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Traffic, sewage were concerns

I am a resident of Sugarcreek Twp., and my property is within 500 feet of the land that was purchased by the Greater Dayton Islamic Society.

The mosque was denied because it was detrimental to the area, because of the traffic study, and because of the sewage issue, with the sewage problem being, by far, the most important.

The mosque was to go into a residential area with houses within 25 feet of its property line. I feel I can speak for the residents along South Alpha-Bellbrook Road when I say opposition would have occurred had it been a department store, a bank or a Catholic church.

I attended the zoning meeting where 25 people spoke in favor of the mosque, 14 against and four were neutral. One of those four people stood up and thanked the crowd for keeping the discussion about the issues and not religion.

At the two neighborhood meetings the Islamic society hosted, it was very heated and, of course, religion was brought up. But when it mattered the most — at a zoning meeting where a permit could have been granted — the debate was about the sewer, the neighborhood itself and the major traffic concerns on a country road.

Robin Cordonnier

Sugarcreek Twp.

Quality of life is at stake

I am a bit frustrated with all the conversations regarding the mosque proposed in Sugarcreek Twp. What has been lost in all the rhetoric about religious intolerance are the real concerns of the neighbors about the quality of life in their neighborhood.

I moved to Sugarcreek three years ago because I was looking for a quiet, peaceful area that I could enjoy coming home to each day. I enjoy the deer in my front yard, I enjoy seeing birds of types I have never seen before, I enjoy seeing animals in my woods and yard, I enjoy the blue heron that flies into my pond, and I enjoy looking up and seeing the stars at night without nearby lights disturbing my view.

As with any issue, there are always extremes. But the extremes of this issue do not represent the real concerns of the landowners who are close to the proposed project. Their concerns have nothing to do with religion and everything to do with quality of life. We don't want to lose our deer, birds and stars because of a massive institutional development with acres of blacktop in our residential backyards.

These are the real and legitimate reasons for the neighbors objecting to the development — not what has been sensationalized in the paper or by the Muslim community.

Thomas Frericks Jr.

Sugarcreek Twp.

This wasn't what Christ had in mind

Re "Religious intolerance?," Jan. 27: I was appalled to read the article regarding the potential building of a mosque in Sugarcreek Twp. Regardless of the official reasons given by the Sugarcreek Twp. zoning board for denying the appeal, residents of the south Dayton area have been well aware of the opposition of homeowners in the immediate area.

The more frightening aspect of the issue is the blatant hatred of a minister toward another religion. I can't help but think that this was not what Christ had in mind. Pastor Barry Jude should search his soul and examine the true meaning of Christianity.

Nancy Adkins

Centerville

Statements reek of prejudice

I am usually a very mild-mannered person when it comes to religious matters. My parents taught me that religion was something personal, and we should never try to impose our religion or beliefs on others.

Yet, it appears that Pastor Barry Jude and his flock have taken it upon themselves to make decisions for the people of Sugarcreek Twp.

I take a great deal of exception to the pastor's comments, and also to the idea that the community, as a whole, supports him and his church's beliefs. His statement, "We just feel that Christianity is right and that Islam is wrong. ... We take a stand to see (a mosque) not in our community," reeks of religious prejudice and self-righteousness.

If he is successful, who will be next — the Catholic church, the Seventh-Day Adventists? Who?

Phil Rench

Sugarcreek Twp.

Muslim silence is deafening

In the recent article about the proposed mosque in Sugarcreek, one of the Muslim gentlemen insisted that his religion is a peaceful religion.

I cannot think of any other religion in today's world where so many of its religious leaders so openly advocate violence, killing and suicide bombings to settle their grievances and differences with those they consider "infidels" or adversaries.

Consider Iraq, where the United States liberated Iraqis from Saddam Hussein and naively thought the country would be overcome with brotherly love and create a Jeffersonian democracy. Quite the opposite happened, as Shiites and Sunnis viewed this as an opportunity for revenge and justice based on the direction and/or encouragement of their religious leaders and a deep-seated hatred for each other that could now be unleashed.

As a result, during the past four years, both religious sects have engaged in torture and slaughter of thousands of innocent civilians, while contributing to the deaths of several thousand American soldiers and forcing nearly 2 million to flee their country.

Considering all the killing in Iraq that has gone on during the past four years, one must ask where the moderates and the peacekeepers were in the Muslim world who could have intervened? So it may be understandable why I, and possibly a few other Americans, may not associate the words "peace" or "tolerance" with the term "Muslim religion," and why the silence of Muslim moderates and peacekeepers who fail to confront those who advocate violence in the name of their religion is truly deafening.

Mike Corcoran

Beavercreek

Stand up against extreme views

How ignorant of Pastor Barry Jude to judge Islam. In today's violent society, he had a great opportunity to preach about peace and acceptance of each other, regardless of our differences.

As a parent, I am horrified that there are children hearing this type of preaching. Parents need to teach children to educate themselves before they judge someone because of their race or religion. That job is hard enough without clergy members speaking out against other religions and categorizing people of that religion.

Every religion has its radicals who interpret the teachings of that religion in extreme ways, sometimes resulting in killing each other. It is our job as a society to stand up against those extreme views so that we can bring peace to each other. We, as Christians, Jews and Muslims, need to speak out against religious intolerance. Today and tomorrow will depend on it.

Nicole Druck

Dayton

Pastors welcome Muslim neighbors

We are pastors in the Bellbrook/Sugarcreek Twp. ministerial community. We are concerned that only one Christian perspective seems to be speaking about the proposed mosque in Sugarcreek Twp.

As Christians and clergy who seek to live in obedience to Christ's mandate to "Love your neighbor as yourself," we welcome the opportunity to be in dialogue with our Muslim neighbors and build relationships with them. We are saddened at the perception that all Muslims must be feared and that some Christian attitudes are causing Muslims to fear us.

We speak as individual clergy who pray for peaceful relationships with all our neighbors.

Stephan Becker,

Jay Madigan, Tom Schmidt

Centerville

Terry R. Heck

Kettering

Founders banned such intolerance

Re "Religious intolerance?," Jan. 27: Perhaps the only thing more shocking than reading Pastor Barry Jude's brazen religious bigotry was his utter contempt for the basic values underlying the U.S. political system.

The First Amendment was drafted and passed by our founding fathers precisely to put checks on the kind of political intolerance Jude is advocating in Sugarcreek Twp.

At the time of the founding, the motivation was to stop Christian persecution of other Christians, most notably anti-Catholic laws passed in politicized Protestant states such as Rhode Island.

The founding fathers were not just Christians; they were educated and knowledgeable of the world's known religions and philosophies. Indeed, Congressman Keith Ellison was sworn in to the U.S. House using a Koran once owned by Thomas Jefferson.

Even a casual reading of world history by respected non-Muslim authorities such as Bernard Lewis reveals the unfortunate reality that Muslim nations have historically been more tolerant of Christians than Christian nations have been of Muslims.

Fortunately, nations such as the United States have evolved beyond medieval intolerance to become beacons of the tolerant "Christian Enlightenment" thinking that informed the founding of the United States.

For seven years, our children have studied and played side-by-side with dozens of Muslim, Christian, Jewish and Hindu children at the Miami Valley School, united in a commitment to tolerance and academic excellence.

As current residents of Bellbrook born and raised in the Sugarcreek Twp. area, we are appalled by Jude's uninformed, intolerant, and decidedly non-Christian politicization of religion in our community.

Samuel R. Staley

Bellbrook