Pastor Terry Jones, a Florida preacher has become the center of a international firestorm regarding his proclamation that on September 11th he and his congregation would “burn a few hundred Korans.” The controversy began early this summer when Jones and his group posted their intentions on their Facebook page. Jones and his group’s mission statement, which could also be found on their Facebook page is "to bring to awareness to the dangers of Islam and that the Koran is leading people to hell"[i] This radical ideology catapulted Jones from relative obscurity into a extremely controversial figure in American politics and media. In addition, he quickly became a villain of the Islamic community and was immediately criticized by the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the rest of the Islamic community around the world.
While Jones has the right under the First Amendment to burn Korans- just like protestors have the right the burn the American flag, this proclamation to do this is completely and utterly disgusting. Jones, who claims to be a patriot and believes he is honoring and defending America is doing exactly the opposite. He and his followers have stooped to the same level of the Islamic fundamentalists that he is preaching against. He is not only damaging the reputation of us here in the United States, he is also jeopardizing our relationship with the Islamic Community around the world.
Beyond reputations and relations, Jones’ radicalism and his Koran burning threat is endangering our troops abroad. General David Petraeus spoke out strongly against Jones;
"It could endanger troops and it could endanger the overall effort in Afghanistan, were the actual burning to take place, the safety of our soldiers and civilians would be put in jeopardy and accomplishment of the mission would be made more difficult," he said.
After months of turmoil and securitization from the media, the White House and General Petraeus , when the day came on 9/11, Pastor Jones decided to not burn Korans.[ii] Thankfully, Jones came to the right decision, but the mere threat of carrying out such a plan is damaging to our Islamic relations and our fight against terrorism.
We are better than this as Americans. We must not stoop down to the level of the Terrorists who murdered thousands of people on September 11th, 2001. We must understand the reasons why some Islamic Fundamentalists have such hatred for us and we must seek ways to diffuse that hatred. We must remember that we are not fighting the Islamic religion itself, but a small minority of fundamentalists.
Above all, we must remember to support the men and women in our armed services and never endanger them with our actions.
God Bless America.
I would not want to give our enemies that level of propaganda to use as a recruiting tool. The long term ramifications of videos and photos spread all over the world of Americans burning the Koran would be disastrous for our soldiers and without a doubt put them all at greater risk. I know my God would not have approved.
ReplyDeleteGod Bless our Troops.
I agree wholeheartedly with your post. First and foremost, however, I do want to say that he has every right to do so under the Constitution, just as Muslims have the right to build the mosque near Ground Zero (a similar topic at hand in current events). As you said, this is a disgusting tactic, especially considering the fact that it probably has already endangered our troops fighting for our everyday freedoms, which the Pastor would not otherwise have. They are the true heroes of our country who are greatly unappreciated in many circles, which I frankly find unfathomable.
ReplyDeleteWhat is your position on the "proposed" mosque at ground zero?
ReplyDeleteWest Coast Conservative.. I will address that issue in this week's posting. Thank you all for your comments
ReplyDeleteI feel that the mosque has every right to be there; however, it is a truly disgusting, insensitive idea.
ReplyDelete