4A • FRIDAY, MAY 20, 2011 OPINION TODAY’S NEWS-HERALD

OUR VIEW

The Refuge vote and moving forward

We hope voter rejection of The port worthy developments that them, though there are hurdles in because the other side loses. That
Refuge annexation is interpreted will contribute to a vital econo- working through Mohave County works in D.C., we guess, where
narrowly, that a huge majority my. The Refuge annexation and through the entanglement of the object of the game is re-elec-
believed the annexation would would’ve led to an RV resort that legal challenges to the project. tion.
result in additional taxpayer costs attracted visitors and created We wish them great success and It’s different when politics
down the line. jobs. As such, it seemed to fit the hope they can still produce jobs enters the community develop-
Otherwise, the interpretation is mold of a good project. and tourism benefits for the area. ment realm, especially when a
worrisome and troubling. Are 58 Additionally, the property was Meanwhile, the city moves for- city needs to recover from a
percent of almost 14,000 voters rescued by Jerry and Cindy just as ward on other economic-devel- recession and restart a formerly
really opposed to creating jobs? it appeared the golf course would opment efforts. Not one is per-
robust economic engine.
Are that many people opposed to close, dry up and morph back fect. Each is easier to tear apart
than to create. Each requires a This requires a sense of com-
adding sales-tax revenue to city into its Desert Hills environs. If
government? Are that many the RV park was not a perfect supportive public recognizing mon public purpose, of respect
opposed to creating additional plan, it appeared to at least beat that perfection is unattainable for differing perspectives and
sewer hookups, thereby defraying the desiccated alternative. City but “pretty darned good” is with- willingness to compromise for
overall sewer costs? voters overwhelmingly believed in reach. the overall good. Looking for-
Those interpretations would be otherwise. Politics is increasingly played ward, that’s how community
disturbing. Time and again, Lake The Aldriges still have some out as a zero-sum game in which development needs to play out.
Havasu City steps forward to sup- development options open to winners claim victory solely — Today’s News-Herald

