Giants Stadium sets aside prayer spaces, reacting to Muslims’ complaints

[gardenweasel]

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) -" A special area for people who want to pray will be set aside at Giants Stadium, where several Muslim fans were detained and questioned by the FBI in September, the stadium operator said Tuesday.

Sohail Mohammed, lawyer for the Totowa-based American Muslim Union, met Sunday with officials from the sports complex, private vendors and the FBI to educate them about the cultural and religious practices of Islam.

George Zoffinger, president of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, said he agreed to designate areas to pray at the football stadium and the nearby Continental Airlines Arena. "We took it seriously. We did not like the connotation that we were profiling. We weren’t,” he said.

The FBI said it detained five Muslim men Sept. 19 because they were in a sensitive area near the stadium’s main air intake duct. The men said they had been praying, and said they believed they had been singled out because of their faith.

Security was extra tight that night because former President Bush was on hand as part of a fundraising campaign for victims of Hurricane Katrina."


:mj16: :nooo:

i`m thinking about suing a church around the corner...they don`t have a big screen t.v.....if i ever decide to stop by on a sunday,i`d like to be able to stay abreast of the games....


we`ve truly lost our f-cking minds in this country...

 

[StevieD]

Got to agree with you on this one GW.

 

[LUX]

we`ve truly lost our f-cking minds in this country...

Amen, what a freakin joke.

 

[ELVIS]

:cursin: - praying for a giants "win" i'm sure....


nothing suprises me any more in this county. praying, who goes to a baseball game to pray..... too bad a few stray beer bottles (glass) didn't get tossed their direction.

ps. go home if you want to pray. preferably a home far away from the USA. :sadwave:

 

[Mjolnir]

freakin joke.

 

[MrChristo]

:cursin: - praying for a giants "win" i'm sure....


nothing suprises me any more in this county. praying, who goes to a baseball game to pray..... too bad a few stray beer bottles (glass) didn't get tossed their direction.

ps. go home if you want to pray. preferably a home far away from the USA. :sadwave:

And yet it's perfectly acceptable....preferable even!!...For those on the field to whack their chests and point to God every time they come up with a half decent play????

Can't ever get enough of that, can we.

 

[THE KOD]

thats nuts giving them their own prayer station. Dont want to upset them and burn the stadium down ?

Its a crazy world but we live here.

 

[freelancc]

:mj13:

 

[ELVIS]

hmmm, kids not allowed to hold group prayer in school, but we are building a prayer area for muslims....... only the visionaries in san francisco could come up with this stroke on genius.

 

[Nosigar]

And yet it's perfectly acceptable....preferable even!!...For those on the field to whack their chests and point to God every time they come up with a half decent play????

Can't ever get enough of that, can we.

Forgive us, far superior non-westerner, panderer to murderous muddafuqkers. If 5 christians or jews stood around an air duct in suspicious manner I'd hope they would be questioned also, especially if the prez was in the stadium.

And perhaps we can give the players a special place on the sidelines to run over after a good play so that they can whack their chests incomplete isolation? Wouldn't that be nice! Although not all necesarrilly thump their chests to the Lord, maybe it's to a fallen familiy member or friend.

I really hope you're not a true representative of your country's youth cuase it will be gone in 30 years.

What a pandering mofo! Go fuqk yourself

 

[kosar]

Everything about this is ridiculous. F*ck that!

Mr. Christo,

Obviously I agree with your war comments and I think you have this debacle very well thought out. You are generally very intelligent, but your comments making this nonsense similar to players raising their arms in the sky is not a good comparison. Not at all.

 

[MrChristo]

Forgive us, far superior non-westerner, panderer to murderous muddafuqkers. If 5 christians or jews stood around an air duct in suspicious manner I'd hope they would be questioned also, especially if the prez was in the stadium.

And perhaps we can give the players a special place on the sidelines to run over after a good play so that they can whack their chests incomplete isolation? Wouldn't that be nice! Although not all necesarrilly thump their chests to the Lord, maybe it's to a fallen familiy member or friend.

I really hope you're not a true representative of your country's youth cuase it will be gone in 30 years.

