See also: Frederick County
October 23, 2007
Along the same lines as my last post, as near as I can tell from the Washinton Post’s article, resistance to Ahmadiyya Muslims building a worship center in Fredrick County, Maryland seems to stem mostly from them being Muslim:
But the sect’s efforts seem to have done little to assuage concerns in Walkersville, a politically conservative town that is 96 percent white. Talk of the proposal has exposed the sensitivities of many residents, who have said they feel uneasy about the prospect of so many Muslims establishing a presence in their town — even if only to worship.
Some say they worry the Islamic visitors would be intolerant of the Christian faith that runs through the tree-lined streets of Walkersville.
“My problem is with the way they view the Christian faith,” said David Stull, 50, a woodcutter and produce salesman who has lived in Walkersville since Lyndon Johnson was president. “They dislike Christians; they dislike our fundamental beliefs,” he continued. “I do believe it’s going to cause a big problem here because of their hatred toward our views.”
Intisar Abbasi, 60, who lives in Frederick and commutes to Silver Spring to worship at the Ahmadiyya mosque, said he hopes his fellow Muslims will become a part of Walkersville. “I love the community, and the people are wonderful,” Abbasi said. “I’m not surprised there are people who are angry, but, you know, that’s part of the process.” [ Uneasy Feelings Moving In ]
Details are sketchy in the article, but no one seems to be able to explain why these Muslims should not be allowed to congregate — no one has pointed to illegal activity on the part of the organizers or accused any of them of being terrorists, but plenty in the community are nervous just because they’re not Christian.
To be fair, though, I’d probably get basically the same response if I tried to build a pagan retreat there — minus the references to terrorism and 9/11, of course. I suspect the community is primarily anti-non-Christian.
Posted in Religion
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October 23rd, 2007 at 12:49 pm
“Some say they worry the Islamic visitors would be intolerant of the Christian faith that runs through the tree-lined streets of Walkersville.”
The irony is sort of staggering here. So far, from the article, it only sounds like it’s the “Christians” who are being intolerant. I wish I could say that was something new.
October 23rd, 2007 at 2:15 pm
Welcome to Frederick County… Although the area is more developed than it was 20 years ago, the ideologies of the people haven’t changed nearly as much. FWIW, I knew people in the area who relocated there — and even attended a wedding in Walkersville and was quite surprised by how it rural it was — and that was only 7 or so years ago… Washington’s global sphere is expanding up the 270 corridor — It is just taking time to change these mind-sets (sadly).
October 24th, 2007 at 4:03 pm
It’s definitely a reversal from the early Church days. Then, Romans ostracized Christians, because they misunderstood a lot of Christian beliefs. Christians were told to be civil to others; they were to avoid worshiping with them, but to otherwise associate nicely. And such behavior went a long way towards the acceptance of Christianity as the dominant religion.
Now, Christians are frightened of other religions, primarily because they misunderstand their beliefs, not taking the time to try, and are consequently - wrongly, imho - intolerant and downright mean. It’s one of the American church’s many flaws.
October 24th, 2007 at 9:42 pm
Is it ignorance, or just ignorance used as a cover for insecurity? The bit: “They dislike Christians; they dislike our fundamental beliefs,” Where did that come from? Well maybe they do dislike Christians, but they certainly don’t dislike Jesus and his views…
“We believe in Allah, and in what has been revealed to us and what was revealed to Abraham, Ismail, Isaac, Jacob, and the Tribes, and in (the Books) given to Moses, Jesus, and the Prophets, from their Lord: We make no distinction between one and another among them” (Qur’an 3:84)
October 25th, 2007 at 1:03 pm
Ashley - Well, Muslims DO dislike some fundamental beliefs of Christianity. For one thing, although they believe in Jesus as a Prophet, they discount the New Testament as inaccurate - like the Hebrew Bible, they believe it has been corrupted by people; the Qur’an, alone, is considered inspired and perfect. They would never hold Jesus to have been God incarnate - and that is pretty much THE central tenet of Christianity. Their view of Jesus, while quite respectable, is not the same as the Christian view.
October 25th, 2007 at 9:47 pm
As always, the media doesn’t tell you the whole story and I wish the local media would please stop twisting the issue concerning the Ahmadiyya Muslims desire to purchase 224 acres in Walkersville for a national conference center, a worship center, gymnasiums and offices into a religious issue. It is NOT a religious issue.
Walkersville residents that I have spoken to do not wish to deny anyone the opportunity to worship God however they wish. The issue is whether the AMC proposed national conference center to host up to 10,000 people —which is double the present size of Walkersville’s population — is appropriate for our community.
If the AMC had purchased a small tract of land to host a worship center, offices and gymnasiums for 20 or so families — with no conference center — I don’t think this would have even raised an eyebrow, particularly if these families were already members of our community, investing in our town’s businesses, supporting our high school’s football team, attending towns meetings, or by participating in Walkersville Day.
But I will guess that only a tiny fraction of these 10,000 people are members of our immediate and surrounding community. So, what should we think when people who are not a part of this community suddenly appear on the scene this summer and innocently say that they simply want to purchase 224 acres for a worship center for 20 families throughout the year—oh yes, and they would also very much like to build a conference center to host 10,000 people that will “only” be used once or twice a year? They embark on an aggressive PR campaign to try to convince me and other townspeople that they love our town just as much as we do, and purchase ads in local papers to try to convince us as much.
I question their wisdom in wanting to $8 million+ for property that will “only” be used for a worship center for 20 families and an occasional mega-conference? It doesn’t sound like a very good business venture, but that’s just me. Maybe they are wise investors and they have planned addiktional uses for that 224 acres that they don’t wish to reveal to us at this time? Maybe they will want to lease out the conference center to other mega groups every weekend to try to recoup their costs. Or maybe they will seek to build other structures much larger on their property in the future for “religious” purposes.
Because the scope of their plans are so enormous as compared to any other group that gathers in Walkersville, residents are justifiably concerned. Frankly, I would be just as alarmed if the Girl Scouts, or the National Wildlife Association, or the Future Farmers of America, or the Southern Baptists wished to purchase this land and build a mega conference center to host their own national conventions of 10,000 people.
So why can’t the media be honest and stop making this into a “religious” issue. It isn’t, and I resent them saying that it is and so do my neighbors.
- A Walkersville Resident
October 26th, 2007 at 6:49 am
Ace, while land use is an important issue — especially so near the DC Metro area — it doesn’t strike me as ludicrous that religion is at least part of the issue. The ordinance being considered is, I understand, a prohibition on using agricultural land for building places of worship and private clubs, which sounds to me like it’s at least partly a religious issue after all. It certainly is for at least some of the people interviewed in the piece, and that kind of attitude rings true for me, and I know well the strategy of using a reasonable-sounding argument to mask other intentions less attractive to the public at large.
As far as the wisdom of paying $8m for land and a conference center, that does not strike me as unreasonable considering the cost and headache of setting up annual conferences at large hotels. I am sure it will pay for itself within a decade or two. And from what I understand, they’re building a religious retreat, not a resort they expect to turn a profit.
In any case, you don’t pass ordinances to protect people from making bad business decisions.
I’m not accusing you of bad faith argument or intolerance — I’d be concerned about land myself, especially given the senseless creep of the Washington Metro exurbs — but this doesn’t sound to me like establishing a land use policy. It sounds more like singling out a specific group for specific treatment. If the real concern is urbanization, maybe Walkersville needs a more comprehensive development strategy.
October 29th, 2007 at 11:38 am
I certainly hope the christians will feel the same way if they experience similar types of reactions when they try and plan another tax-free waste of resources within a city that doesn’t want their kind coming in to town.