15 acres for 250 families.........seems they wanna be seperated from Americans while living IN America. Right?
Wait - I just re-read this. How can they be separated from Americans (even though they don't) when they ARE Americans???
...
I think... he is implying that all 250 families are going to live on the 15 acre plot... like some sort of Al Qaeda Terrorist co-op. It would be the same as us believing that 250 Christian families would want to all live in a Young Man's Christian Association facility in order to blow up abortion clinics and make 'God Hates Fags' signs to display at funerals of dead soldiers.
Of course, both beliefs are completelty unfounded and only the dim witted amongst us would ever believe such nonsense, right?
Yes, I agree that this seems to be the belief even though it's unfounded. I'm just saying, even if this were true and they all lived separate from the rest of the community, they still wouldn't be separated from Americans because they ARE Americans. Why do so many people seem to think that being Muslim means you're not American, or that it's un-American to be Muslim, or that Islam is not an American religion just like all other religions are?
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Supporters from across the country have called to give encouragement to a suburban Nashville mosque where a fire was the latest setback for a planned new building, officials said Sunday.
Authorities told mosque officials that four pieces of heavy construction equipment on the site were doused with an accelerant and one set ablaze, said Camie Ayash, spokeswoman for the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro. Federal investigators have not ruled it arson, saying only that the fire was being probed and asked the public to call in tips. Earlier, Ayash said that gasoline was poured on the equipment but later backed off that statement.
"No threats, not at all," since the fire, Ayash told The Associated Press. "We've had a tremendous amount of calls of support."
American Muslim leaders say the furor over the building of a mosque near ground zero has emboldened opposition groups to resist new mosques elsewhere.
Some say they oppose them because of infrastructure and traffic problems. Others have implied that the mosque would be a haven for terrorists.
The Islamic Center of Murfreesboro's planned expansion has drawn increasingly vehement opposition from the community in recent weeks. The proposed center on 15 acres would serve some 250 families.
Digging had begun at the site where a sign that marks it as the future Islamic Center of Murfreesboro has been vandalized twice in the past several months. But Ayash said the fire "makes everybody really on edge."
Ayash said Islamic Center officials were contacted by the sheriff's department around 4 a.m. Saturday. Someone walking by called in the fire to 911 about 1:30 a.m.
Rutherford County resident Kevin Fisher has led protests against the mosque he says because of zoning issues, parking, traffic and a lack of transparency in the county's planning approval process. He issued a statement Saturday to the Daily News Journal of Murfreesboro.
"We in this community believe strongly in the rule of law, and choose to settle our disagreements through peaceful deliberations and discussion, not vigilantism. ... We who stand in opposition to this mosque have made our concerns known through proper legal channels and have conducted ourselves with dignity, respect and out of a spirit of love for our community, and we will continue to do so."
Then why do they wanna live seperate from Americans? Why do they wanna have their own private spread for only Muslims?
you mean like how the amish separate themselves from modern america???
hear my name
take a good look
this could be the day
hold my hand
lie beside me
i just need to say
15 acres for 250 families.........seems they wanna be seperated from Americans while living IN America. Right?
I think... he is implying that all 250 families are going to live on the 15 acre plot... like some sort of Al Qaeda Terrorist co-op. It would be the same as us believing that 250 Christian families would want to all live in a Young Man's Christian Association facility in order to blow up abortion clinics and make 'God Hates Fags' signs to display at funerals of dead soldiers.
Of course, both beliefs are completelty unfounded and only the dim witted amongst us would ever believe such nonsense, right?
Yes, I agree that this seems to be the belief even though it's unfounded. I'm just saying, even if this were true and they all lived separate from the rest of the community, they still wouldn't be separated from Americans because they ARE Americans. Why do so many people seem to think that being Muslim means you're not American, or that it's un-American to be Muslim, or that Islam is not an American religion just like all other religions are?
Man Already Knows Everything He Needs To Know About MuslimsAugust 30, 2010 | ISSUE 46•35
SALINA, KS—Local man Scott Gentries told reporters Wednesday that his deliberately limited grasp of Islamic history and culture was still more than sufficient to shape his views of the entire Muslim world.
Gentries, 48, said he had absolutely no interest in exposing himself to further knowledge of Islamic civilization or putting his sweeping opinions into a broader context of any kind, and confirmed he was "perfectly happy" to make a handful of emotionally charged words the basis of his mistrust toward all members of the world's second-largest religion.
