NY Rep. Peter King: "Too many mosques in the country"

[sabra]

Run time: 02:09 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoDpfsQJ-N8   Posted on YouTube: September 19, 2007 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: September 20, 2007 By DU Member: sabra Views on DU: 1981

 

[rurallib]

1. We have a Rep. King in Iowa also.

He often makes statements like this so when I heard King I thought "here we go again."
Our King is more well known for his border fence designs and his 'dislike' of those of other color persuasions.

[Gato Moteado]

2. for once i actually agree with a repuke....there are too many mosques....

...in the US. and, i'll go even further than repuke king would ever dare to go. there are too many churches and temples as well. there's just too much damn organized religion in the US. we need less of it. absolutely none would be even better.

radical islam is a problem. you'd have to be out of your mind to not realize that. additionally religious extremists of all stripes are problems. i wish they'd all just go away and let the rest of us live in peace.

repuke king's statement obviously comes from his hatred of people and religions that are different than his own.

my statements come from my dislike of ALL organized religions.

[heliarc]

5. And I hope that ...

It comes from the indignation that we currently have a system that institutionalizes state subsidy of religion through the faith based initiatives program. Totally preposterous! I don't know that there are too many mosques temples and churches. Perhaps there are as many as religious people require to continue whatever nonsense and blather they want to do with their days off, but... religious groups in this country currently get way too much support from the government. IMHO.

[Bucky]

6. And don't forget to hate on disorganized religions. Man, they're evil too

And really, any kind of organized activity should be banned since we might disagree with them too. Also, disorganized behavior should be banned.

[Gato Moteado]

7. i didn't say anything about banning it

don't put words in my mouth.

i just said it's nonsense and there;s too much of it and i wish it would go away.

[theredpen]

9. There's a lot of that going around

Well, if you want to start the "going away" part with Judaism, you have an awful lot of company:

I'd say go after the Mormons after you've gotten your wish with the Jews. Or maybe the Jehovah's Witnesses. No one likes those door-knocking bastards.

[provis99]

10. you're not helping your case by posting pictures

of Christian nutcases, which the Klan are. Just gives more ammo to those who are more and more convincing me of the evils of organized religions.

[theredpen]

11. Society must be cleansed

Religion is the opiate of the masses and society must be cleansed of this evil.

[Gato Moteado]

13. you're comparing my wish that all organized religion would go away....

...with the kkk and their violence aimed at jews?

that's simply ridiculous.

i just wish more people would start thinking for themselves.

i'm sick of the legislation of morality, people flying planes into building, people strapping dynamite to themselves and walking through crowds, armies killing civilians, war and the increasing stigma attached to science in some schools. to try to equate that attitude with that of a communist or kkk member is absurd and disgusting.

[theredpen]

14. Sure, whatever you say

i'm sick of the legislation of morality, people flying planes into building, people strapping dynamite to themselves and walking through crowds, armies killing civilians, war and the increasing stigma attached to science in some schools.

Well then, why don't you march down to your nearest mainstream Church on Sunday, or Synagogue on Saturday and bitch at the worshipers. Of course, none of these people have ever considered flying a plane into anything other than a destination airport, strapped dynamite to anything other than a trouble tree stump, or ordered an army to kill civilians (well, if you go to Bush's church... I guess you could find somebody who did that). Statistically, you'd be hard pressed to find people who want to attack science (particularly if you go to a Jewish congregation, and I noticed you were careful not to leave them out).

Blaming things on religion that are, in fact, products of other, secular causes (namely imperialism and tribalism) is exactly what propagandists and hate groups do. Muslims fly planes into building for Allah! It has nothing to do with us having troops stationed in their country or our support for a bitter enemy!

Don't worry your pretty little head about our crypto-colonialism or our lack of interest in a working peace in Israel. Hey, if Israel was at peace, they wouldn't be a convenient "bad cop" to our "good cop" when dealing with neighbors like Egypt and that would be inconvenient, so let's make sure at least a few rockets land on Haifa from time to time, just to make sure that the Israelis are desperately dependent on our patronage. And remember, only terrorists don't want American troops on their soil!

Oh dear, I seem to have gotten into complicated geo-politics. Have I learned nothing from years of listening to Rush Limbaugh? Shouldn't I know by now that complex problems have simple, easy to understand, wrong answers? That's right, they do!

So, just turn off your brain and blame all of society's problems on religion and that way the military industrial complex doesn't have to deal with your anti-war whining — churchgoers do. That'll fix everything.