SKETCH PAD YOUR VIEWS

OTHER VIEWS
Fighting mosques in the name of freedom
Last year, a Muslim congrega-
tion in Murfreesboro, Tenn., a
pleasant college town of about
110,000 people southeast of
Nashville, decided that the time
had come to build a proper
mosque.
For 20 years or more, the town’s
roughly 250 Muslim families had
met for prayers in makeshift quar-
ters, and the congregation’s pros-
perous leaders — doctors, profes-
sors, auto dealers — thought they
could do better. They bought a 15-
acre plot of land next to a Baptist
church south of the city limits, and
won approval from the Rutherford
County Planning Commission for
a 53,000-square-foot community
center.
Then, as has happened in sev-
eral places around the country
lately, bedlam broke out.
Conservative activists protested
that they didn’t want a big, visible
mosque in their quiet Southern
town. A candidate for the
Republican congressional nomi-
nation decried the construction.
Vandals torched one of the (non-
Muslim) contractor’s bulldozers.
And a group of residents filed suit,
charging that the building permit
had been issued improperly and
that they would suffer “emotional
distress” if they had to live near a
mosque.
What happened next was unex-
pected, but it was what should
happen in a country where free-
dom of religion is enshrined in the
Constitution: Most of
Murfreesboro rallied around the
Muslims. Christian clergymen and
a rabbi formed a support commit-
tee; there were marches and
teach-ins. The fiery congressional
candidate lost her primary race.
Among the Islamic Center of
Murfreesboro’s most important
supporters was the elected mayor
of Rutherford County, a
Republican farmer and retired
health-care executive named
Ernest G. Burgess. He’s also an
elder at North Boulevard Church
of Christ.
“This is going to sound a little
philosophical, but this is a matter
of principle,” Burgess told me this
week. “When I took this office, I
promised to uphold the constitu-
DOYLE MCMANUS
tions of the United States and the
state of Tennessee. ... As far as I’m
concerned, that’s the end of the
story.”
Only it wasn’t.
In a move that could portend a
shift away from mosque battles as
strictly local fights, the anti-
mosque forces consulted with
national conservative groups to
marshal arguments against the
project. And they imported a
Washington-based activist, former
Reagan administration official
Frank Gaffney Jr., to testify in court
that American Muslims — includ-
ing those in Murfreesboro — want
to impose Sharia, or Islamic law,
on the United States, and that the
proposed mosque, gymnasium
and swimming pool were part of a
“stealth jihad.”
“I’m willing to take this case all
the way to the Supreme Court if I
have to,” said Joe Brandon Jr., the
plaintiffs’ lawyer. “And I’m getting
a lot of help. I didn’t know any-
thing about Islam or Sharia when
this started — I’m just a criminal
lawyer — but I’ve learned a lot.”
In short, what began as a strictly
local zoning case that looked open
and shut — under federal law, reli-
gious congregations can build
houses of worship almost any-
where — has become the focus of
a battle that opponents would like
to take national.
“I can’t help thinking that if this
were just a local controversy, it
would have been settled by now,”
Mayor Burgess said last week.
Brandon, the plaintiffs’ lawyer,
dismisses the idea of outside agita-
tion, noting that national dona-
tions to pursue the case haven’t
been pouring in. But he acknowl-
edges that national groups such as
Gaffney’s Center for Security
Policy have helped him make his
case.
Gaffney’s argument boils down
to this: Devout Muslims want to
No faith in middle
class survival
Editor:
In response to a recent letter regarding miracles in the
modern world, I agree with most of what you said. The
problem is, blaming the current president for everything
is not the answer to our problems.
I guess many have forgotten the debt wasn’t initiated
by our current president. Mr. Bush had a surplus to work
with going into his presidency, which he turned into a
huge deficit.
Obama also did not initiate the wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan. Blame Mr. Bush for those, too. We are now in
a military action against Libya, but I wonder if it would be
a full-scale war if there were a Republican in office.
I’m not trying to say Democrats are blameless, but they
are weak. They give in to everything the Republican Party
wants, and if you think the Republicans are working for
the good of all, think again.
Their main objective is to make Wall Street and corpo-
rate bosses richer, along with themselves. They promise to
create jobs, but what they really want is to destroy the
middle class in this country. Not only have they not done
anything about creating jobs, but they are putting forth a
budget that takes away much of the help for the working
people, elderly and disabled, along with giving more tax
breaks for the wealthy and for corporations.
The real miracle will be the middle class surviving all of
live under Sharia, the religious this. I have no faith in that miracle at all.
legal code that governs in Saudi Norma Lembach
Arabia and other traditional Lake Havasu City
Islamic societies. But Sharia,
which treats women as unequal, is
incompatible with U.S. law. So
Waterford faux pas explained
organized Islam, Gaffney charges, Editor:
I’m sure the writer of the letter about the Royal
is conspiring to supplant
American law with Muslim law — Wedding and missed opportunities is a lovely lass, but,
and that, he says, is sedition. these Irish eyes almost crossed at the comment regarding
“What is going on in Waterford Crystal being British.
Murfreesboro ... fits into the profile Waterford Crystal is Irish. The city of Waterford is
of the stealth jihad that is being located on the east coast of Ireland, never, never to be
waged by the Muslim confused with Britain.
Brotherhood,” he told me. “It’s a Isa DeArman
mega-mosque that’s clearly dis- Lake Havasu City
proportionate to the community LETTERS TO THE EDITOR MUST BE 300 WORDS OR LESS
that it’s intended to serve. It has
the purpose of demonstrating a LETTERS POLICY
kind of triumphalist agenda.”
Murfreesboro’s Muslims haven’t Today’s News-Herald welcomes letters from our readers.
actually done anything explicitly Letters must be signed, and a telephone number and address
seditious, he acknowledges, but must be listed to help in verifying the identity of the letter writer.
“you want to err on the side of Letters are limited to 300 words. We will run letters by a given
caution.” author once per month. We reserve the right to edit all letters.
It’s hard to see how the lawsuit Libelous or letters in poor taste or making personal attacks will be
against the Murfreesboro mosque edited or not published. Letters about specific businesses will not
can prevail. Even if Brandon wins be published.
his case, the most he can ask for is MAIL LETTERS TO: Editor, Today’s News-Herald
a rehearing on the building per- 2225 W. Acoma Blvd. | Lake Havasu City, AZ 86403
mit. Meanwhile, the Muslim con- or e-mail to editor@havasunews.com
gregation has actually sped up
construction on the advice of its
lawyers, who say that once the HOW TO CONTACT ...
building is up, it will be harder to Arizona tom.sockwell@co.mohave.az.us
undo. Gov. Jan Brewer (R)
But it’s unlikely that even a 1700 W. Washington St. Buster Johnson, (R) District 3
Phoenix, AZ 85007 2001 College Dr.
resounding defeat in court will end http://www.governor.state.az.us/ Lake Havasu City, AZ 86403
attempts to stop mosque construc- 800-253-0883 Phone Number: 928-453-0724
tion. In Gaffney’s view, the protests buster.johnson@co.mohave.az.us
Sen. Ron Gould (R)
across the country are crucially 1700 W. Washington, Room 304
Lake Havasu City Council
important, “analogous to the Cold Phoenix, AZ 85007 2330 N. McCulloch Blvd.
War and the struggle against com- Phone Number: 602-926-4138
Phone Number: 928-453-4140
E-mail: rgould@azleg.gov
munism.” Mayor Mark Nexsen
Newt Gingrich probably would- Rep. Doris Goodale (R) mayor@lhcaz.gov
1700 W. Washington, Room 122 Lake Havasu City Council
n’t disagree; last year he called Phone Number (928) 453-4140
Phoenix, AZ 85007
Sharia “a mortal threat to the sur- Phone Number: 602-926-5408 Vice Mayor Don Callahan
vival of freedom in the United E-mail: dgoodale@azleg.gov Council member Dean Barlow
Council member Lee Barnes
States.” Council member Sonny Borrelli
Gaffney has a point: Not since Rep. Nancy G. McLain (R)
1700 W. Washington, Room 117 Council member David McAtlin
the communist scares of the Cold Phoenix, AZ 85007 Council member Margaret
War have we heard that kind of Phone Number: 602-926-5051 Nyberg
rhetoric. Back then, plenty of E-mail: nmclain@azleg.gov
politicians found it useful to run Lake Havasu Unified School
District
against sedition, both real and Mohave County Board :
imagined. The Bill of Rights sur- Gary Watson, (R) District 1 Governing Board Members
vived, but it certainly came under 809 E. Beale Street 2200 Havasupai Blvd.
Kingman, AZ 86402 http://www.havasu.k12.az.us/staff
attack. Looks as if it’s in for anoth- Phone 928-753-0722 /board.htm
er battle. gary.watson@co.mohave.az.us (928) 505-6900
Doyle McManus is a columnist Jo Navaretta, president
for The Los Angeles Times. Readers Tom Sockwell, (R) District 2 Pat Rooney, vice president
may send him e-mail at 1130 Hancock Road Ross Hobday, member
Bullhead City, AZ 96442 Nancy Iannone, member
doyle.mcmanus@latimes.com. Phone: 928-758-0713 Randy Troyer, member

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