Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, May 14, 1993 TAG: 9305140398
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Short
It began with the assertion that the college had to "get rid of" the mosque, as if the house of prayer had to be demolished to exorcise the space. As reported, the mosque has been turned into a library, which allows a new group of students to seek the truth, as both the Qur'an and the Bible teach. The article continues with a misrepresentation of the mosque as a "Muslin [sic] temple," which is wrong in spelling and theology. A mosque, like a church, is not a temple but a place for prayer.
Finally, he speaks of the conversion of the minaret into a steeple with the addition of "a triumphant cross." It is distressing to hear this echo of the crusades in the 20th century when Islam is the fastest-growing religion in North America. A new Islamic college is being developed near Farmville to train teachers for the new Islamic schools being established all over the eastern United States. Is it time to start building a defense line along the Blue Ridge?
The need for greater sensitivity to the religious beliefs of our near neighbors should be painfully evident when your front page features the disastrous alternative among our far neighbors in Bosnia-Herzogovina. CHARLES A. KENNEDY Professor, Department of Religion Virginia Tech BLACKSBURG
by CNB