"I learned all that really matters about the Muslim faith on 9/11," Gentries said in reference to the terrorist attacks on the United States undertaken by 19 of Islam's approximately 1.6 billion practitioners. "What more do I need to know to stigmatize Muslims everywhere as inherently violent radicals?"
"And now they want to build a mosque at Ground Zero," continued Gentries, eliminating any distinction between the 9/11 hijackers and Muslims in general. "No, I won't examine the accuracy of that statement, but yes, I will allow myself to be outraged by it and use it as evidence of these people's universal callousness toward Americans who lost loved ones when the Twin Towers fell."
"Even though I am not one of those people," he added.
When told that the proposed "Ground Zero mosque" is actually a community center two blocks north of the site that would include, in addition to a public prayer space, a 500-seat auditorium, a restaurant, and athletic facilities, Gentries shook his head and said, "I know all I'm going to let myself know."
Gentries explained that it "didn't take long" to find out as much about the tenets of Islam as he needed to. He said he knew Muslims stoned their women for committing adultery, trained for terrorist attacks at fundamentalist madrassas, and believed in jihad, which Gentries described as the thing they used to justify killing infidels.
"All Muslims are at war with America, and I will resist any attempt to challenge that assertion with potentially illuminating facts," said Gentries, who threatened to leave the room if presented with the number of Muslims who live peacefully in the United States, serve in the country's armed forces, or were victims themselves of the 9/11 attacks. "Period."
"If you don't believe me, wait until they put your wife in a burka," Gentries continued in reference to the face-and-body-covering worn by a small minority of Muslim women and banned in the universities of Turkey, Tunisia, and Syria. "Or worse, a rape camp. That's right: For reasons I am content being totally unable to articulate, I am choosing to associate Muslims with rape camps."
Over the past decade, Gentries said he has taken pains to avoid personal interactions or media that might have the potential to compromise his point of view. He told reporters that the closest he had come to confronting a contrary standpoint was tuning in to the first few seconds of an interview with a moderate Muslim cleric before hastily turning off the television.
"I almost gave in and listened to that guy defend Islam with words I didn't want to hear," Gentries said. "But then I remembered how much easier it is to live in a world of black-and-white in which I can assign the label of 'other' to someone and use him as a vessel for all my fears and insecurities."
Added Gentries, "That really put things back into perspective."
93: Slane
96: Cork, Dublin
00: Dublin
06: London, Dublin
07: London, Copenhagen, Nijmegen
09: Manchester, London
10: Dublin, Belfast, London & Berlin
11: San José
12: Isle of Wight, Copenhagen, Ed in Manchester & London x2
I think... he is implying that all 250 families are going to live on the 15 acre plot... like some sort of Al Qaeda Terrorist co-op. It would be the same as us believing that 250 Christian families would want to all live in a Young Man's Christian Association facility in order to blow up abortion clinics and make 'God Hates Fags' signs to display at funerals of dead soldiers.
Of course, both beliefs are completelty unfounded and only the dim witted amongst us would ever believe such nonsense, right?
Yes, I agree that this seems to be the belief even though it's unfounded. I'm just saying, even if this were true and they all lived separate from the rest of the community, they still wouldn't be separated from Americans because they ARE Americans. Why do so many people seem to think that being Muslim means you're not American, or that it's un-American to be Muslim, or that Islam is not an American religion just like all other religions are?
Man Already Knows Everything He Needs To Know About MuslimsAugust 30, 2010 | ISSUE 46•35
SALINA, KS—Local man Scott Gentries told reporters Wednesday that his deliberately limited grasp of Islamic history and culture was still more than sufficient to shape his views of the entire Muslim world.
Gentries, 48, said he had absolutely no interest in exposing himself to further knowledge of Islamic civilization or putting his sweeping opinions into a broader context of any kind, and confirmed he was "perfectly happy" to make a handful of emotionally charged words the basis of his mistrust toward all members of the world's second-largest religion.
"I learned all that really matters about the Muslim faith on 9/11," Gentries said in reference to the terrorist attacks on the United States undertaken by 19 of Islam's approximately 1.6 billion practitioners. "What more do I need to know to stigmatize Muslims everywhere as inherently violent radicals?"
"And now they want to build a mosque at Ground Zero," continued Gentries, eliminating any distinction between the 9/11 hijackers and Muslims in general. "No, I won't examine the accuracy of that statement, but yes, I will allow myself to be outraged by it and use it as evidence of these people's universal callousness toward Americans who lost loved ones when the Twin Towers fell."
