By: manaloof on 5/20/10
If we gaze up from our streets and sidewalks today, we will likely find no doves in the skies over Brentwood. What might have been a golden moment in our history has become a lost opportunity. We might have found a path to compromise, enabling us to experience the privilege of self-sacrifice in the interest of others. We might have secured for ourselves a window into a culture whose seeming strangeness can be understood and, perhaps, embraced only through personal encounter. We might have seen dome and minaret stand peacefully beside spire and belltower - a small reflection of the new Jerusalem in our own community. But, more than anything, we might have welcomed friends into our midst and offered them the same, simple blessing we enjoy - a wonderful place to live, to raise our families and to worship our God.

By: Arbonnegirl on 5/20/10
It seems to me that after the flooding that just occurred and the staggering costs associated with it, we would not find it wise to rezone any business or home so that building could be done on land deemed as floodplain.

By: Styles on 5/20/10
It seems to me this had very little to do with rezoning a floodplain. The city would have made it clear that the new center would have to bear the burden of costs to shore up the area and pay for any safety improvements. If the city had approved the rezoning and there were future consequences from flooding, is it our job to remove those consequences or the choice of another build there?

Case in point: Harpeth Presbyterian Church, sits right next to the Harpeth River on Hillsboro Road and was recently flooded beyond belief and has been time and time again. They have to deal with the consequences of being that close to the river, right? I don't see anyone in a hurry to ask them to leave.

"A majority of neighbors and other Brentwood residents spoke out against the project..."

Once again proving that religion can be a divider not a uniter.

Styles

By: conservativechick on 5/20/10
There are plenty of doves in the skies over Brentwood today!! This is an "opportunity" many of us are glad to have lost...The "many paths to compromise" is what is turning this country upside down and making America almost unrecognizable...We are THE MOST tolerant, welcoming country in the world and I personally am tired of everything being turned into a race/hate issue and the crazy, far left socialists apologizing for Americans being so intolerant! From ILLEGAL immigrants to issues such as this one.....if someone wants to live in America -then come here legally, learn the language, follow our laws, and you will be more than welcome. But NO... we DO NOT have to conform to all of the other countries at the expense of Americans! If the Muslims want to build a mosque (and by the way happen to follow a religion that is intolerant of others beliefs) then they can find a piece of property that is zoned properly and not in a flood zone or a safety hazard like the rest of us would have to do!

By: Tamara on 5/21/10
Obviously "we" are not the most tolerant. Just the fact the you refer to an entire group of people whom you do not even know as "the Muslims" , like it some kind of disease, makes that evident. I agree with you 100% that immigrants should come to America legally, learn the language and follow our laws, but what makes you think that just because a person is Muslim that they are not an American citizen? Perhaps you are confusing a persons religion with their heritage. I ask you, are all Italians Catholic? You state that the Muslim religion is intolerant of others beliefs. Looks like you have something in comman!

By: ct150 on 5/24/10
“There are plenty of doves in the skies over Brentwood today!!” – is this supposed to claim some supernatural favor for “Christians” in this matter (as it would appear)? This is a shallow, offensive, arrogant statement.

The main objections to this mosque were really simply based on religious intolerance. If a well-to-do, relatively educated community such as Brentwood cannot cooperate and coexist with our fellow Muslim residents, what does that really say about this community (or the future of humankind for that matter)?

Brentwood could have potentially been a beacon of light for the possibility of peaceful coexistence between Christians and Muslims. As manaloof said, this was a missed opportunity (that revealed something about this community as a whole). Welcoming Muslims into this community and demonstrating the ability to accept one another and peacefully coexist would have spoken volumes to our potential as fellow humans.

The mosque issue in Brentwood was but a small part of the bigger picture of the divisiveness of religion, especially between Christianity and Islam (that goes both ways) that people just can't seem to overcome.