(10-9) Sidney Update

[H2O Man]

I'd like to share an up-date on the continuing battle that is raging in the Delaware County of Sidney, NY. Today, in the weekend edition of The Daily Star (Oneonta), there was a powerful story about approximately 40 area religious leaders sending a letter to Sidney's Town Supervisor, Bob McCarthy. These clerics, from diverse religious backgrounds, asked that the Sidney Town Board drop its legal actions, which are aimed at forcing a tiny Sufi settlement to remove the graves from its private cemetery.

The cemetery meets all legal state and local requirements. In fact, the Sufi settlement has a permit, signed and sealed by a Sidney official, from 2005, for the cemetery. However, the legality does not appear to be the issue. McCarthy, a member of the radical right-wing Tea Party, has told reporters that he doesn't know or care about the law. This action was started by McCarthy and fellow card-carrying Tea Partiers, in response to their anger over a proposed Islamic community center near Ground Zero in New York City. A recent article on Huffington Post quoted an e-mail that McCarthy sent to a Tea Party friend, in which he stated that he does not believe that the Muslims qualify for any Constitutional protections.

I know quite a few of the religious leaders who co-signed this letter. A few are progressive; many are liberal; some are moderates, and many are conservative. They belong to different religions, including a variety of Christians from many different branches. I am pleased to see that they agree on the importance of the Sidney Town Board ending its campaign against the Sufi people.

Also, the letter states clearly that they recognize this as a political issue. They speak of the need for everyone to have the same protections in this country, and the great benefits of diversity.

Here is a link to the article about the letter:

http://thedailystar.com/localnews/x1477594182/Clergys-letter-supports-Sufi-order

[Doctor_J]

1. I think in the next few years we'll see fascism completely take hold in the US

You will see the radical right (teabaggers) virtually write their own laws - they will do anything they feel like doing, conforming to Beck's laws rather than the laws of the land. This is what the establishment repukes like Rove and Cheney have been doing for 20 years or so, and of course no one has done anything to stop them. Now the we'll see the same behavior from the ultra-right loonies, and with the courts packed with Scalias, Yoos, and the like, there won't be anything to stop them.

[RagAss]

3. Nobody has done anything to stop them yet.....yet.

[H2O Man]

4. They pose a real danger.

I think that we are seeing several huge divides within the country. The Tea Party faction does not strike me as having many deep thinkers in their ranks. But they are filled with rage, and willing to attack any group of "others," especially those they consider defenseless.

We are going to put them in political/social check in our area. Others need to do the same thing in their towns and cities.

[spanone]

2. he 'doesn't know or care about the law'...i guess that says it all.

what are we becoming?

[H2O Man]

5. When one takes pride

in willfull ignorance, as Bob "Joseph" McCarthy does, it amazes me. At long last, have they no sense of shame?

[pinboy3niner]

7. The answer, clearly, is no

Thanks for keeping us updated on the Sidney developments, H2O Man. Thank heaven McCarthy is on duty to heroically resist the imposition of Sharia law there. :sarcasm:

K&R :thumbsup:

[Angry Dragon]

6. And mccarty and his friends want this country ruled by religion ....

I wonder how many people will die from this religion war in this country ........

The terrorists have won .......... they have us fighting among ourselves

[Me.]

8. K