for-and that this “lie” went on for a little over a year before even the Commissioners themselves were notified. THOSE are the real issues…yes, there were a handful of people who remarked on the fact they were afraid of the fact this was a Muslim facility and because of how the media, again, portrays Muslims, Isis, and the radical attitudes associated with them. But who could blame them? The media makes it out like every person in the religion of Islam is a terrorist-which is untrue. I personally know many wonderful peaceful loving Muslims.
What was not publicized was a paricular extremely vocal woman who refused to allow the cameras to focus on her, stating she did not give permission to be in photographs or video- who would not give her name, but didn’t hesitate to give her opinion that the community was against her as a Muslim…loudly vocalizing her opinion- but not allowing anyone to dicuss it with her, from the moment she arrived on the block to wait in line with the hundreds of other concerned citizens. She was the coward, she was the small minded bigot- that she was accusing “us” to be and by “us” I mean the hundreds of concerned citizens which included Republicans, Democrats, Christians, Jews, men and women, proffessionals and families…not just the “right-wing Conservative Christians” you so wrongfully accuse us of being.
I challenge you to check your facts and attend next time, if given the chance- that way you can include facts and be more informed before you write such a biased article- which it seems the only purpose was to cause more conflict and problems that report on the real situation.
I agree with every word you spoke here Laura, the New media are so miss leading.
Very well said Laura. You hit the nail on the head. The news media causes more problems than they are worth. They go out of their way to create problems instead of just report the news.