Don't stop the Muslims if you can't convince the Christians!

An old Church in Lincoln, UK was meant to be converted into a Mosque. Basically, the St. Matthew's Church in Lincoln was sold in 2006 to the Lincoln Islamic Association. The Muslims really hoped to find a place for a bigger mosque as the current mosque cannot accommodate the large number of Muslims in the area, especially during Friday prayers and the blessed month of Ramadan (Hijri Calendar month).

Surprisingly, in 2008, a fire destroyed much of the already sold-Church building on the same day that the approval for turning it into a Mosque was collected: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lincolnshire/7589455.stm
This led to a halt to the proposed Mosque conversion.

More surprisingly, in October 2009, after a long discussion by the City Council, it was decided not to approve a Mosque in the place: http://tmf.lincoln.gov.uk/Agendaitems.asp?sec_id=3681&type=Minutes
Co-incidence? Accident? Feel free to come up with any conspiracy theory!

The reasons for denial that were cited, in their own words:
•There was public concern regarding unacceptable harm due to traffic/parking problems.
•Concerns regarding noise and dust pollution.
•The impact of the building on the character and residential amenity of the area.

Nice. Let us look at the reply of the applicant called Dr T Ahmed:
•Approval had been given by the Council the previous year for the same build and use as a purpose built mosque.
•The day he picked up the approval for the mosque the former St Matthew's Church building was destroyed by fire.
•This was the second time a mosque had been destroyed in the City by fire.
•The City did not have a purpose built mosque.
•Muslims had worked in the City for half a Century they had a right to worship.
•The Orchard Street mosque had been in operation for 28 years and had no dedicated parking facilities; 60-80 people worshiped on a Friday and there was no evidence of harm to local residents.
•The Islamic Association would work with local residents to manage the parking situation.

And yes, the application was refused. I have few layman's questions:

1. Why was approval given in the first place without assessing the impact of the Mosque to the local community?
2. Does the committee or those who were against the proposal realise the lengthy, exhaustive process one has to go through to buy a property, especially when it is being bought by an Association that has no state funding available?
3. The building got destroyed by fire on the same day as approval was finalised. What is the inside story?
4. If parking problem in current Mosque can be got around, why can't adequate steps be not implemented in the new location? In fact, no parking sign and use of towing and tickets are very easy to deter any responsible person from abusing parking place.
5. How many Churches do Lincoln have and how many of these Churches are actually used adequately by the locals? (This is the case with most places in UK where large Churches lay bare and almost empty while small Mosques are overwhelmed by practising Muslims.)
6. How does the impact of the Mosque affect the character of the area?

Enough questions asked. One does not have to be a Muslim to see the obvious bias against the Muslims in the area.

I beg to put this point forward. It is not the Muslims' fault that Christianity cannot attract enough 'disciples' in Churches, when many atheists and agnostics and even 'non-practising Christians' who were born into Christian families mock Jesus and Christianity almost like out of habit. And when you have the belief that you are 'saved' already and love of Jesus is in your heart, then why bother going to Churches instead of enjoying a pint with friends?

Muslims are passionate about their religion. Many Muslims go overboard, and they should be punished. In fact, their prescribed punishment is severe enough to deter other Muslims not to go overboard.

But please do not stop the Muslims to be good disciples of Muhammad if you cannot convince Christians to be good disciples of Jesus.