Posted on 09/09/2005 10:04:51 AM PDT by Glenn
SOMERSET, Pa. -- A Somerset County preacher vowed to fight the design of the Flight 93 National Memorial, insisting that the crescent pathway used in the design is a symbol of Islam.
"This is a memorial to the terrorists who killed those people, not a memorial to the folks who died there innocently," said the Rev. Ron McRae, leader of the Bible Anabaptist Church near Jerome, about 55 miles southeast of Pittsburgh.
"The crescent is as much connected to Islam as the cross is to Christianity," said McRae of Conemaugh Township, also listed as director and founder on the Web site of the Lancaster-based Street Preachers Fellowship.
McRae said the group may go to court to try to block the "Crescent of Embrace" memorial designed by Paul Murdoch Associates of Los Angeles. The design centers on a mile-long semicircle of red maples surrounding the point of impact, where 40 passengers and crew were killed when the hijacked plane crashed near Shanksville on Sept. 11, 2001.
Though not accepted by all Muslims, the crescent moon and star is an internationally recognized symbol of Islam and appears on the flags of many Muslim nations.
Murdoch, however, said his crescent has no religious significance, but was created to add formality to the bowl-shaped valley surrounding the crash site.
"This is not about any religion per se," Murdoch said in a telephone interview with the Tribune-Democrat in Johnstown. "It's a spiritual space, and a sacred place, but it's open to anyone."
(Excerpt) Read more at post-gazette.com ...
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http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1480220/posts
Yawn, what next, ban the letter "C"?
Even if Murdoch didn't mean to use an Islamic-like symbol, with respect to him, this just isn't the place or time to use a symbol associated with Islam in any way, considering who the hijackers were. A simple stone or marble memorial, listing the names and hometowns of those who died should be more than sufficient.
Haven't you heard? Only minorities are allowed to be offended by symbols.
Using a symbol of the death cult is absolutely outrageous and/or clueless!
Don't tell me...there will also be a 9-11 "art" gallery installed next door.
Can people really be that stupid, or am I just going crazy? I think I'd prefer to go crazy.
This symbolism will not be lost on Muslims around the world.
The radical extremists will be happy to cite this "memorial" as a sign of triumph for their cause.
Al'lah Akbar.
http://islam.about.com/library/weekly/aa060401a.htm
I think he's right. This stupid red crescent is highly inappropriate. I can't believe that nobody noticed the fact that the crescent is the symbol of Islam.
Curved lines of any kind anywhere clearly need to be protested.
If it does not have religious significance why use the term "crescent".
If you ask me, this sounds like an architect who just knows he is so much smarter and more clever than anyone else, and this is his Rodney-King-esque "Can't we all just get along" statement.
Imagine, if you will, the memorial include a "crossroads of history" component, that was in the traditional proportions of a Christian Cross. How do you think people would react to that?
I can hear Mooslims everywhere saying "We attacked them and they make a monument to us (crazed ululation)" Does anyone find it strange that of all the symbols they could have chosen, this was the one that was picked?
Don't worry, Since they are Red Maples, it is only a red crescent in the Fall. In the summertime, they trees will be green!
...wait a minute...
Green is the symbolic color of Islam (actually, Mohammed's battleflags were typically simply green squares and there were no crescents to be found; the association of the Crescent with Islam didn't begin till the Ottoman Turks captured Constantinople..which already had a crescent flag..hundreds of years later).
So, clearly, every single tree and plant within several miles of this memmorial will have to be cut down or killed to avoid any Islamic symbology near it.
Yeah, what possible effect could liberal-apologist-America-is-somehow-wrong use of language and symbols, subtle or blatant, have?
Golly, nobody would even pay attention to a subtle curve or language associated with it, right Tiger Woods?
And what is the feeling elicited by the swastika? Surely not what the American indians felt when they used it.
So, yeah, nothing going on here.
Yawn.
WTC shorter than the original,
Crescent for a memorial,
You'd think the WH had invited some of the nastiest mullahs for tea and biscuits after 911.
Why, do you suppose, the architect repeatedly uses the word "crescent" instead of "arc" or "semi-circle".
How about a small brass plaque that states, "Hey, you sobs, some of us Americans are still awake. Let's Roll!" And place the post that holds up the plaque right through the spine of a "letter c" lying in the dirt.
The reaction would be telling, I bet. By golly, then the there would be outrage...
Well, if Pillsbury Corporation were to select from all their products to release a special 9/11 commemerative pastry, and chose to make the Crescent Rolls in red and green, I would have to say, "Yes".
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