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I heart New York

I was so relieved when I read the speech that New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg gave about the historic vote allowing a mosque to be built near the site where the World Trade Center used to be located. It's online here:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405274870354560457540767322190847...

if you're interested.

I love this quote: "We do not honor [the lives of those who died on September 11, 2001] by denying the very Constitutional rights they died protecting. We honor their lives by defending those rights – and the freedoms that the terrorists attacked." Religious expression is at the very core of American freedom. As a person who is also a member of a -- if not unpopular, then mostly misunderstood -- religion, I appreciate New York's reaffirmation of the right all men have to "worship, how, where, or what they may" (Article of Faith 11).

I took my kids to the zoo two weeks ago and saw my first burqa/hajib (sorry I don't know the difference). Like the woman I saw, I also wear a religious garment daily. You can't see mine outside my clothes (unless you know what you're looking for), and I felt a little kinship to that lady. The French ban on the burqa came to my mind. I am still irritated by this blatant French religious persecution veiled as a "ban on covering the face in public" for security purposes.

The French ban singles out the religious expression of an unpopular group by labeling it a security threat. Contrast it with the reaction of New Yorkers, who have also endured terrorist threats from religious extremists, and yet courageously chose principle over fear.

I applaud New Yorkers for their courage.

Post Date: August 4, 2010
Scripture Reference:
Author: Jenny Smith
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MEET THE AUTHOR:

Jenny Smith
Jenny Smith is a designer who started blogging in 2004 to share lesson and activity ideas with members of her home branch Mississippi. Her collection has grown, and she now single-handedly manages the world's largest collection of free lesson help for LDS teachers with faceted search. Her library includes teaching techniques, object lessons, mini lessons, handouts, visual aids, and doctrinal mastery games categorized by scripture reference and gospel topic. Jenny loves tomatoes, Star Trek, and her family -- not necessarily in that order.
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Jenny Smith is a designer, blogger, and tomato enthusiast who lives in Virginia on a 350+ acre farm with her husband and one very grouchy cat.
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