Jewish vs Muslims ... in Florida?

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-19-2008
Jewish vs Muslims ... in Florida?
3
Thu, 01-15-2009 - 1:28pm

A war of words, not of weapons. Which is nice, at least in the U.S. disagreements can be resolved with talk. I think the Muslims have a right to post their beliefs, provided they pay the rate any other similar institution would be charged. What do you think?

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-flbbus0115sbjan15,0,2283777,print.story

Muslim ads on county buses drive Jewish group to protest

Muslim group says reference to Abraham, Moses and Jesus not intended to offend, but Americans Against Hate activist says message is misleading

There's a new front in the conflict between Jew and Muslim: Broward County buses.

Fifty of the county's 290-bus fleet have been chugging around area streets for the past several weeks with a message that might seem more oblique than inflammatory. Black letters on a white backdrop proclaim, "ISLAM: The Way of Life of Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad."

The $60,000 ad was paid for by the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

"We owe it to our fellow Americans to let them know that Islam stands for peace," said Altaf Ali, director of CAIR's South Florida chapter. "Muslims are here and Muslims are part and parcel of the United States."

But the words have inspired opposition from a group called Americans Against Hate, led by Jewish activist Joe Kaufman. The group says the ad is misleading because it implies that Abraham, Moses and Jesus were Muslim.

"That's offensive to both Jews and Christians," said Kaufman, a resident of Coral Springs.

County officials have rejected Kaufman's request they remove the ads. Now he plans a rally outside County Hall at noon Friday.

"We want to send a message right to the commission that it's not right to legitimize this organization," he said.

Both CAIR and AAH accuse each other of being affiliated with terrorists.

Kaufman notes the U.S. Department of Justice labeled CAIR an "unindicted co-conspirator" in a Dallas case which last November saw five leaders of the Holy Land Foundation, a Muslim charity, convicted of providing more than $12 million in support to the Hamas terrorist organization.

Ali, who lives in Pembroke Pines, counters that Kaufman is affiliated with the Kahanist Movement founded by Rabbi Meir Kahane, who advocated removing all Muslims from Israel.

Because of its terrorist activities, the group was banned in Israel and its U.S. assets were frozen.

Kaufman writes for the right-leaning Web publication Front Page Magazine, and once called for nuclear attacks on Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq. Since founding Americans Against Hate as a terrorism watchdog group, he wrote that "pure merciless force" was the only way to deal with Muslims.

"He's a man who advocates for killing," Ali said.

Ali said the ad accurately describes Abraham, Moses and Jesus. "A Muslim is anyone who submits their will to God," he said. "By that definition Abraham and all the prophets are Muslim because they submitted their will to God."

As to CAIR's alleged ties to Hamas, Ali said: "There is no credible evidence that that is true. Unindicted means unindicted."

Kaufman remains unconvinced. "They are an organization that's connected to the terrorist group Hamas," he said.

Broward County Transit spokeswoman Phyllis Berry said the county accepted CAIR's message because it didn't violate guidelines against ads that demean religions. The county also accepts ads from Christian churches, and courts have designated buses as "public forums" where free speech rights apply.

The ads will run through Jan. 26, but may be the last of their kind on county buses.

"We have restrictions on cigarettes and adult entertainment, and we should eliminate religious ads hereafter," County Commissioner Suzanne Gunzburger said at Tuesday's commission meeting.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-18-2000
Fri, 01-16-2009 - 9:45am
>'The group says the ad is misleading because it implies that Abraham, Moses and Jesus were Muslim.

"That's offensive to both Jews and Christians," said Kaufman, a resident of Coral Springs."<


I don't believe it's misleading & I'm not offended.


Edited to add: To make a point that many of the more positive teachings in most religions have a common thread.


Last month I saw a compelling film on Sundance called "Jesus in India".


What occurred in Jesus's life between the ages of 12 and 30 is largely a mystery. Some scholars refer to this period as "the hidden years." Curious to explore this formative biographical period, English teacher Edward T. Martin and filmmaker Paul Davids investigate a theory that Jesus traveled the Silk Road as a young man and lived with both Hindus and Buddhists. In their quest, Martin travels more than 4000 miles through India and looks into reports of an ancient manuscript about Jesus housed in a remote monastery in Ladakh.



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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-23-2003
Fri, 01-16-2009 - 12:00pm

If I remember my facts correctly, Islam & Christianity have the same roots.


I know I wouldn't find it offensive if I were still a Christian.


iVillage Member
Registered: 03-18-2000
Fri, 01-16-2009 - 1:49pm











Richard Dawkins on bus running atheist bus advert

A Christian bus driver has refused to drive a bus with an atheist slogan proclaiming "There's probably no God".

Ron Heather, from Southampton, Hampshire, responded with "shock" and "horror" at the message and walked out of his shift on Saturday in protest.

First Bus said it would do everything in its power to ensure Mr Heather does not have to drive the buses.

Buses across Britain started displaying atheist messages in an advertising campaign launched earlier this month.

Mr Heather told BBC Radio Solent: "I was just about to board and there it was staring me in the face, my first reaction was shock horror.

"I felt that I could not drive that bus, I told my managers and they said they haven't got another one and I thought I better go home, so I did.




Ron Heather
Mr Heather said he was shocked at the "starkness" of the advert

"I think it was the starkness of this advert which implied there was no God."

When he returned to work on Monday he was called into a meeting with managers and agreed to go back to work with the promise he would only have to drive the buses if there were no others available.

First Bus said in a statement: "As a company we understand Mr Heather's views regarding the atheist bus advert and we are doing what we can to accommodate his request not to drive the buses concerned."

It added: "As an organisation we don't endorse any of the products or sentiments advertised on our buses.

"The content of this advert has been approved by the Advertising Standards Agency and therefore it is capable of being posted on static sites or anywhere else."

The advertising campaign is backed by the British Humanist Association and prominent atheist, Professor Richard Dawkins.

Hanne Stinson, chief executive of the British Humanist Association, said: "I have difficulty understanding why people with particular religious beliefs find the expression of a different sort of beliefs to be offensive.

"I can't understand why some people seem to have a different attitude when it comes to atheists."

Pressure group Christian Voice has questioned the campaign's effectiveness but the Methodist Church said it would be a "good thing if it gets people to engage with the deepest questions of life" and suggested it showed there was a "continued interest in God".

The advertisements run on 200 bendy buses in London and 600 vehicles in England, Scotland and Wales.

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