For those of us who live in the Hampton Roads area Pat Robertson is a perennial embarrassment - sort of the psychotic crazy uncle the family would prefer to keep out of sight but who persists in shooting off his mouth or getting involved in issues many would prefer he avoided. Anyone familiar with Robertson's career as a snake oil merchant/televangelist knows that he abhors the concept of freedom of religion for anyone other than his fellow Christo-fascists Kool-Aid drinkers. Now the inappropriately named American Center for Law and Justice - founded by brother Pat - has filed a lawsuit seeking to bar the construction of an Islamic community center (which the lazy in the MSM, including the Virginian Pilot, continue to call a mosque as they merely parrot the Christo-fascists) near "Ground Zero" in New York City. Can you imagine the conniption fits Robertson and his sheeple would have if the construction of a Christian community center were being blocked. Sakes alive, the spittle would be flying and brother Pat woulds be all but writhing on the floor. Here are highlights from the Virginian Pilot:*
The debate over a planned Islamic community center and mosque near ground zero became a court fight Wednesday, as a conservative advocacy group sued to try to stop a project that has become a fulcrum for balancing religious freedom and the legacy of the Sept. 11 attacks.
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The American Center for Law and Justice, founded by the Rev. Pat Robertson, filed suit Wednesday to challenge a city panel's decision to let developers tear down a building to make way for the mosque two blocks from ground zero.
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City attorneys are confident the landmarks group adhered to legal standards and procedures, Law Department spokeswoman Kate O'Brien Ahlers said. A spokesman for the planned Islamic center, Oz Sultan, declined to comment on the lawsuit but said organizers were continuing to work toward choosing an architect.
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The group behind the $100 million project, the Cordoba Initiative, describes it as a Muslim-themed community center. Early plans call not only for prayer space but for a swimming pool, culinary school, art studios and other features. Developers envision it as a hub for interfaith interaction, as well as a place for Muslims to bridge some of their faith's own schisms.
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"We want to create a model that shows the world that you can develop moderate Muslim communities," Sultan said Wednesday. "We would admonish people to, at least, give us a fair shake."
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Opponents, including some Sept. 11 victims' relatives, see the prospect of a mosque so near the destroyed trade center as an insult to the memory of the nearly 3,000 people killed by Islamic terrorists in the 2001 attacks.
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For now, the court case centers on the legalities of the landmarks commission's vote, which the lawsuit seeks to overturn. The existing, Italianate building was built for shipping magnates and later occupied by the pharmaceuticals giant Merck & Co., among other businesses.
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The law center argues it deserves landmark status for its architectural features — and for its newer historical significance as a structure that withstood being hit by debris from one of the hijacked jetliners used in the terrorist attacks.
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What the lawsuit really comes down to is a situation where Christianist sensibilities are give special status over the constitutional rights of other citizens - the same thing that lies behind every anti-gay law on the books in this country. The Christian Right, in my view, continues to be a clear and present danger to the U.S. Constitution and needs to be stopped.
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