CNN writes:
Muslims in Spain are campaigning to be allowed to worship alongside Christians in Cordoba Cathedral -- formerly the Great Mosque of Cordoba.
Today, at the original Cordoba mosque in Spain, there is no call to prayer, only the ringing of church bells. That's because the former mosque is now a working Catholic cathedral, performing a daily mass.
It's been a Cathedral since Spain's Christian monarchy conquered Cordoba in the 13th century and more than a million visitors walk through its doors every year.
Depictions of Jesus' crucifixion hang underneath the distinctive red-and-white arches of what was once the Muslim prayer hall. Cordoba's dazzling "mihrab" -- the sacred alcove from where Muslim prayer is lead -- still stands as a separate part of the site and is one of the main attractions for tourists.
In fact, the site remains significant for Muslims as a symbol of Islam's golden age of learning and religious tolerance. The Mosque of Cordoba was once famed for allowing both Christians and Muslims to pray together under the same roof.
Now, some Muslims are trying to repeat that history. Mansur Escudero, a Spanish convert to Islam, is leading the movement that is pushing for the right of Muslims to pray at the Cordoba Cathedral.
"I don't think it's important for Muslims. I think it's important for humankind," Escudero says. "We think this is a beautiful paradigm of tolerance, knowledge, culture. People of different religions living together."
Seriously? Is this a sick joke? There is a mosque atop our Holy Temple Mount where Jews are not allowed to mumble a prayer let alone "pray alongside" our Muslim cousins. Remember before 1967 when Jews were forbidden to ascend higher than the seventh step at Ma'arat Ha-Machpela? That was a beautiful paradigm of tolerance.
How about the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul? Once the seat of Christian Orthodoxy in the East, it is now a mosque. Lovely.
Hey, anyone remember the Church of St. John in Damascus? Of course not! It's now a mosque, captured by Abd al-Malik during the Muslim conquest. Again, real tolerant.
Think the Hindus have had it any easier? Think again. From Wikipedia:
And now, of course, Muslims are pursuing the most tasteless of conquests: building a mosque near Ground Zero where the blood of three thousand kedoshim was spilled in the name of Islam.
"The destruction of Hindu temples in India during the Islamic conquest of India had occurred from the beginning of Muslim conquest until the end the Mughal Empire throughout the Indian subcontinent. In his book "Hindu Temples - What Happened to Them", Sita Ram Goel included a list of 2000 mosques that it is claimed were built on Hindu temples. The second volume of the book excerpts from medieval histories and chronicles and from inscriptions concerning the destruction of Hindu, Jain and Buddhist temples. The authors claim that the material presented in this book are only the tip of an iceberg."
When are people going to wake up? So-called "tolerance" is just another excuse for more conquest. I am willing to make a deal right now. Give us full access to Har Ha-Bayit (we'll take the big domed building, you can keep al-Aqsa), let the Christians return to the Hagia Sophia and St. John's, give up your lust for lower Manhattan and then we can talk about praying together.
