Murfreesboro Mosque Protest and Counter-Protest (1 of 4)

This was the beginning of the counter-rally to the anti-mosque march in Murfreesboro, TN. We were waiting for the arrival of the marchers. This guy did a really great job keeping the group organized.

Background info: According to a fellow protestor I talked with, there has been an Islamic Center in Murfreesboro since the 1980s. Due to a growing Muslim population in the area, and in order to expand the facilities to include those found in many mega churches (such as a gym and a library), they decided to change locations. (http://tiny.cc/fis5a )

A new location for it has already been approved by the city council, but certain members of the community (particularly, members of the World Outreach mega church) want that approval revoked. They are doing so based on the belief that all of Islam is a terrorist ideology, and the fear that the local mosque and Islamic center would be there to train radicals. The chants and signs of the anti-mosque protestors show this. The formal statements of their supporters, like aspiring congresswoman Lou Anne Zelenik show this (http://tiny.cc/8qcsa ). (She quotes MLK in order to justify excluding people from their community based on religion -- that made me cringe.)

I was thoroughly impressed with the pro-mosque rally: it was really well organized, well done, and full of locals young and old -- I was proud to do my part in defense of first amendment freedoms. Go go, Constitution! :-)

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• Murfreesboro
• TN
• Tennessee
• mosque
• rally
• protest

[CousinoMacul]

If you use a link shortening service such as tinyurl[DOT]com, that should fix your problem with the broken links in the description.

[pmcrimson]

@CousinoMacul  *Done.* Thanks for the suggestion.

[CryptoDriver]

A bunch of college hippy wannabe kids who are NOT from Murfreesboro and DON'T live there are protesting people who wanted due process to be followed.  Classic.

[Maxdwolf]

@CryptoDriver I can see that protesting such construction on the basis of traffic. But I haven't seen any argument regarding due process and I don't believe this is truly about either. Why gather and sing "God Bless America" to protest a mosque if this isn't about religion and culture?

And if you look at the crowd it contains people of all ages. Not just a bunch of kids.

[pmcrimson]

@Maxdwolf Oh, the protests had nothing to do with city traffic. I'll soon add links to articles explaining what the actual situation was. Thanks for your comment. :-)

[pmcrimson]

@CryptoDriver Actually, most of the people there were from MTSU or were locals. I live nearby and a local friend asked me for his support, so I was happy to oblige. But I was in a great minority.

The anti-mosque group is, thankfully, using legal methods (the mosque has already been approved through due process; they're trying to get that approval revoked), but their chants were about excluding Muslims from their town because they think all Muslims are terrorists. I'll add footage of this soon.

[Jakeak74]

America is turning into another Crazy country.... What the FUCK happened to FREEDOM OF RELIGION who cares if muslims want to build a mosque.. you don't see hundreds of muslims protesting christians building another church it's not like there's few churches down south. not all muslims are "terrorists" all this does is make america look VERY ignorant. last I checked this "war" was against "terrorism" not a Religion. America is gonna fall and I'm just gonna sit back and laugh.

[XxxHAMADxOMARxxX]

Maybe the reason for the protest was because it was "too close to Ground Zero." Freedom of religion just doesn't qualify to your standards. Hey, Europeans stole the real "NATIVE AMERICANS" land... and yet call it their own. I have no idea why we don't conform to their culture before any culture. Yeah, hypocrites. Peace.

[TheGrinchsLair]

Everything will die eventually. How will we choose to live?

[TheMadRaver]

I blame the nearby Tyson Foods plant for this mess. Years ago I had to do some service work there and it was stuffed full of Somalian Muslims that Tyson brought in for cheap labor.

Stand your ground Murfreesboro!

[HookemHorns972]

@XxxHAMADxOMARxxX

wells said.

[HookemHorns972]

@Wolfsbane909

there is no freedom of religion in those countries you idiot, unlike in American where it's the FIRST damn amendment in the so called constitution.

[qamerunisa]

If some people want to build a place of worship. (it happened to be muslims and place is Mosque. I do not see any thing wrong. Just like some christians want to build a chruch ,if it is ok. then I think it is ok too to build a mosque. This country is melting pot. Every culture and every religion exist here.. America is against terrorism not any religion. Please calm down.

[CaligirlSofia]

@CryptoDriver

they are for the 1st amendment, i guess your not a true american

[fluffydolly]

murfeesboro....great job!!!!

[cory18011801]

Gotta love Murfreesboro!

[WillExposeYou]

I moved from The Boro last year after living there 9 years. Sitting 12 times at the light to make a left turn onto Old Fort from NW Broad is business as usual. Crime is also business as usual and these are not people that own homes and live in that community- just people with nothing better to do. Get on a bus and go home.