Mosques of Kentucky

Some of the most interesting buildings in America come from the tradition of Islamic Architecture, and Kentucky's no exception. Pictured above is the Masjid Al-Farooq in Prestonsburg, and below are further examples:


Islamic Center, Elizabethtown.


Muslim Community Center, Louisville.


Islamic Center, Somerset.


Islamic Center, Bowling Green.


Bosniak-American Islamic Center, Louisville. (A typical quaint country home, but with a Minaret!)

Tom Cruise Climbs Burj Khalifa

Kentuckian Tom Cruise was recently spotted filming a scene for his upcoming Mission Impossible IV, perched atop the tallest building in the world - Dubai's Burj Khalifa. The Burj Khalifa was also examined on this blog here last year, when Dubai's ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, came to Lexington.

Cruise's latest daring film shoot - which gives me vertigo just to think about it - came during the Islamic Eid al-Adha (عيد الأضحى‎), a religious holiday also known as "the festival of sacrifice". By doing his own dangerous stunt work, Cruise very nearly sacrificed himself by spending such a long time clinging to the top of the tallest structure ever created! In the past few weeks, he's also been seen swinging, Spider-man style, from a cable tethered to the building and - as in the photo above - hanging upside down from one of its highest windows.


(Fun facts about the Burj Khalifa: it's the tallest building on Earth, has the world's longest elevator shaft and the world's fastest elevators, has the world's highest outdoor observation deck, the world's highest Mosque, and the world's highest swimming pool at the 76th floor. It's so tall, you can see it for 60 miles away, and the weather at the top is at least 6 degrees colder with winds sometimes reaching 90 miles per hour.)

Kentuckians Plan Alternative to Quran-burning

You've probably heard about this nutcase "Dove World Outreach" preacher in Florida who's announced "International Burn a Koran Day". (The Qu'ran (or Koran) is the holy scripture of Islam, which has at least 1.5 billion followers worldwide. There are numerous paths and factions within Islam, from the Sunni to the Shi'a to the Ahmadiyya to the Nation of Islam.)

His publicity stunt has managed to stir up millions of people into new heights of hatred against America, and even the President has urged him to reconsider, fearing his actions will incite violent reprisals and terrorist attacks. At press time, supposedly he's announced that he's changed his mind and is withdrawing his plans for the book-burning event. But of course, he probably well knows that a lot of the yahoos out there that he's inspired will go ahead and hold their local book-burnings anyway, whether he's in or out.

Here in Kentucky, fortunately, cooler heads are prevailing at Highland Baptist Church in Louisville. They're countering the book-burning with an "Honoring Sacred Texts" event, scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Saturday. The service is offered by Interfaith Paths to Peace, a Louisville organization that promotes religious freedom and tolerance.

Meanwhile, while the world is arguing endlessly over just how many blocks away from the site of the 9-11 attacks a Mosque should be allowed to stand, there's a new Mosque in Louisville. The Muslim Community Center on Westport Road is nearing completion and I'm pleased to say, there's been no outcry, no protests, no threats made.

The Dove World Outreach website is down as I write this, but the Google cache is viewable here. You can also find a Google cache of their charmingly simple-minded treatise "Ten Reasons To Burn A Koran" here.