What a pandering mofo! Go fuqk yourself

Had a bit too much to drink this ThanksGiving, sir??

1) I'm as Western as you...Not that it matters one **** what-so-ever.

2) Nope. No more superior than you, I'm afraid.

3) Yes, of course. All Muslims are murderers. Sorry!

4) Absolutely. I'd expect any 'suspicious' character to be asked to move on....except it seems that dark men with beard are far more suspicious looking than a white guy in a baseball cap.

5) I'd like to think I'm a 'youth', but at 29 I'm on the downhill slide I'm afraid! :cursin:

6) So...It's perfectly ok to 'pray' in the US, so long as it's to the 'right' God?...of course it is!

7) You don't think EVERYONE in this world has a 'fallen family member or friend'??

What will it take for some of you to learn the word 'hypocrisy'??

 

[MrChristo]

Everything about this is ridiculous. F*ck that!

Mr. Christo,

Obviously I agree with your war comments and I think you have this debacle very well thought out. You are generally very intelligent, but your comments making this nonsense similar to players raising their arms in the sky is not a good comparison. Not at all.

Mate, as silly as it sounds after all this...I DO, absolutely think it is rediculous that any particular group would get an area set aside to pray.
Madness. 100%.

But sorry, I honestly find the whole, pandering to God (sorry, don't really know how to phrase it!), thing every bit as bad.
I do.
I mean, how ****ing hypocritical can people be??...One catch/tackle/good throw/what-ever and it's due to the grace of God....off the field these same people are the Minnesota Vikings that the country is somehow appalled about!! (and don't for one second try to tell me that the Vikes were an isolated incident!).

I mean, honestly...what a fantastic 'Christian' attitude....Throw beer bottles at them and tell them to **** off out of the US.
Good Lord!!! :clap:

 

[ELVIS]

i wish the muslims would leave the US and all of them move to your country - as you are far more tolerant than i.

regardless, of the profiling. you were not in memphis after 9/11 on the campus at the U of M where the muslim faction was gloating after the towers fell - there is a bit of resentment here.

i view the practices of san francisco gov as a direct threat to my freedoms : gun control,etc. so i am not too sold on this crew to begin with.

given the events of 9/11 and the number of arrests after that and the continued incidents in this country - regarding muslims - it is somewhat logical to be suspicious and not so tolerant.

ie. in memphis, a few months ago, we arrested an arab student in memphis - who had books on flying, been in school for 6-7 yrs, books on how to mimic a pilot, and he was being funded by a unnamed source, the sob didn't have a job and also had an impressive amount of electronic equipment.
so forgive me if i am a bit peeved by these people and their practices. it appears that whether they are innocent or guilty they get their kicks by making others uncomfortable with their actions. ie. group prayer by a f'n air vent!!!!!!!

regardless of what i say or do - i am wrong and radicals are right. unfortunately, when i am proved to be correct, it will be after another successful attack on American soil.

ps. i would like the troops to come home as well. sounds like we could use their presence at a few major league stadiums.

 

[MrChristo]

ELVIS...I don't doubt your passion at all....I don't doubt your fear at all...honestly! (I'm not being patronising, I promise)...

i wish the muslims would leave the US and all of them move to your country - as you are far more tolerant than i.

...but see this is the reaction I just can't handle.

Like it, or not, there are at least 5 million Muslims in the US....and let's be fair about this...4.9999 million of them are fair, reasonable, hard working people like you, who just happen to worship a different God (although that is debatable aswell...haha!.. but for another time!)

Hey, of course there are weirdo's!! Absolutely there are!...But the hard fact is that there is just as many US born 'Christian' weirdo's.
(Unabomber...Oklahoma bomber...Columbine students...the guy who sentt mail bombs in the shape of a skull on the map...etc. etc. etc.....)

Look, for the record I am not a Muslim...I live in Australia...I have no religious leanings at all.....

...and, as much as I disagree with (as I've said) anyone having a 'special' area....How the hell is it a 'direct threat to your freedom'???
Surely you're quite free to go to the game and act as normal??...
..who cares if there are 50/100/200 people in the stadium who need a little more room to pray than you do when da Raiders have a 4th and goal on the 1?

regardless of what i say or do - i am wrong and radicals are right. unfortunately, when i am proved to be correct, it will be after another successful attack on American soil.

