Building a Mosque at Ground Zero???

              So you may have heard about Muslims wanting to build a Mosque at Ground Zero and all the controversy surrounding it. You may also know that Ground Zero is where the Twin Towers used to stand, which were hit in a terrorist attack on September 11. Now what you may not know is what a Mosque is. So a Mosque is a place of worship for people of Islam or Muslim faith. Which pretty much means its like a church where Muslim people go for worship. So this all may be starting to all make sense to you as to why there's some controversy on wanting to build a Mosque at Ground Zero. If you don't get it then let me break it down for you. The terrorist attack was commited by a group of Iraqians and in Iraq the dominant religion is Muslim. So when the Muslim's decided they wanted to build a Mosque at Ground Zero many people were outraged and said it shouldn't be aloud. Now the reasons as why it shouldn't be aloud may be very arguable, but there's this little thing called the Constitution and within the Constitution there's this thing called the Bill of Rights. Now within the Bill of Rights are Amendments. One of those Amendments states that people have the "Freedom of Religion." So there's not to much people can do to stop them from building a Mosque, but people always try.

                                                      

             In the picture above a guy is holding a sign that says" A Mosque at Ground Zero spits on the graves of 9/11 victims". Sad to say alot of people feel this way and I can understand why, I just don't completely agree with it. According to the Constitiution Muslims have freedom of Religion in this country, therefore they should have the right to freely express that right or build a Mosque at Ground Zero just as any other religious group would build their place of worship on Ground Zero. So if the Muslims really, really, really want to build there, they should be able to. Is there any law that stops them? No. But to me its a matter of respect and a conscience decision. It's not llike the whole Muslim culture sat down and decided to hit the the Twin Towers but rather it was decisions that were made by people of the same faith and backround. So, No. The Muslims should not be punished for what happened, but it happened and they should accpet that and respect it. With the Muslims knowing what happened on September 11th and them making the conscience decision to build a Mosque there, I think they know exactly what their doing and by doing this they are accepting all the reprecussions that come with it. What do you think? Leave a comment! :)


Sources: http://humanrights.change.org/blog/view/building_a_mosque_at_ground_zero

Is Cheerleading A Sport???

Arguments have started over whether or not universities can consider cheerleading a sport. Judge Stefan Underhill ruled that Quinnipiac University violated the law when it pulled funding from its women's volleyball team to support a competitive cheerleading squad. In his ruiling Judge Underhill wrote "I conclude as a matter of law that Quinnipiac University discriminated on the basis of sex during the 2009-10 academic years by failing to provide equal athletic participation opportunities for women." The volleyball team was very upset and actually sued the school, saying that redirecting money intended for women sports only and giving it to a cheerleading squad violated Title IX. Now, I know you're probably thinking,"this is ridiculous and what is this Title IX??" Well, Title IX is a civil rights legistlation that mandates men and women's athletic program to recieve equal funding. So the volleyball team was pretty much saying that cheerleading is not a sport so it shouldn't be included in the equal funding. The school said that modern competitive cheerleading is a sport and therefore it should count the squad members as female athletes. But the Judge went on to say.....

         "Specifically, I hold that the University's competitive cheerleading team does not qualify as a varsity sport for the purposes of Title IX and, therefore, its members may not be counted as athletic participants under the statute," Underhill wrote in his decision.
         "Competitive cheer may, sometime in the future qualify as a sport under Title IX; today, however the activity is too underdeveloped and disorganized to be treated as offering genuine varsity athletic opportunities for students,"

Okay, so I completely disagree with this ruiling, I think cheerleading should be classified as a sport. Now some people feel the same way but are afraid that it will take away from other sports funding. So I don't think the problem is the judge, or the University but rather Title IX itself. I agree with some of it but not all of it, it should be updated or revised. It says it must meet specific criteria to be considered a sport under Title IX. It must have coaches, practices, competitions during a defined season and a governing organization and it must have competition as its primary goal -- not merely the support of other athletic teams. These things are understandable but cheerleading is so much more than just "supporting other teams" but there is competition invovled. I mean have these people not seen Bring It On 1, 2 and 3!! Okay so even if they haven't seen the movies and don't want to classify cheerleading as a sport, cheerleading still deserves proper funding. I mean, what makes football or basketball more "athletic" than cheerleading anyway????

Sources:
http://abcnews.go.com/US/judge-cheerleading-sport-quinnipiac-university-squad-title-ix/story?id=11219913
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/07/21/federal-court-rules-cheerleading-sport/

Is Cheerleading a Sport?