"Even though I am not one of those people," he added.
When told that the proposed "Ground Zero mosque" is actually a community center two blocks north of the site that would include, in addition to a public prayer space, a 500-seat auditorium, a restaurant, and athletic facilities, Gentries shook his head and said, "I know all I'm going to let myself know."
Gentries explained that it "didn't take long" to find out as much about the tenets of Islam as he needed to. He said he knew Muslims stoned their women for committing adultery, trained for terrorist attacks at fundamentalist madrassas, and believed in jihad, which Gentries described as the thing they used to justify killing infidels.
"All Muslims are at war with America, and I will resist any attempt to challenge that assertion with potentially illuminating facts," said Gentries, who threatened to leave the room if presented with the number of Muslims who live peacefully in the United States, serve in the country's armed forces, or were victims themselves of the 9/11 attacks. "Period."
"If you don't believe me, wait until they put your wife in a burka," Gentries continued in reference to the face-and-body-covering worn by a small minority of Muslim women and banned in the universities of Turkey, Tunisia, and Syria. "Or worse, a rape camp. That's right: For reasons I am content being totally unable to articulate, I am choosing to associate Muslims with rape camps."
Over the past decade, Gentries said he has taken pains to avoid personal interactions or media that might have the potential to compromise his point of view. He told reporters that the closest he had come to confronting a contrary standpoint was tuning in to the first few seconds of an interview with a moderate Muslim cleric before hastily turning off the television.
"I almost gave in and listened to that guy defend Islam with words I didn't want to hear," Gentries said. "But then I remembered how much easier it is to live in a world of black-and-white in which I can assign the label of 'other' to someone and use him as a vessel for all my fears and insecurities."
Added Gentries, "That really put things back into perspective."
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Supporters from across the country have called to give encouragement to a suburban Nashville mosque where a fire was the latest setback for a planned new building, officials said Sunday.
Authorities told mosque officials that four pieces of heavy construction equipment on the site were doused with an accelerant and one set ablaze, said Camie Ayash, spokeswoman for the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro. Federal investigators have not ruled it arson, saying only that the fire was being probed and asked the public to call in tips. Earlier, Ayash said that gasoline was poured on the equipment but later backed off that statement.
"No threats, not at all," since the fire, Ayash told The Associated Press. "We've had a tremendous amount of calls of support."
American Muslim leaders say the furor over the building of a mosque near ground zero has emboldened opposition groups to resist new mosques elsewhere.
Some say they oppose them because of infrastructure and traffic problems. Others have implied that the mosque would be a haven for terrorists.
The Islamic Center of Murfreesboro's planned expansion has drawn increasingly vehement opposition from the community in recent weeks. The proposed center on 15 acres would serve some 250 families.
Digging had begun at the site where a sign that marks it as the future Islamic Center of Murfreesboro has been vandalized twice in the past several months. But Ayash said the fire "makes everybody really on edge."
Ayash said Islamic Center officials were contacted by the sheriff's department around 4 a.m. Saturday. Someone walking by called in the fire to 911 about 1:30 a.m.
Rutherford County resident Kevin Fisher has led protests against the mosque he says because of zoning issues, parking, traffic and a lack of transparency in the county's planning approval process. He issued a statement Saturday to the Daily News Journal of Murfreesboro.
"We in this community believe strongly in the rule of law, and choose to settle our disagreements through peaceful deliberations and discussion, not vigilantism. ... We who stand in opposition to this mosque have made our concerns known through proper legal channels and have conducted ourselves with dignity, respect and out of a spirit of love for our community, and we will continue to do so."
Then why do they wanna live seperate from Americans? Why do they wanna have their own private spread for only Muslims?
you mean like how the amish separate themselves from modern america???
Tell me Cate how The Amish do this. I live in a state with a signifigant Amish population. They interact daily with "modern" America.Sell their goods and buy goods. Seems to me that the only thing different is HOW they live in America. Just because they call the rest of America "The English" doesn't mean a thing.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
you mean like how the amish separate themselves from modern america???
