Don’t Do It
September 9, 2010 by admncc
Take a look at this list:
Interpol, British Foreign Secretary William Hague, U.S. Senator John McCain, The U.S. Embassy in London, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, France’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, Indonesian President Susilo Bambanf Yudhoyono, The Vatican, The President of the United Nations General Assembly, The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), The Military Religious Freedom Foundation, U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, The U.S. Embassy in Pakistan, The U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan, Lebanese President Michel Suleiman and the President of the United States.
If I were to tell you that all of those people/groups/organizations agreed on something, would you be surprised? Well, it’s happening right now. They are all against some plans that the Reverend Terry Jones has. Jones, the head of a small church in Gainesville, Florida, plans to burn copies of the Quran on Saturday (the anniversary of the September 11th attacks). As all of you know, the Quran is the Muslim holy book. You can read the CNN story here.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg doesn’t like it either. But he also defended the church’s pastor and said this is his right under the First Amendment. But Mr. Mayor, the pastor’s plans have now been made into a media circus…
This is not a political-based blog and this post is about the closest I’ll ever get to complaining about politics (or religion for that matter). But here’s what I will say. I think the spotlight being placed on Reverend Jones has made this situation worse. Now, with everyone watching, if he carries through with his threat, any number of problems could result. So…could this be a First Amendment argument that just got blown out of proportion? Maybe. But these days, this kind of religious public spectacle is going to cause much broader problems, which I think is the point that the pastor is missing.
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I completely agree with you! It makes me sick that the media is setting up camp just to spread a message of hate. Drives me crazy that images of peace, generosity and grace can hardly even make the newspaper, much less national news.
I think you’re missing the meat of the story here. First, this is not a first amendment debate. Anyone with a gov’t school education knows that this pastor has a first amendment right to burn books, assuming that he’s following all local laws. The meat of the story is the popular conclusion that this behavior is not appropriate. Just like building a mosque at ground zero is constitutional, it’s just not appropriate to the vast majority of Americans.
I think this story is highlighting yet another profound failure of His Royal Highness, King Barry the Great. Here’s the statement he should make…
“I have reached out to this minister and requested he does not continue with the book burning, and he has refused. As President, I concur with this minister that he has the right engage in this behavior, but I highly condemn it because it does not reflect the beliefs of my administration or the american people. Having said that, I want to remind the Muslim nations that the United States is a nation of freedom and liberty. I do not have the power to prevent this type of behavior like most of the Muslim nations do. I ask that the Muslims across the world realize that this behavior is being committed by a church with only 50 members.
Furthermore, I want to caution anyone, of any religion or nationality that plans on engaging in acts of violence against any American military or civillians in retaliation for this church’s behavior. Do not do it. Acts of violence will be dealt with swiflty and aggressivly. Engaging in any activity against Americans and our military is not a battle you will win.”
THAT is what a leader says…
A few minutes ago, there was breaking news on the radio that the pastor had backed down due to pressure. We’ll see if that holds true. And it’s still an interesting topic to continue discussing in the meantime.
Most positions that are taken to the extreme are silly. People are great at making fools of themselves!
…extremes are only relative to the premise. When liberty was merely a theory, our founders were considered extremists and dreamers. Today, the U.S. Federal Gov’t is more tyrannical than King George.
Nothing like the media taking something to the next level. This tops begging for bank closings like they did two years ago by reporting on it until the planet was in disarray.
We wrote about the same thing today! I think it is so ridiculous that a pastor with a congregation of 30 members can cause such a ruckus! Before this internet/TV age, we never would have heard what this little nobody thought about doing with the Koran. Now, it’s a worldwide controversy with huge possible effects.
I would defend to the death his right to do it but would politely suggest he not, if asked. What kind of religion burns the “bible” of another to make a point? Kind of makes them look like nothing more than rabble rousers.
I agree with Dick. But, I’ll also answer your question…”What kind of religion burns the “bible” of another to make a point?”
Muslims…
Hmm. I think that the spotlight can definitely have a negative effect. I have to admit I don’t support his actions, and hopefully with all the reactions he will put his head on straight and re-think his actions. Does intolerance solve intolerance? I think not.
Rachael
yes, my dear, this was ridiculous.
luckily nothing came of it. or at least i think…. my knowledge was limited to facebook comments since i haven’t had time to turn on my tv in about 6 months. hah.
Thank goodness, I hate political crap. boo hiss.
Too stressfull. I like happy shit. : )
I totally agree with you.
Denise
I’m late to the party, but it irritates me how disrespectful some people are. Not all Muslims are bad Muslims and that’s the worst part of this. Can you imagine how hard life was when that first happened? Like, I lived in California at the time and there were Muslim sisters in one of my classes. One sister clung to her religion and the other dropped it because it was too hard to deal with. Can you imagine the shame of the people that DON’T agree with what al-Qaeda did? Can you imagine the betrayal? It just is a sad world we live in. I think we need a flash to the past. To the 1950s is my vote…