The Mayfield, Kentucky city council today reversed a vote which was a reversal of an original vote which was to allow a group of Muslims in Mayfield to rent a building just off the downtown square for a mosque. At first, the vote was to approve it. But, it turned out, this was right about the time that the issue of establishing a mosque a couple blocks from "ground zero" in New York City was getting national attention. Right at that time, there was a sort of fever pitched, albeit irrational, disdain which was bubbling up against Muslims in general.

So when word got out that the city council had approved this mosque, a bunch of reactionary people in the community basically stormed the city council and demanded that they reverse their decision, which they did. They did it because, they determined, there wasn't enough parking. Not only did that get a lot of publicity, in the tailwind of the New York issue, including some mentions in national press, but, that also turned out to a bunch of bull. And then the ACLU got involved and pointed out that the city council was acting in either abject willful violation of the law, or they were just ignorant.

Not wanting to get sued, the city council laid low for a number of weeks, and surfaced briefly today to vote that, golly, after all of this, they were going to grant them their permit afterall. Good thinking!

This was only a week or so after Mayfield had thrown out their long time mayor in favor of the mayor's long time secretary in the election. I'm not sure if there is a connection there, but in a smaller city like Mayfield, the assumption would be that there is a connection.

But for those folks that tried to be very parochial about this and say that anyone from outside Mayfield didn't have a right to say anything, I have a response. When your actions are branding our entire part of the country as religious discriminators, then that becomes the business of the region, which I am a member. So I have the right to speak out. Keep your local affairs local and they won't become regional.