In Green Bay, Wisconsin, the Green Bay City Council met on the evening of August 17, 2010 to approve a decision made July 2010 by the Green Bay planning commission to allow a zoning request that would allow a mosque to be built in Green Bay for the Islamic Society of Green Bay. The Islamic Society has been worshiping in temporary facilities since 2005, and says says that it has run out of space at its current location. WLUK-TV also reported that the new mosque would be associated with the Islamic Society of Wisconsin, with the application listed for the “Church of Islam.”
Green Bay's Arasumus Autry Seeks New Mosque to Replace Outgrown Facility (Photo: WFRV Video Screen Shot)
The Green Bay City Council decided to approve the Green Bay planning commission by a vote of 9-3. According to the Green Bay Press-Gazette and WFRV-TV, those voting against the zoning request for the Green Bay mosque were Green Bay City Council Aldermen Guy Zima, Steven Deneys, and Andy Nicholson. Guy Zima expressed concerns about Islam as being “intolerant.”
Green Bay City Council Alderman Voting Against Zoning for Mosque: Guy Zima, Steven Deneys, and Andy Nicholson (left to right) (Photo: Green Bay City Council web site)
The zoning request was to allow the Islamic Society of Green Bay to use a commercial building on Velp Avenue, which had once been a bait and tackle shop, but had been closed and shuttered for the past 5 years. Some city council members also sought to consider the financial implications of loss of commercial tax dollars by allowing the mosque to built in the abandoned facility, which is across the street from a cemetery.
Green Bay: Abandoned Building to Be Purchased to Support New Mosque (Photo: WFRV Video Screen Shot)
The decision to approve the Green Bay planning commission zone recommendation to allow the building of the mosque came after public debate by speakers and by members of the City Council on the zoning request, as well as on Islam.
WFRV News provided a video report on the City Council hearing, where some debated issues about Islam when considering the zoning application for the mosque. WFRV News described the meeting as “at times a tense discussion. Most [City Council] alderman felt that religion had no place in the debate.”
WLUK-TV News also has an online video report of the proceedings.
Mosque protester Doug Cayer said about the planned mosque in Green Bay “It disturbs me highly. I don’t understand a lot of the religion, but what I read about and hear about is so against what I stand for – I’m just dead set against this. I have a problem with radical Islam and its connotations in my neighborhood.” The Green Bay Press-Gazette also reported that “Doug Cayer, who said he lives nearby, said he was concerned about Islamic followers turning radical and potentially disrupting the neighborhood.” The Press-Gazette said that Cayer told the City Council: “I don’t want something scary coming to my neighborhood.”
Green Bay Resident Doug Cayer Stated He Didn't Know Much About Islam, But Found It Scary (Photo: WFRV Video Screenshot)
Green Bay City Council Alderman Guy Zima, on the Green Bay Council since 1976, had indicated that he had concerns about sound disturbing others. (The abandoned building is near a cemetery.) WLUK-TV reported that “Guy Zima requested the item be sent back to committee to see if a noise stipulation could be added.”
Green Bay City Council Alderman Guy Zima then stated that concerns involved Islam. WLUK-TV reported that Guy Zima stated: “Everybody’s been hopping on the equality bandwagon, which has been part and parcel of the United States of America since its foundation. But this religion at its depths, I don’t think really has the same interest as the American way of life or its values.”
Green Bay City Council Alderman Guy Zima Opposed Zoning for Mosque Because "Islam has a history of intolerance" (Photo: WFRV Video Screenshot)
The Green Bay Press-Gazette reported on Mr. Zima’s comments: “Alderman Guy Zima raised several issues with the mosque proposal, including his belief that some followers of Islam are intolerant toward other religions. ‘It has been very divisive in other communities,’ Zima said.” WLUK-TV News quoted Guy Zima as stating that Islam “has a history of intolerance.”
Mr. Zima is listed as a “libertarian” politician on a a number of libertarian political web sites. In 2005, the American Renaissance web site praised Green Bay officials who associated racial groups with criminal activity, quoting a 2005 WBAY Green Bay news article where a Brown County Supervisor Guy Zima stated “all we’re getting out of the local newspaper is, you know, the bright side of diversity, not showing the negative side.”
At the August 17, 2010 Green Bay City Council hearing, Green Bay City Council Alderman Brian Danzinger condemned comments made by other elected officials on Islam, stating “we are coming dangerously close to comments that are circulating stereotypes, and again propagating the perceptions that really doesn’t exist.”
Green Bay City Council Alderman Brian Danzinger Rejected Comments on Religious Stereotype (Photo: WFRV Video Screenshot)
The Green Bay Press-Gazette reported that City Council Alderman Ned Dorff said that such decisions cannot be made based on religion or fear: “Alderman Ned Dorff, who represents the area, said the city should view the issue strictly as a land-use matter and should not attempt to legislate any particular religious denomination, ‘It’s not a decision we can make based on religion or based on fear,’ Dorff said.”
Green Bay Council Alderman Ned Dorff Says "It's not a decision we can make based on religion or based on fear" (Photo: Facebook)
The Islamic Society of Green Bay told WFRV News “they do not tolerate extremists saying it is against their beliefs.”
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Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) supports our universal human rights of freedom of religion, freedom of conscience, and freedom of worship for ALL people — without exception. We reject protests against houses of worship, and we reject violence and attacks on houses of worship.
Responsible for Equality and Liberty (R.E.A.L.) supports our universal human rights to freedom of religion, freedom of worship, and freedom of conscience for all people of all faiths, including the freedom of religion supported under Article 1 of the United States Constitution. Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.”
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