Tell me Cate how The Amish do this. I live in a state with a signifigant Amish population. They interact daily with "modern" America.Sell their goods and buy goods. Seems to me that the only thing different is HOW they live in America. Just because they call the rest of America "The English" doesn't mean a thing.
the Amish do separate themselves from modern America... I can't understand why you would argue to the contrary
oh scary... 40000 morbidly obese christians wearing fanny packs invading europe is probably the least scariest thing since I watched an edited version of The Care Bears movie in an extremely brightly lit cinema.
the amish probably are more happier then modern america
I'll take that bet.
i'd bet they are better at grammar also.
fucking mixing up then and than... how simple could it be.
oh scary... 40000 morbidly obese christians wearing fanny packs invading europe is probably the least scariest thing since I watched an edited version of The Care Bears movie in an extremely brightly lit cinema.
fucking mixing up then and than... how simple could it be.
that's what happens when you could care less.
Grrrr.... :evil:
That's one of my grammatical pet hates. Never understood why Americans say "I could care less" when what they actually mean is exactly the opposite of that.
And how has this thread turned into a grammar discussion? Nice one, Dunk! :?
93: Slane
96: Cork, Dublin
00: Dublin
06: London, Dublin
07: London, Copenhagen, Nijmegen
09: Manchester, London
10: Dublin, Belfast, London & Berlin
11: San José
12: Isle of Wight, Copenhagen, Ed in Manchester & London x2
you mean like how the amish separate themselves from modern america???
Tell me Cate how The Amish do this. I live in a state with a signifigant Amish population. They interact daily with "modern" America.Sell their goods and buy goods. Seems to me that the only thing different is HOW they live in America. Just because they call the rest of America "The English" doesn't mean a thing.
the Amish do separate themselves from modern America... I can't understand why you would argue to the contrary
They do an varying levels. There are lots of different factions. Some drive, use cell phones, have A/C, etc. There are lots of "loop holes" such as they can't have a phone in their house, but they can use one hooked up just outside their property. It really depends on how liberal the leader of each church is.
They do quite a bit of business transactions with Modern America. Lots of skilled tradesmen, electricians (as odd as it seems), bakers, etc. But for the most part, they do isolate themselves outside of business interactions.
Tell me Cate how The Amish do this. I live in a state with a signifigant Amish population. They interact daily with "modern" America.Sell their goods and buy goods. Seems to me that the only thing different is HOW they live in America. Just because they call the rest of America "The English" doesn't mean a thing.
the Amish do separate themselves from modern America... I can't understand why you would argue to the contrary
They do an varying levels. There are lots of different factions. Some drive, use cell phones, have A/C, etc. There are lots of "loop holes" such as they can't have a phone in their house, but they can use one hooked up just outside their property. It really depends on how liberal the leader of each church is.
They do quite a bit of business transactions with Modern America. Lots of skilled tradesmen, electricians (as odd as it seems), bakers, etc. But for the most part, they do isolate themselves outside of business interactions.
yep.. i know. I would still say that they live separate from America.... just as I would say native americans living on a reservation are separate from America.
oh scary... 40000 morbidly obese christians wearing fanny packs invading europe is probably the least scariest thing since I watched an edited version of The Care Bears movie in an extremely brightly lit cinema.
fucking mixing up then and than... how simple could it be.
that's what happens when you could care less.
i care more then you
oh scary... 40000 morbidly obese christians wearing fanny packs invading europe is probably the least scariest thing since I watched an edited version of The Care Bears movie in an extremely brightly lit cinema.
They do an varying levels. There are lots of different factions. Some drive, use cell phones, have A/C, etc. There are lots of "loop holes" such as they can't have a phone in their house, but they can use one hooked up just outside their property. It really depends on how liberal the leader of each church is.
They do quite a bit of business transactions with Modern America. Lots of skilled tradesmen, electricians (as odd as it seems), bakers, etc. But for the most part, they do isolate themselves outside of business interactions.
yep.. i know. I would still say that they live separate from America.... just as I would say native americans living on a reservation are separate from America.
And don't forget about the Mormons living a separate life in Utah
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Federal investigators said Friday that a suspicious fire that damaged construction equipment at the site of a future mosque in Tennessee was arson and offered a $20,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.
The blaze frightened members of the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro, which has found its plans to build a new mosque drawn into a fierce debate surrounding a proposed Islamic community center two blocks from Manhattan's ground zero.
Firefighters had said there was a strong smell of diesel from the fire that engulfed the cab of a dump truck last weekend, and authorities found fresh fuel pooled under a second dump truck, according to an incident report from the Rutherford County Sheriff's Department.