[Gato Moteado]

16. please

Statistically, you'd be hard pressed to find people who want to attack science (particularly if you go to a Jewish congregation, and I noticed you were careful not to leave them out).

i'm not trying to single any one religion out...stop pretending like that's what i'm trying to do. and, you're nuts if you don't think there isn't a growing number of the US evangelical population against science. it's not just the nutcases who don't want evolution taught in schools. the republican base is loaded with these idiots...that's why the repukes pander to them with horrible anti-scientific executive orders like banning federal funding of stem cell research.

So, just turn off your brain and blame all of society's problems on religion and that way the military industrial complex doesn't have to deal with your anti-war whining — churchgoers do. That'll fix everything.

i'm not blaming all society's problems on religion, but you're crazy if you don't see the damage that religion has caused throughout history. and, yeah, it's those churchgoing evangelicals (who like to throw jesus' name around a lot) who continue to vote for the pro-corporate, pro-war repukes. hypocrites and idiots, all of them.

[theredpen]

19. Call me crazy...

It's interesting how you toss stones at religion in general and then retreat behind what I can assure you is a common dislike of evangelical fundamentalists. The difference is that I understand what I'm talking about and you are clearly stringing together a bunch of cliches, stereotypes and popular misconceptions to make it appear as if you're making an argument. It is, for example, much like people who bash gays and when called on their homophobia, start focusing solely on homosexual pederasts.

It's a cheap rhetorical stunt.

but you're crazy if you don't see the damage that religion has caused throughout history

OK. I issue a request to every single time someone throws around this breezy claim. Maybe you could be the first person to answer it. If religion is a force for "damage" and if the world would be better off without it, then you should be able to find an example of a case where one group attacked another group solely on religious grounds. More specifically, you should be able to demonstrate that neither tribe, resources nor territory were an issue. Good luck with that.

it's those churchgoing evangelicals (who like to throw jesus' name around a lot) who continue to vote for the pro-corporate, pro-war repukes. hypocrites and idiots, all of them.

So... guilt by association, then? The many, many, many more mainstream believers in this world just have to "go away" because you are too lazy or ignorant to distinguish between them and the fundamentalists? You're a religiophobe.

[Gato Moteado]

20. yes, your highness

The difference is that I understand what I'm talking about and you are clearly stringing together a bunch of cliches, stereotypes and popular misconceptions

well, there you have it. you know what you're talking about, so it doesn't really make any sense to debate about it.

[theredpen]

8. So you oppose the UN Declaration of Human Rights

Freedom of belief is a fundamental human right.

my statements come from my dislike of ALL organized religions.

And that makes your opposition to human rights better... how?

[Gato Moteado]

12. freedom of belief is a fundamental right! i never said anything to the contrary

i wish you guys would stop creating a strawman. i never said religion should be outlawed. i just wish it would go away on its own.

believing in the tooth fairy is not illegal, but do you want to be around a bunch of adults that believe in it?

religion was created to control people. i'd like to start seeing more people thinking for themselves.

[theredpen]

15. "Go away on its own"

Interesting.

How is that going to happen? Is this sort of how certain people "go away on their own" when you burn crosses on their front lawn?

believing in the tooth fairy is not illegal, but do you want to be around a bunch of adults that believe in it?

If they didn't support Bush or his policies, I think I'd be delighted to be around such adults.

religion was created to control people. i'd like to start seeing more people thinking for themselves.

Jesus was executed by imperialists for telling people to think for themselves. Give Him a little credit. Also, where is the controlling nature in Buddhism or Sufism? Do you even know anything about religion or are you just one of those bitter people who escaped a childhood at the hands of dysfunctional "Bible believers"?

[Gato Moteado]

17. WTF?

Is this sort of how certain people "go away on their own" when you burn crosses on their front lawn?

excuse me....but who said anything about that? your posts are getting more annoying and disgusting. what's up with your obsession with the KKK?

Jesus was executed by imperialists for telling people to think for themselves. Give Him a little credit.

if jesus returned today, the people that fill the churches on sunday and chant his name would mistake him for a terrorist and report him to the department of homeland security. he'd be sent to gitmo before he knew what was happening.

i have no problems with the teachings of jesus. i have a problem with organized religions that regurgitate scripture the way they see fit to help their own agenda. i just don't see a need for these organizations. some people apparently do. you're apparently one of them. sorry to have offended you because i obviously don't understand the true purpose of religions.....silly me.

Also, where is the controlling nature in Buddhism or Sufism?

i don't see a controlling nature there. i have no problem with buddhism and sufism because of that. i don't see them as organized religions. i would, however, have a problem if a political party started pandering to them and those organizations became political tools of the state. luckily, i don't see that happening.

