Sensitivity Training

Ken AshfordGodstuff, Tea Party, War On ChristmasLeave a Comment

Don't tell me the anti-mosque crusade isn't about bigotry and racism.  Sure, the anti-mosque-eteers might give some lip to service to their notion that a "mosque" "at" Ground Zero offends the 9/11 families, but it doesn't take much to see that what's going on is more sinister: they don't want the mosque because they just don't like olive-skinned people.  Read this … Read More

Truth Gets Its Boots On

Ken AshfordConstitution, Godstuff, Right Wing and Inept Media, War on Terrorism/TortureLeave a Comment

The Associated Press sent out a memo today to its writers and editors advising that they should no longer use the phrase "Ground Zero mosque" to describe the controversial Islamic cultural center and former Burlington Coat Center store, located in lower Manhattan two blocks (and out of view) from Ground Zero. While I applaud the Associated Press for its stance, this would … Read More

Kathleen Parker On Why The “Mosque” Should Be Built

Ken AshfordConstitution, Godstuff, War on Terrorism/TortureLeave a Comment

She's a conservative, and she's making sense. This is why plans for the mosque near Ground Zero should be allowed to proceed, if that's what these Muslims want. We teach tolerance by being tolerant. We can't insist that our freedom of speech allows us to draw cartoons or produce plays that Muslims find offensive and then demand that they be … Read More

Hallowed Ground?

Ken AshfordGodstuff, War on Terrorism/TortureLeave a Comment

   In most cities, including Washington, 13 stories constitute a very tall building. But in the environment of Lower Manhattan, Cordoba House will be just another structure—which is not exactly consistent with the view that it is a Towering Monument to Jihad. In short, people are overestimating the extent to which this building will interact with, or be noticeable from, … Read More

“I Mean, Come On” Clause Of the Constitution

Ken AshfordGodstuff, War on Terrorism/TortureLeave a Comment

House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) chatted with National Review this week, and shared his thoughts on the proposed Cordoba House a couple of blocks from Ground Zero in lower Manhattan. Cantor gave the kind of thoughtful, well-reasoned response we've come to expect from the GOP leader. "Everybody knows America's built on the rights of free expression, the rights to practice your faith, but … Read More

The Mosque Controversy: Partly Ginned Up, Partly Bigotry of the Worst Kind

Ken AshfordGodstuff, War on Terrorism/TortureLeave a Comment

Adam Serwer's link-o-riffic piece is right on the money, mostly: The New York Times has a new piece up on Faisal Rauf and Daisy Khan, the couple behind the proposed Islamic community center near Ground Zero that has brought rank Islamophobia into the Republican mainstream: "Daisy Khan, who immigrated, also as a teenager, to Jericho, on Long Island, from Kashmir, married Imam Feisal in 1997. They … Read More

Once Again, With Feeling

Ken AshfordGodstuff, War on Terrorism/TortureLeave a Comment

I can't believe the debate about the proposed "mosque" to be located "at Ground Zero" is still going on. So much of what you read from the anti-mosque-eteers is just plain wrong.  So, at the risk of repeating myself: (1)  This isn't really a mosque.  There are going to be any minarets, for example.  Or bells chiming at all hours of the … Read More

Can Universities Expel Students For Their Anti-Homosexual Views?

Ken AshfordEducation, Godstuff2 Comments

The story is in the news this week not once, but twice. First, in Georgia: (July 27) When officials at Georgia's Augusta State University told counseling student Jennifer Keeton they were concerned her outspoken Christian views might affect her ability to work with gay, lesbian and transgender clients, they gave her a choice: participate in a remediation plan or leave … Read More

Palin Tweets Again (and Again) About Downtown Manhattan Mosque

Ken AshfordElection 2012, Godstuff, War on Terrorism/TortureLeave a Comment

The controversy, for those unaware, centers around the proposed building of a mosque "at Ground Zero".  This has sent conservatives into an apoplectic fit. It doesn't seem to matter that the mosque is to be built three city blocks from Ground Zero, and not at Ground Zero. It doesn't seem to matter that the mosque is really more than just a mosque.  Called the … Read More

Funny Story

Ken AshfordEducation, Godstuff1 Comment

So it seems the Creation Research Graduate School wanted to offer a Masters of Science program and have it accredited.   So they decided to set up shop in Texas (moving from California). So the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, which approves curricular programs for accreditation, looked at the CRGS Masters of Science program and said, "Uh, this isn't science.  This … Read More

The Other Supreme Court Case

Ken AshfordConstitution, Godstuff, Supreme Court1 Comment

There will be much talk today and in the weeks to come about the Second Amendment case (below). But the Supreme Court handed down an interesting First Amendment case as well today, Christian Legal Society v. Martinez. The case involves discrimination — i.e., one's right to free speech and to freely associate. The facts are simple:  Hastings College of Law … Read More