Sign of the Times: Utica Church may Soon Become Giant Mosque......
Will make a nice minaret, eh?.....
A former Methodist church near City Hall may soon be converted into a mosque and community center.
The Bosnian Islamic Association of Utica met with Mayor David Roefaro earlier this month to explore any available sites that might fit its growing congregation’s needs.
They are now discussing the possible sale of city-owned 306 Court St., the former Central United Methodist Church that’s being marketed by the Utica Urban Renewal Agency.
If a sale is approved by the Common Council, Utica would see its first mosque with minarets. Minarets are a recognized symbol of Islam in the same way that church steeples are for Christianity.
Elsewhere in the world, minarets are towers from which a mosque official known as a muezzin calls the Muslim faithful to prayer five times a day. Roefaro, however, said there would be no external call to prayer at the Bosnian mosque. (For now -ed.)
A third Shia mosque operates on Cornelia Street.
Leaders of the Bosnian Islamic Association said they would keep the Court Street building’s red brick façade as it is but would alter the top of the structure to construct the towers.
ZIP
My parents lived in upstate NY when Hillary was elected as their "Junior Senator" after promising that she'd bring 200,000 jobs there. She didn't. Taxes went up and up and up. People started leaving. My parents did... New York deserves what it gets. It's too bad though, because this beautiful church is about to be ruined! I'm sure that dollars from The Sandbox will fix everything. Nope, you're right, WZ, the call will be heard five times a day in the very short term.
Posted by:BT in SA | April 06, 2008 at 07:18 PM
"Minarets are a recognized symbol of Islam in the same way that church steeples are for Christianity."
Not really
Posted by:Elric66 | April 07, 2008 at 03:32 AM
Erdogan said in a speech: “The mosques are our barracks, the domes are our helmets, the minarets are our swords, and the faithful are our army.”
http://middleeast.about.com/od/turkey/p/me080210.htm
Posted by:Elric66 | April 07, 2008 at 03:37 AM