Still, authorities did not officially rule the fire an arson until laboratory tests on samples from the burned dump truck tested positive for accelerants.
The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and FBI is offering a $20,000 reward to anyone with information leading to an arrest.
"Somebody knows something," ATF agent Steven Gerido said. "The money is a motivator."
Gerido would not say whether the agency has any suspects.
FBI agent Keith Moses said the FBI would not decide whether the arson was a hate crime — motivated by someone hoping to intimidate local Muslims — until after suspects are identified and their motives are determined.
The Islamic Center of Murfreesboro has outgrown its current rented space in an industrial park. Members got approval to build a new mosque in May. Since then opposition to the building has made international news, with some opponents saying they fear Muslims want to overthrow the U.S. government.
One mosque leader, Essam Fathy, has speculated that the perpetrator is not from the area and that new attention has been drawn to the Tennessee project by the ground zero dispute. Members of the Murfreesboro mosque say they have lived and worshipped in the community for years and never caused any problems.
Safaa Fathy, an Islamic Center board member, said her family has been in Murfreesboro since the early 1980s. She has been very surprised by some of the recent hostility, saying even after 9/11 local Muslims had no problems.
But she is heartened by some of the positive responses the mosque has received from people of different religions around the country.
"We got a nice letter today from someone in Utah. He sent $50 and said it was all he has," she said. "It meant a lot to me. I cried when I read his letter."
"You can tell the greatness of a man by what makes him angry." - Lincoln
i wonder if this is the kind of thing the mosque in NY has to look forward to if it gets built. How far will they go? breaking glass and protests or will it get to arson and bombings?
i wonder if this is the kind of thing the mosque in NY has to look forward to if it gets built. How far will they go? breaking glass and protests or will it get to arson and bombings?
based on the opposition that already exists i would not be surprised to hear about arson and bombings in addition to pure hatred...
"You can tell the greatness of a man by what makes him angry." - Lincoln
Comments
Yes, I agree that this seems to be the belief even though it's unfounded. I'm just saying, even if this were true and they all lived separate from the rest of the community, they still wouldn't be separated from Americans because they ARE Americans. Why do so many people seem to think that being Muslim means you're not American, or that it's un-American to be Muslim, or that Islam is not an American religion just like all other religions are?
you mean like how the amish separate themselves from modern america???
take a good look
this could be the day
hold my hand
lie beside me
i just need to say
:P
the amish probably are more happier then modern america
Sammi: Wanna just break up?
Man Already Knows Everything He Needs To Know About MuslimsAugust 30, 2010 | ISSUE 46•35
SALINA, KS—Local man Scott Gentries told reporters Wednesday that his deliberately limited grasp of Islamic history and culture was still more than sufficient to shape his views of the entire Muslim world.
Gentries, 48, said he had absolutely no interest in exposing himself to further knowledge of Islamic civilization or putting his sweeping opinions into a broader context of any kind, and confirmed he was "perfectly happy" to make a handful of emotionally charged words the basis of his mistrust toward all members of the world's second-largest religion.
"I learned all that really matters about the Muslim faith on 9/11," Gentries said in reference to the terrorist attacks on the United States undertaken by 19 of Islam's approximately 1.6 billion practitioners. "What more do I need to know to stigmatize Muslims everywhere as inherently violent radicals?"
"And now they want to build a mosque at Ground Zero," continued Gentries, eliminating any distinction between the 9/11 hijackers and Muslims in general. "No, I won't examine the accuracy of that statement, but yes, I will allow myself to be outraged by it and use it as evidence of these people's universal callousness toward Americans who lost loved ones when the Twin Towers fell."
"Even though I am not one of those people," he added.
When told that the proposed "Ground Zero mosque" is actually a community center two blocks north of the site that would include, in addition to a public prayer space, a 500-seat auditorium, a restaurant, and athletic facilities, Gentries shook his head and said, "I know all I'm going to let myself know."
Gentries explained that it "didn't take long" to find out as much about the tenets of Islam as he needed to. He said he knew Muslims stoned their women for committing adultery, trained for terrorist attacks at fundamentalist madrassas, and believed in jihad, which Gentries described as the thing they used to justify killing infidels.
"All Muslims are at war with America, and I will resist any attempt to challenge that assertion with potentially illuminating facts," said Gentries, who threatened to leave the room if presented with the number of Muslims who live peacefully in the United States, serve in the country's armed forces, or were victims themselves of the 9/11 attacks. "Period."
