Reverend Terry Jones of the Dove Outreach Center, Gainesville, FL.... considered a Church of Christ... is Pastor of the small Christian congregation... has been in the news of late vowing to burn the Islamic Bible, the Quran... the church is noted as condemning Islam as a satanic religion, which just happens to be the practice and the religion of millions of Muslim people. It also happens to be the alleged religion of the terrorists who killed a couple thousand people on Sept. 11, 2001, obliterating the Twin Towers in NYC, and hijacking two other airplanes, one which hit the Pentagon, the other that was heroically crashed in a field in PA when passengers overtook the terrorists.
Well, Rev. Jones believes Islam is evil. That building a mosque near "Ground Zero" in NYC is reason enough to burn a Holy Book of Islam. In protest.
On NPR tonight I heard he has spoke with God, and decided not to burn the Quran. But in the same report it was stated he decided God spoke to him because an Imam Muhammad Musri agreed to not build the mosque near Ground Zero as originally planned.
So who is Rev. Jones dealing with here? God or his own personal voices? Conflicting news suggests that the pastor is now changed his mind and is again planning on burning the Quran in protest because the mosque deal may be off. Odd, as God, if he truly spoke to the pastor would have told him all this.
Maybe the pastor doesn't hear too good... but all I know is, this is a great example of why I don't associate with organized religion.
I'm honesty not an atheist, but rather more of a Druid. I believe in God, but my God is All... all religions, all beliefs, all that is, was and will ever be.
As I've said before, my one moral is "don't hurt others". By burning the Quran, Rev. Jones is hurting the faith and the spirit of Muslims worldwide. It is fueling a fire that apparently the Christian pastor believes is just and approved by his god. All for the sake of a mosque that Muslims wish to build near, but not on Ground Zero.
The Rev. Jones apparently believes Muslims are akin to bedbugs... a pest to destroy. Fact is, it's mosquitoes that carry disease, not bedbugs. Maybe to those of the Christian faith, those who "Trust in God", Islam is a pest, but they are not the devil that Rev. Jones would believe they are.
I would like to ask Rev. Jones how many Muslims died in the destruction of the World Trade Center, destroyed by a pack of mosquitoes claiming to be the angels of Islam? It's a mistake of media worldwide that only Americans died in the destruction. Fact is, people of all faiths died.
Not one mention of that fact have I ever seen or read in any media reports... but that's the truth. Human beings of all kinds perished. The world was hurt... not just Americans!
Rev. Jones... you want to incite WW3, in America you have that right. I really could care less if I have to go to work on Monday if WW3 breaks out if you burn the Quran. But think about it! Is it the GOD talking to you or your own voices you call god? Because seriously... what happened on Sept. 11, 2001 was not the Muslims attacking us, but a radical group of extremists. If nothing else, God has given you the gift of making that message clear to the world, because I really don't think most people understand that. On the other hand, if your goal is to claim God doesn't want the mosque build near Ground Zero, then to me, you are nothing but a misguided, eccentric man that could very well light the fuse to WW3.
As President Obama said quite clearly, America is a Country that tolerates and welcomes religious freedom. Not that an atheist could ever become president, but then, it wasn't long ago that it was not deemed possible that a man "of color" could become president.
So what will it be? WW3 or religious tolerance??? Personally, I'd prefer a cannabis dispensary be built near ground Zero, since cannabis users tend to be peaceful, but I doubt I'll get my wish.
Talk to your god again, and maybe actually listen this time! You call yourself a Christian? I have my doubts!
Interesting discussion topic Bob.
ReplyDeleteI address this issue from a straight Libertarian perspective. If the "Rev" wants to burn religious items, as long as they are owned by him and not someone else, I don't have a problem with it.
Personally, I don't like Bible burning, flag torching, or the destruction of the Quaran, and would agree that they could put troops abroad in danger, but I support our Constitutional rights to pursue such activities.
I think extremists hate the US as it is and if it is not incidents like this in Florida to stir them up they will just find something else (like I heard the builder behind the Mosque at ground zero argue that extremists may make things ugly if the building is not erected now).
Well said Slam...
ReplyDeleteThe Rev. does have the right to burn what he owns...
And I'm sure there's much more going on here than a simple book burning protest. maybe it's time, and maybe the pastor is giving us the opportunity for people of all faiths to come together. We'll have to wait and see.