Sunday, September 19, 2010

One Good Reason

This happened last week: Stephanie Lazar was in a taxi, late for a doctor’s appointment, when the driver turned around and, with a serious gaze, asked if she was American. After she had told him she was, he asked if she was from New York. Again she replied in the affirmative.
“So tell me,” he asked, “what do you think of the mosque being built downtown?”
Eager to reveal that some New Yorkers believe in religious freedom and civil rights, Stephanie exclaimed, “Well, you know, it’s not just a mosque, it’s a whole community center as well, and I think it’s fine for them to build wherever they want.”
She waited for the driver's approval, but he shook his head and said, “Well, I am a Muslim, and I think it is a very, very bad idea!”
Expecting a philosophical explanation, she asked him why.
Clearly agitated, he explained, as though it were obvious: “Because of the parking situation downtown! You can’t find parking anywhere near there!”

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