Do you even know anything about religion or are you just one of those bitter people who escaped a childhood at the hands of dysfunctional "Bible believers"?

grew up in a family of non-practicing catholics. went to catholic grade school. got my fill of it. went to a jesuit university and had to take some mandatory theology classes, i.e. the history of the church, etc. then i lived in the south long enough to be exposed to my fair share of bible thumpers. i have an interest in the relationship between religions and cultures, but i'm not schooled in it. so, i feel i have my right to my opinion about religion without being insulted and unfairly compared to the KKK. if you want to disagree with me, that's fine, but to infer that my dislike of organized religion is somehow like the KKK is totally ridculous and unacceptable.

[theredpen]

18. WTF? Indeed

i have no problem with buddhism and sufism because of that. i don't see them as organized religions.

Clever. Your sweeping generality doesn't work, so you arbitrarily redefine Buddhism and Sufism such that they don't fit under it. We need more geniuses like you dictating public policy — oh wait, we have geniuses like you dictating public policy and that's the problem with this country.

so, i feel i have my right to my opinion about religion without being insulted and unfairly compared to the KKK.

And your opinion is that you'd like it to "go away." Not in a KKK-making-black-people-go-away way, but go away. Glenn Greenwald has a http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2007/09/20/ledeen/index.html">terrific essay about the neo-conservative use of innuendo. He noted that neo-cons argue in charged, but non-specific phrases and that they refuse to explain what they mean by phrases like "go away."

Explain what you mean by "go away." Explain how your version of religion "going away" this doesn't make you a religiophobe.

[Gato Moteado]

21. enough

Your sweeping generality doesn't work, so you arbitrarily redefine Buddhism and Sufism such that they don't fit under it.

gimme a break. i'm hardly the only person in the world that doesn't consider buddhism or sufism organized religions. furthermore, i don't see buddhists and sufis coming down to latinamerica and imposing themselves upon the indigenous communities and trying to convert them.

furthermore, i never said i wanted to dictate public policy. quite the opposite...i don't want religious people or politicians that pander to them to be dictating public policy.

it's just strawman after strawman with you. take a break and get over yourself already. i voice my displeasure with organized religion and you feel you've got to attack me personally.

there's no innuendo with "going away". no hidden KKK or neocon meanings. just "go away" as in leave me alone....something i'm willing to bet a lot of people here wish you would do.

[theredpen]

23. I'll say!

i'm hardly the only person in the world that doesn't consider buddhism or sufism organized religions.

That doesn't mean that your position isn't — oh, how to say this nicely? — misinformed.

furthermore, i never said i wanted to dictate public policy. quite the opposite...i don't want religious people or politicians that pander to them to be dictating public policy.

Um, delineating who is and isn't allowed to participate in politics is a public policy issue. What, did you think it was? Foreign policy? Google "Nuremburg Laws."

i voice my displeasure with organized religion and you feel you've got to attack me personally.

Nice try. You stated your hearty agreement with a bigoted Republican on DEMOCRATIC Underground — in fact, you said he didn't go far enough with his views — and you're upset that someone reacted negatively?

just "go away" as in leave me alone....something i'm willing to bet a lot of people here wish you would do.

Oh goodness gracious and mercy me, why can't a guy post his agreement with a Republican bigot on a PUBLIC FORUM and just be left in peace? Who do the other memebers of that forum think they are, criticizing that opinion. Sheesh!

Hold still why I whack you with a clue-by-four, dude.

[Gato Moteado]

24. who needs the clue?

furthermore, i never said i wanted to dictate public policy. quite the opposite...i don't want religious people or politicians that pander to them to be dictating public policy.

Um, delineating who is and isn't allowed to participate in politics is a public policy issue. What, did you think it was? Foreign policy?

ah, well, very enlightening. there's the difference between you and i. apparently, you're in favor of religious people and politicians who pander to them dictating public policy and i'm against it. seems you're position is actually the one more akin to the bigoted republicans and the kkk and mine is the opposite. that ad hominem attack on me was just you redirecting your own self hate onto someone else.

additionally, you're really not very bright if you couldn't see that i was, in reality, criticizing rep king by pointing out that his stance was, in fact, a bigoted one since he singles out mosques and muslims. my point was that his statement was bigotry and that all religions should be held to the same standard of scrutiny. rep king most surely would disagree with me if you asked him.

all your insults and contrarian views and your superhuman knowledge of all things religious don't negate the fact that legislating morality is bad. why would you stand up for the republican side on that one? it boggles the mind. all the things that progressives like us fight for (freedom of choice, stem cell research, keeping prayer out of schools and religion out of science class, equality for gays and lesbians, legalization of marijuana, etc) are either non-existant or in constant danger because religious groups who like to control everyone have become too powerful and are dictating public policy through pandering politicians.
it's you who is in hearty agreement with the bigoted Republicans on DEMOCRATIC Underground.

you drew the line in the sand and now we all see which side you're on. you're right there with the bigoted rep king.