"If you don't believe me, wait until they put your wife in a burka," Gentries continued in reference to the face-and-body-covering worn by a small minority of Muslim women and banned in the universities of Turkey, Tunisia, and Syria. "Or worse, a rape camp. That's right: For reasons I am content being totally unable to articulate, I am choosing to associate Muslims with rape camps."
Over the past decade, Gentries said he has taken pains to avoid personal interactions or media that might have the potential to compromise his point of view. He told reporters that the closest he had come to confronting a contrary standpoint was tuning in to the first few seconds of an interview with a moderate Muslim cleric before hastily turning off the television.
"I almost gave in and listened to that guy defend Islam with words I didn't want to hear," Gentries said. "But then I remembered how much easier it is to live in a world of black-and-white in which I can assign the label of 'other' to someone and use him as a vessel for all my fears and insecurities."
Added Gentries, "That really put things back into perspective."
http://www.theonion.com/articles/man-al ... bou,17990/
96: Cork, Dublin
00: Dublin
06: London, Dublin
07: London, Copenhagen, Nijmegen
09: Manchester, London
10: Dublin, Belfast, London & Berlin
11: San José
12: Isle of Wight, Copenhagen, Ed in Manchester & London x2
Can it be satire when those exact quotes pretty much came from the Glenn Beck religious recital video? sad.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
the Amish do separate themselves from modern America... I can't understand why you would argue to the contrary
I'll take that bet.
i'd bet they are better at grammar also.
fucking mixing up then and than... how simple could it be.
Grrrr.... :evil:
That's one of my grammatical pet hates. Never understood why Americans say "I could care less" when what they actually mean is exactly the opposite of that.
And how has this thread turned into a grammar discussion? Nice one, Dunk! :?
96: Cork, Dublin
00: Dublin
06: London, Dublin
07: London, Copenhagen, Nijmegen
09: Manchester, London
10: Dublin, Belfast, London & Berlin
11: San José
12: Isle of Wight, Copenhagen, Ed in Manchester & London x2
They do quite a bit of business transactions with Modern America. Lots of skilled tradesmen, electricians (as odd as it seems), bakers, etc. But for the most part, they do isolate themselves outside of business interactions.
yep.. i know. I would still say that they live separate from America.... just as I would say native americans living on a reservation are separate from America.
i care more then you
Authorities: Fire at Tenn. mosque site was arson
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100903/ap_ ... see_mosque
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Federal investigators said Friday that a suspicious fire that damaged construction equipment at the site of a future mosque in Tennessee was arson and offered a $20,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.
The blaze frightened members of the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro, which has found its plans to build a new mosque drawn into a fierce debate surrounding a proposed Islamic community center two blocks from Manhattan's ground zero.
Firefighters had said there was a strong smell of diesel from the fire that engulfed the cab of a dump truck last weekend, and authorities found fresh fuel pooled under a second dump truck, according to an incident report from the Rutherford County Sheriff's Department.
Still, authorities did not officially rule the fire an arson until laboratory tests on samples from the burned dump truck tested positive for accelerants.
The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and FBI is offering a $20,000 reward to anyone with information leading to an arrest.
"Somebody knows something," ATF agent Steven Gerido said. "The money is a motivator."
Gerido would not say whether the agency has any suspects.
FBI agent Keith Moses said the FBI would not decide whether the arson was a hate crime — motivated by someone hoping to intimidate local Muslims — until after suspects are identified and their motives are determined.
The Islamic Center of Murfreesboro has outgrown its current rented space in an industrial park. Members got approval to build a new mosque in May. Since then opposition to the building has made international news, with some opponents saying they fear Muslims want to overthrow the U.S. government.
One mosque leader, Essam Fathy, has speculated that the perpetrator is not from the area and that new attention has been drawn to the Tennessee project by the ground zero dispute. Members of the Murfreesboro mosque say they have lived and worshipped in the community for years and never caused any problems.
Safaa Fathy, an Islamic Center board member, said her family has been in Murfreesboro since the early 1980s. She has been very surprised by some of the recent hostility, saying even after 9/11 local Muslims had no problems.
But she is heartened by some of the positive responses the mosque has received from people of different religions around the country.
"We got a nice letter today from someone in Utah. He sent $50 and said it was all he has," she said. "It meant a lot to me. I cried when I read his letter."
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."