This trumps all as an American
I just heard that 80% of New Yorkers are opposed to the Islamic center being built in New York, near "Ground Zero". I understand and share some of their misgivings; it does feel somewhat like this religious group is giving us the collective finger by desiring to build so close to a site of national grieving...
However...
It is not our property. They own it. As Americans, they have the right to do with it as they wish.
Others also have the right to not work on building it; and in New York labor is still organized. Zoning laws may preclude the construction (although zoning against a religious use would be on some pretty shaky constitutional grounds.) There are a number of ways to stop this from being built, many of which go against the ideals the nation was founded upon. The best way (and, coincidentally, the most ethical) is thus:
Offer the owners of the property an amount sufficient to induce them to sell it without coercion.
If you cannot do that, sit down, be insulted, butt-hurt or whatever; but STFU. It ain't your property. This ain't a chicken processing plant or toxic waste dump. You have no say in this.
However...
It is not our property. They own it. As Americans, they have the right to do with it as they wish.
Others also have the right to not work on building it; and in New York labor is still organized. Zoning laws may preclude the construction (although zoning against a religious use would be on some pretty shaky constitutional grounds.) There are a number of ways to stop this from being built, many of which go against the ideals the nation was founded upon. The best way (and, coincidentally, the most ethical) is thus:
Offer the owners of the property an amount sufficient to induce them to sell it without coercion.
If you cannot do that, sit down, be insulted, butt-hurt or whatever; but STFU. It ain't your property. This ain't a chicken processing plant or toxic waste dump. You have no say in this.
posted by Drunkenrantz at 12:11 PM
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