Unfortunately this is true! Radicals (Muslim or otherwise) will always find a way to hurt people!
No matter how many arabs you search at an airport...no matter how many people you ask to move away from an air vent***...The lowest of the low in this world will find a way to hurt innocent people.
Now, of course I don't mean to stop trying!!...But I really get, well, offended I suppose, by this huge over-reaction.......Just as you get totally offended/frustrated by the over-reaction of the "civil-libertarians", which I don't condone one little bit.

*** Now, I'm not trying to inflame things....but if it was such a sensitive area, was it actually roped off???
Would there have been the same reaction if a group of white guys were tossing a football around in the same space??

Anyway....deep down...all emotions aside....I thik we all agree!! Pandering to any religion is bad. End of story.

 

[djv]

Well some of these comments reminds me of the south when they were done with there slaves. They thought they should all move back to Africa. Problem was they offer them no boats going that way. This prayer stuff is getting redone to much. To many folks using religion for attention getter.

 

[Nosigar]

Had a bit too much to drink this ThanksGiving, sir??

1) I'm as Western as you...Not that it matters one **** what-so-ever.

2) Nope. No more superior than you, I'm afraid.

3) Yes, of course. All Muslims are murderers. Sorry!

4) Absolutely. I'd expect any 'suspicious' character to be asked to move on....except it seems that dark men with beard are far more suspicious looking than a white guy in a baseball cap.

5) I'd like to think I'm a 'youth', but at 29 I'm on the downhill slide I'm afraid! :cursin:

6) So...It's perfectly ok to 'pray' in the US, so long as it's to the 'right' God?...of course it is!

7) You don't think EVERYONE in this world has a 'fallen family member or friend'??

What will it take for some of you to learn the word 'hypocrisy'??

Sorry but no post thangksgiving drinking here, mate.

I stated the obvious and stand by my words. Your silly pandering and comparison is beyond ridiculous. You sound like a stereotype of the liberal machine, period.
If there were to be any special religious favoritism in THIS country it should be towards christians/judeo, simply put. And there really is none.

Clearly it's easy for you to call those who disagree with you hypocrites or bigots. What else are you gonna do? Of course, for muslims you will try to understand their plight and reasons behind such sentiments, but good ole regular folks in their own country are lambasted for even uttering a negative thought against a culture that is totally foreign to their own and capable of overtaking it. In our case it will never happen as long as we have truthful and honest people pushing back against the waves of Political "Corruptness" and pandering.

BTW, I didn't say all people had fallen family members or friends that they pointed up to, dumb arse, it means that not always does that action have a religious connotation. Religion is highly overrated by the left.

Yes, all mulims are murderers

What the fuq are you in kindergarten? Let's go to the most obvious extreme to prove a damn neo-socialist point of view. Man, no wonder you folks can't reason.

No, not more superior than you, I'm afraid

. Afraid of what. Not being superior? DO you think I believe myself superior? That would be the day. Be afraid of other things. That fear liberals have tried to use against conservatives/neocons is so trite people rarely listen anymore. Another ridiculous liberal ploy. Yeah, I'm really afraid of pandering liberals. They'll be the end of us.

4) Absolutely. I'd expect any 'suspicious' character to be asked to move on....except it seems that dark men with beard are far more suspicious looking than a white guy in a baseball cap.

Yeah, I remember those fat gut belly white guys hiding explosives under their baseball caps while killing dozens of innocent civilians. Oh, perhaps you refer to the nasty military invaders targeting young innocent children in a war?
Oh, yeah, McVeigh. Sure, maybe someone can make a case for him being a freedom fighter.

LIsten, I'm not sorry for any of my comments but will try to lessen the f-bombing. :cursin: But put simply this pandering has turned ridiculous and we shouldn't have to stand for that crap.

 

[MrChristo]

Oh, yeah, McVeigh. Sure, maybe someone can make a case for him being a freedom fighter.

Freedom fighter? He was a ****ing nutter!!

