Every once in awhile a Sioux Falls City Councilor surprises me. Bob Litz did this yesterday when he asked Mike Cooper from the Planning department this question (Jan 20th info meeting), in reference to the zoning of the NEW Islamic Center,
“Why is there a disparency between what the fire code requires in occupancy and what the zoning commission requires?â€
Cooper responded, “It’s very complex.†And he added that the fire department has different standards. Uh, well duh, Mike, that’s why Bob asked the question. Shouldn’t the fire department and Zoning commission be on the same page?
But this isn’t about occupancy, it’s about bigotry.
Cory from Madville writes a great post about the veiled bigotry that I have been concerned about for awhile towards the new Islamic Center.
It all started a few weeks back at a SF city council informational meeting (Jan 5th) when a ‘concerned citizen’ (Ignorant/Hypocritical Protestant) took pictures and shot video of African-American immigrant Muslims protesting Israel’s attack on Gaza across the street in a public park from the other Islamic center on 6th street. Councilor Staggers asked the gentleman what his feelings were on the First Amendment, and the guy seem to be confused about it’s meaning and started talking about city ordinances, etc. Staggers reminded the citizen that the U.S. Constitution trumps all municipal and state laws and as long as their protesting was peaceful he couldn’t do anything about it.
Later at the City Council meeting I thanked Staggers for reminding the citizen about the First Amendment and I also said publicly if any of these protesters feel threatened or intimidated by the local authorities that need to contact the National Coalition Against Censorship or the ACLU for legal advice.
This is flat out bigotry because of their faith, that’s it, and it is pretty obvious. I will say the city and council have been doing their best to handle the zoning issue as smoothly as possible, it’s the citizens in this neighborhood that are causing problems and continue to hassle the city about restricting them, even though most (Christian) worship facilities in Sioux Falls are in residential areas.
I don’t belong to any religion, so I don’t care if people are dancing naked around old sprint car tires in their churches, just as long as they follow zoning rules they have the right to do whatever they want to in their church, the First Amendment guarantees it.
I suggest the Islamic Center contacts the ACLU and get some legal advice before this thing blows up into something bigger.
Just wait till they start broadcasting the call to prayer at dawn every day. Then the whiners will really start rolling in.
Staggers also says in the info meeting to the Mike Cooper, “How did you have a seating chart? The Mosques I have been to in the middleast don’t have chairs, they sit on the floor.”
What would be the point of the seating chart? Are worshippers supposed to have assigned seats, or did he just put pews in the drawings because “that’s what all religious buildings are supposed to have”?
And yes, worshippers in mosques have prayer rugs that are usually provided near the entrance. They take off their shoes, and pray on their knees.
He got all flustered and said ‘That’s what they provided me.’
Am I wrong that this is not a worship facility at all but a residential home that has been made over into a “center”?
If that is true then I am not convinced that this is all about bigotry. If it were a home made over into say, a Day Care with the increased traffic, noise, parking, and trouble…even then there would be plenty of unhappy neighbors.
Then your headline would have to read “Jesus can park here just not Mom”.
Are there pictures of the building?
Righty –
I would agree with you about the noise etc., but as long as they are following zoning rules like other churches and businesses in residential areas, there isn’t much you can do. Deal.
Isn’t the issue that they are NOT following zoning rules? They don’t have enough parking for the amount of people that they plan to gather and so have asked for a variance from the zoning committee. The neighbors don’t want the variance given.
That is not bigotry–that is protecting your home investment.
(I could add–DEAL!–but it seems so rude and like an unneeded addition to an otherwise intelligent discussion.)
How can they NOT follow rules if they are not even in operation yet? It’s all speculation fueled by bigotry of Islam. Trust me, I watched the info meetings, this isn’t about parking.
This may seem off kilter to some but hey, when isn’t Sioux Falls? Why did the SFPD give out cash from an “anonymous donor” around Christmas 2015,(sounds like bribery) to the citizens of Sioux Falls and wish them a “Merry Christmas?”
Gun toting Christian community policing seems rather unorthodox to me. Why don’t the citizens have a right to know who gave the SFPD the cash to hand out in the name of “Christmas?” Who does the SFPD Administration represent and in what religious pocket are they in? Certainly the money didn’t come from the Muslim or Native Community. This one-sided business of buying State Sponsored Religion is sure to send a signal to others not of the Christian faith that the gun toting Admin of SFPD will chase them away through intimidation with the barrel of a gun. Welcome to Sioux Falls Non-Christian’s. Here’s a $50.00 bill have a Merry Christmas….. Let’s keep the bribery out of the City of Sioux Falls in the name of Christianity. Anonymous Donor? Hmmm, wonder who the donor was and how much the donation was? Who kept records of the money passing through Police hands? Who approved it?The Public should know these things….