[theredpen]

25. Welcome to America

apparently, you're in favor of religious people and politicians who pander to them dictating public policy and i'm against it.

I am in favor of giving people the benefit of their civil and human rights. Religious people and the politicians who pander to them have a civil right in this country to engage in politics. I am opposed the policies they support, but I support their right to push those policies because I support American freedom.

The Constitution. Read it. Know it. Live it. You really went to a Jesuit University? Damn, I am embarrassed on behalf of the Order.

I never expressed opposition against freedom of choice, stem cell research, keeping prayer out of schools and religion out of science class, equality for gays and lesbians, legalization of marijuana, or any other progressive cause. I also didn't agree with a Republican bigot in some bizarre attempt to show how bigoted he is. Methinks thou doth protest too much.

I mean I have to ask, was Hitler's crime singling out the Jews or operating extermination camps in the first place? I look forward to your answer. It should be pretty entertaining.

[Gato Moteado]

26. freedom

I am in favor of giving people the benefit of their civil and human rights.

are you saying i'm not? one of your first mistakes (and you've made many) was equating my dislike of organized religion and my wish that "it would go away" as a desire to legislate against religion. that was quite an incredible stretch you made there in order to try to frame the discussion in your twisted way....i hope you didn't strain yourself.

i believe religious people have every right to think the way they think. but because i support american freedom, i do not support the idea that religious people or politicians that pander to them have the right to force their beliefs on the rest of the population, thereby limiting my civil rights. somehow, you're trying to twist my stance to make it seem i'm somehow against freedom. well, it's not working. you're just not making the case and i'll bet not a single person here is buying it.


so then you say this:

I am opposed the policies they support, but I support their right to push those policies because I support American freedom.

what you seem to be saying is that freedom means letting a minority of people decide what is moral and then try to force their morality on the rest of us. sounds to me like you'd be the one backing the KKK and the nazis and their freedom to impose their morality on the rest of society. sorry, not me. you might think the nazis and the KKK should have the freedom to push their destructive, anti-freedom policies, but not me. i'm going to have to differ with you there.

You really went to a Jesuit University? Damn, I am embarrassed on behalf of the Order.

don't worry, i don't associate myself with the catholic church, or any church for that matter. i'm a free thinker.

I never expressed opposition against freedom of choice, stem cell research, keeping prayer out of schools and religion out of science class, equality for gays and lesbians, legalization of marijuana, or any other progressive cause.

well, then, now you know what it's like to have someone put words in your mouth. so, maybe you should stop doing it to others.

I mean I have to ask, was Hitler's crime singling out the Jews or operating extermination camps in the first place?I look forward to your answer. It should be pretty entertaining.

is this another one of your lame attempts to try to compare a dislike for all organized religions to hitler's singling out jewish people. man, you're really twisted. to answer your question, from a legal standpoint i suppose hitler, like any anti-semitic douchebag, has a right to think or feel however he does regardless of how evil it is. when a person like that commits violent acts against those he doesn't like, that's when the crime is committed. personally. i wish hate groups like the nazis, the kkk, freepers, etc "would just go away" and leave the rest of us alone. knowing that won't happen, the best i can hope for is once any of those douchebags tries to infringe on the right of any human to live a peaceful life, they should be removed from society and put somewhere they can't hurt anyone.

i think what would be more entertaining would be watching you trying to squirm your way out of admitting that you would support hitler and the nazis' freedom of "pushing those policies" because you support freedom.

[theredpen]

27. Calm down

Whoo boy, you call someone on agreeing with Republicans and they get a little agitated. Maybe you shouldn't agree with Republicans in the first place.

i do not support the idea that religious people or politicians that pander to them have the right to force their beliefs on the rest of the population, thereby limiting my civil rights.

How have religious people limited your civil rights?

[heliarc]

3. He knows the fix is in...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEgBCkiV4DM

[chelsea0011]

4. Dems should demand a resolution on the floor of Congress

repudiating his comments. If the Senate hasn't anything better to do maybe the Reps should join in.

[provis99]

22. Gee, and I thought the problem was

too many jerks like Peter King raising money for terrorist groups, like the Irish Republican Army