[swilhelm73]

Snopes blows it big time here. While his liberal slip has been showing alot of late...this one takes the cake.

He has no idea what prison or prison meeting this particular quoted event may have occured at, yet jumps to the conclusion that it is the particular one he quotes from heavily.

I guess Snopes really isn't worth much more then a news of the wierd web site any more...

[tkathy]

I would like to see the Zogbys asked these questions.

[John H K]

Ah, I'd done a quick check on Snopes and didn't find it.

Like I mentioned, the original account just absolutely SCREAMS bogus. Remember, if it's too "good" to be true, and it probably is (and the original account from the perspective of a lot of FReepers was VERY good.)

[Rubasoo]

They are saying 'undetermined'. How is that blowing it?

This site has been a great tool in proving most of the rats following the Pied Piper's tune wrong - so I tend to give it a break.

Liberal? I haven't noticed a big lean, but who knows...

[skip2myloo]

I could be wrong, but the story STILL doesn't ring true to me. I lived in Fulton, Missouri for many years - and still have many connections there.

Unless a state corrections facility has been built there in the last few years - I'm not aware any are in existence.

There is a State Mental Hospital (the oldest west of the Mississippi) and it has a facility for the criminally insane (the Biggs Building).

And, there is the Missouri School for the Deaf, but that is hardly a corrections facility.

As an aside, rumor has it Fulton served as the model for the novel Kings Row, later made into a movie starring Ronald Reagan. Fulton is also the site of Winston Churchill's famous speech at Westminster College where he coined the phrase "Iron Curtain" on March 5, 1946.

Fulton is located in Callaway County, a large county. The southern border of the county is defined by the Missouri River, and there are state prison farms on the river bottom land in the county, but they are at least 20 miles from Fulton.

The Missouri State Penitentiary is located in Jefferson City, also the state capital, situated on the south side of the Missouri River, across from Callaway County, about 30 miles from Fulton.

[2banana]

Islamic Tolerance:

Saudi Arabia - Conversion by a Muslim to another religion is punishable by death. Bibles are illegal.

Yemen - Bans proselytizing by non-Muslims and forbids conversions. The Government does not allow the building of new non-Muslim places of worship

Kuwait - Registration and licensing of religious groups. Members of religions not sanctioned in the Koran may not build places of worship. Prohibits organized religious education for religions other than Islam

Egypt -Islam is the official state religion and primary source of legislation. Accordingly, religious practices that conflict with Islamic law are prohibited. Muslims may face legal problems if they convert to another faith. Requires non-Muslims to obtain what is now a presidential decree to build a place of worship

Algeria - The law prohibits public assembly for purposes of practicing a faith other than Islam. Non-Islamic proselytizing is illegal, and the Government restricts the importation of non-Islamic literature for distribution.

Jordan - Has the death penalty for any Muslim selling land to a Jew.

(All information is from US State Department Human Rights Reports)

I could go on with more examples.

[PBRSTREETGANG]

You could have heard a pin drop as the Imam hung his head in shame.

This story does not ring true. I don't see how Snopes blows this one by stating "Status: Undetermined"

[swilhelm73]

I'd suggest people actually read Snopes response to the article.

Yes, he does contact the original author and gets little from him.

Then he finds someone who claims to know where and when this incident occured even though this latter individual's case bears extremely little resemblance to that quoted orginally.

So then, why did Snopes quote extensively from the latter? Bias.

The story does fit many of the elements of "to good to be true" or "exaggeration to prove a point". That isn't the case Snopes makes.

However, it is easily possible that a prison ministry that operates over a large geographic area had one session that didn't go so well; ie the one Snopes describes, and one that did, the one Mathes describes.

As for Snopes's bias, well if you haven't noticed it you just plain aren't looking.

[CaptRon]

WAITAMINIT!

Jihad is an internal struggle, like, like, studying hard for a math exam.

At least that's what Ibrahim Hooper of CAIR says.

[Alouette]

This is a true story, which happened to my son who was participating in a prison chaplaincy program in south Florida:

"In one of the prisons I went to visit this Chanukah, we had about 10 men. We lit the menorah, spoke about the story of chanukah, and all the diffrent Jewish holidays. As I got up to leave, one of the prisoners turned to me and asked: 'Don't you find your lifestyle a little restrictive?' I just wanted to blurt out 'look here dude, I'm walkin' out the door NOT YOU!!!!' "

[Junior]

Dude, before you go off and blow a gasket, Snopes lists this as "undetermined," which means they can neither confirm nor deny the story.