Associated Press, via Evangelical Right:
Many neighborhood 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 Web site 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 neighbor 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.
Muslims don't actually hate pigs, so it's not likely that they'll be offended by them. But the fact that the intent is to offend is offensive enough.
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 rumor 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.
The image we get from the story of Katy, TX isn't good.
Besides keeping track of the running total of post-Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the Web site provides home addresses of some association members and advises people who see anything suspicious to contact the FBI. Many people have sent anti-Islamic e-mails to the site.
A few complaints about the mosque project have also trickled in to Harris County offices: The "Coming Soon" sign was on government property; the parking lot gravel was piled up without a permit; the project would increase traffic in the quiet neighborhood.
Although there was one american among them. A man showed up at the mosque to apologize for his neighbors. "He moved me, really," Kamel Fotouh, president of the 500-member Katy Islamic Association, said. "The sense of fairness, the sense of standing by the underdog." But here's the kicker:
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."
So, even though there's no reason to hold the meant-to-be-offensive pig races, he's going to go ahead and do it anyway.
About that total idiot thing? Dude, that ship has sailed...
Tags: news | politics | Islam | Texas | hate | morons