Which is exactly my point....****ing nutters exist in all forms, in all countries, in all religions!

Forgive us, far superior non-westerner, panderer to murderous muddafuqkers

Yes, all mulims are murderers

What the fuq are you in kindergarten? Let's go to the most obvious extreme to prove a damn neo-socialist point of view. Man, no wonder you folks can't reason.

??? :shrug:
Isn't that exactly what you have done throughout this whole thread?....I think it's pretty clear that your view is exactly that...extreme!
Sorry then, I'll be more specific....
Are the people who were asked to move along murderers?
Is there any evidence what-so-ever pointing to any form of wrong doing?
Are the foreign citizens? Illegal immigrants? Have a murderous plot?
You're the one who seems to think...well, just what you wrote!...Needs no explaining really, does it?

but good ole regular folks in their own country

Man, you don't know how stupid that sounds!!! ...Strangely enough, there are more to Good Ole Regular People in the US (West as a whole) than white guys with shotguns and beer guts!!!
If you want to live life being constantly worried about everyone that doesn't look, think, pray like you, then there's not much I can tell ya....

Clearly it's easy for you to call those who disagree with you hypocrites or bigots. What else are you gonna do?

Nothing. Exactly. But I'm sorry, I do find it absolutely hypocritical when good Christian folk somehow go from; Love Thy Neighbour, and Let He Who is to Be Judged...etc. etc....to "let's throw beer bottles at people"....and, "It's about time they all ****ed off home" (of course, never once stopping to think that for 95% of them, America is 'home').
"Lord, I ask you to look over our family, and if it's not too much to ask, how about smoting those pesky Muslims!" :clap:

But put simply this pandering has turned ridiculous and we shouldn't have to stand for that crap.

I've said 4 times already that I agree....

LIsten, I'm not sorry for any of my comments but will try to lessen the f-bombing.

The f-bombing was by far the most amusing part!

 

[moe777]

ELVIS...I don't doubt your passion at all....I don't doubt your fear at all...honestly! (I'm not being patronising, I promise)...

i wish the muslims would leave the US and all of them move to your country - as you are far more tolerant than i.

...but see this is the reaction I just can't handle.

Like it, or not, there are at least 5 million Muslims in the US....and let's be fair about this...4.9999 million of them are fair, reasonable, hard working people like you, who just happen to worship a different God (although that is debatable aswell...haha!.. but for another time!)

Hey, of course there are weirdo's!! Absolutely there are!...But the hard fact is that there is just as many US born 'Christian' weirdo's.
(Unabomber...Oklahoma bomber...Columbine students...the guy who sentt mail bombs in the shape of a skull on the map...etc. etc. etc.....)

Look, for the record I am not a Muslim...I live in Australia...I have no religious leanings at all.....

...and, as much as I disagree with (as I've said) anyone having a 'special' area....How the hell is it a 'direct threat to your freedom'???
Surely you're quite free to go to the game and act as normal??...
..who cares if there are 50/100/200 people in the stadium who need a little more room to pray than you do when da Raiders have a 4th and goal on the 1?

regardless of what i say or do - i am wrong and radicals are right. unfortunately, when i am proved to be correct, it will be after another successful attack on American soil.

Unfortunately this is true! Radicals (Muslim or otherwise) will always find a way to hurt people!
No matter how many arabs you search at an airport...no matter how many people you ask to move away from an air vent***...The lowest of the low in this world will find a way to hurt innocent people.
Now, of course I don't mean to stop trying!!...But I really get, well, offended I suppose, by this huge over-reaction.......Just as you get totally offended/frustrated by the over-reaction of the "civil-libertarians", which I don't condone one little bit.

*** Now, I'm not trying to inflame things....but if it was such a sensitive area, was it actually roped off???
Would there have been the same reaction if a group of white guys were tossing a football around in the same space??

Anyway....deep down...all emotions aside....I thik we all agree!! Pandering to any religion is bad. End of story.

well said ,mrcristo...btw remember the atlanta olympics pipe bomb,fat white guy with a baseballcap.

 

[moe777]

i do think a stadium is no place to set up a prayer section though.