Categorical Aperitif

Think Progress:

Last week, the Al-Farooq Islamic Center in Nashville, TN was vandalized with anti-Muslim graffiti. Members of the mostly Somali congregation also found a handwritten note “taped to the outside of their youth training building a few blocks away,” with the words “The Enemy Is Islam” underlined at the top. The hate crime came after a local news station aired a controversial, inflammatory report about another local Muslim community. Since the hate crime at Al-Farooq, however, there has been “outpouring of neighborly support” for the mosque, with neighbors helping to clean up the graffiti. “It made me sick to my stomach, because I don’t expect this in Nashville,” said resident John Tighe. At least 150 people — “including spiritual leaders from several faiths” — also went to an open house at the Islamic Center of Nashville on Saturday to learn more about the Islamic faith and pledge “support for local Muslims in the wake of last week’s defacement” of Al-Farooq.

// posted by nash @ 9:38 AM