Posted on 09/15/2005 8:50:30 AM PDT by Brutus1964
From the Washington Times
'Crescent' not embraced By Jennifer HarperTHE WASHINGTON TIMESSeptember 15, 2005
It is unbuilt, but already under fire. The proposed memorial to United Flight 93 has a chorus of critics, irked by a single design element that ultimately might be reconfigured. The "Crescent of Embrace," a double arc of maple trees that will turn red in the fall, has drawn the ire of some, who say it will resemble the red crescent -- a symbol of Islam dear to the hearts of the September 11 hijackers on the flight that crashed into a Pennsylvania field. The Rev. Ron McRae, pastor of the Bible Anabaptist Church near Pittsburgh and founder of the Street Preachers Fellowship, called the design "a memorial to terrorists." He vows to file a lawsuit and stage a public protest. Mr. McRae's isolated comments garnered considerable coverage in the Pennsylvania press and resonated on Web sites such as Free Republic, Power Line and Constitutional Conservative. Columnists weighed in this week. Michelle Malkin called the crescent design a "monumental surrender" and "boneheaded," while Mark Steyn observed that Flight 93 had been "re-hijacked," and in the thrall of "the cultural elite." In a letter sent Tuesday to the National Park Service, Rep. Tom Tancredo, Colorado Republican, called on the agency to reject the design as "a flash point for controversy and criticism."
This protest was almost completely internet driven. The MSM for the most part ignored the entire controversy. We as bloggers and Freepers have demonstrated the power this medium has earned for itself. Instead of hitting the streets in tie die tee-shirts and empty slogans, we hit our computers and made an intelligent and articulate statement of our displeasure with the original design. We got noticed and we got results. We did it ourselves. No MSM required.
Great news, now we need to make sure this is not just a surrender in words, but that they actually change the plans to something to honor the heros of flight 93.
Paul Murdock MUST BE FIRED!!!! He tried to slapthe face of these brave men and women's families....he needs to be replaced!!
Let me be the first to suggest a simple change: make the enclosure of the Sacred Ground in the form of three sides of a square (perhaps with slightly
rounded corners) made of double rows of maples (which was a nice idea) with
the sides oriented so that one runs due north-south and the other two east-west, or (so long as it doesn't coincidentally line up with Mecca) with two sides parallel to the impact vector of Flight 93, and the other perpendicular.
Malkin and Steyn never sleep. Thank you both!
Excellent! No MSM required. I LIKE that!
The families of the 40 passengers and crew disagree, but the Los Angeles-based architect said yesterday that he would work to satisfy critics. "This is an unfortunate distraction from the mission of the memorial," said Hamilton Peterson, who lost his father and stepmother on the flight and is president of the District-based Families of Flight 93.
"We've vetted this design and thought it through. In reality, the red crescent is a symbol of a benevolent humanitarian mission founded in World War I. Now, wackos with idle time and energy are trying to divert our goal," Mr. Peterson said.
Mr Peterson,
With all due respect, I am a father of three, working two jobs due to my wife's illness. I definitely don't have "idle" time, and I doubt you would consider me a "wacko". What I do have is a belief that this monument should be about fighting back, like the heroes on Flight 93. They fought the first battle in the war against terror and that land should be treated as such. We don't want to heal, we want to remember and fight on.
Again, I ask, what is wrong with a simple granite memorial? I would be happy to discuss my feelings with you as I did with the park service. Thank you
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