Seeking Common Ground on Race, Faith and Politics in America

 Almost a year ago  this time,the city of Portland and the Maine Civil Liberties Union were at each others neck over whether the Afghan community can turn a building into a mosque or not. the issue was settled out of court  in a very civil manner after a couple of  appearances in front of a judge .  The Portland Press Herald's web page was turn into a battle ground between supporters for and against both sides, many nasty things were said to each other and against Moslem's and immigrants.  The issue gave us an opportunity as a community to learn more about each other and get to know ourselves well and also an opportunity for the local Muslim community to  reach out to the greater Portland and Maine Communities, both sides allowed the opportunity to slipped through their fingers. Unfortunately we are facing yet another controversy at national level and the past few weeks its been getting worst and looks like our country's political leaders are going to hold on it  through the fall elections, and the local media have already started taking advantge of the situation. Today I was listening to 560 WGAN's John McDonald Show and when he opened the lines for listeners to contribute on the Ground Zero Mosque controversy, you can tell by the comments that many or most of the callers get their information through cable TV or certain radio shows. There are certain things we have to learn sooner or later one of them is that whether we agree with each ther or not, we dont have a choice if we want to stay in this country, we have to engage each other in the most civil way or we may end up destroying each other out of hate. Islam have been in this country since the days of slavery some of the Africans that were brought here were Muslims  and  Maine is also on record as having the first established mosque in the union check this out from this links .http://video.mpbn.net/video/1540819504
 http://www.upf.tv/upf06/Films/PrinceAmongSlaves/tabid/77/Default.aspx