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roachboy · 09-10-2010, 01:20 PM

a little recap on the activities of this repellent little man and his repellent little church:

Quote:

The notorious Pastor Terry Jones

So Pastor Terry Jones has decided not to do it. Unless, of course, he does it after all. The burning hasn't been cancelled but "suspended." When Jones announced he was going to burn the Koran on 9/11 he became an instant worldwide media celebrity. The pastor of a 30-member Florida church, the Dove World Outreach Center, Jones must have thought he had died and gone to heaven. Never had this author of "Islam is of the Devil" had so much attention. And it was so easy.... Just say you're going to burn the Koran and look what happens!

But it gets better. After being implored by religious and political leaders from all over the globe, he announced Thursday evening that he had decided not to have the burning. Why? Well, because Imam Feisal Rauf, the founder of the Cordoba House had told him that he would agree not to build a mosque at Ground Zero and had agreed to meet with Jones in New York on Saturday. And also because he had had "a sign from God." But wait!

Imam Feisal says it ain't so. He says he never spoke to Jones, never agreed not to build the Islamic Center and never agreed to meet with him.

Jones says he was "clearly, clearly lied to."

And he is now saying that he is reconsidering his decision not to burn the Korans.

This guy, Jones, is good. Rarely has anyone been able to manipulate the media and keep the story rolling the way he has. It wasn't enough that he became an overnight sensation by announcing his intentions to offend. He wasn't even satisfied when General David Petraeus said that the "images of the burning of a Koran would understandably be used by extremists in Afghanistan - and around the world - to inflame public opinion and incite violence."

At first, Jones says he got the idea for the book burning from those who had a "Draw Mohammad Day" protest against the condemnation of a cartoonist who drew the prophet. Drawing a picture of Mohammad, though insulting to many Muslims, was a bit too tame for our boy. No sir. He was going to go for the big time: Think how much publicity he would get if he burned the sacred text!

So he announced it and there he was all over the media. What a bonanza. His congregation swelled to 50 members. But who cares about the numbers. He was getting major exposure. And the more he insisted he was going to go through with it, the more attention he is got.

Hillary Clinton, in her Q and A after a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations talked about the burning being "outrageous, aberrational" and a "disgraceful plan to get the world's attention. Everyone knew that this was a hot story, and nobody better than Pastor Jones.

Petraeus also warned that "even the rumors have sparked demonstrations" and warned that if the actual burning took place "the safety of our soldiers would be put in jeopardy and the accomplishment of the mission would be made more difficult."

It only got better for Pastor Jones. Both New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Obama White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs denounced him. President Obama pleaded with him to listen to his "better angels." Secretary of Defense Robert Gates called him up to ask him to stop. UPDATE: Friday, Obama added that his appeal to Jones did not 'elevate' the pastor, but was necessary because "in the age of the internet, this is something that can cause us profound damage."

Now that he is getting the attention of world leaders he's even more pumped. "We (note the royal "we") think it's time to turn the tables and instead of possibly blaming us for what could happen, we put the blame on where it belongs. On the people who would do it."

There is no question that if Pastor Jones does end up having a Koran burning, there will be consequences. As an extremist himself, he understands only too well how to incite other extremists. One Muslim cleric announced that if he goes through with it that all Americans must die, never mind that those Muslims who may retaliate will be living up to the negative stereotypes of Muslims. There are those who would argue that though burning the Koran might seem abhorrent to Muslims, it is still not murder. Yet others have made the point that historically burning books leads to burning people.

The Islamophobes and Muslim bashers in the country have had their hatred fueled by Muslim extremists. Many of these people consider themselves good Christians. And though polls show a majority of people are against the burning, it could be a real shocker for them to see what extremism looks like from the other side. How will Pastor Jones feel if people are harmed because of the Koran burning? Pleased? Vindicated? After all, for him, it will be a self fulfilling prophecy.

If even one American is killed because of Pastor Jones's actions, how will they feel about a Christian extremist imperiling the lives of their own countrymen? It is sad that one narrow minded, exclusive and destructive man with so few followers could wrongly appear to represent a country and a religion. Yet that is undoubtedly how it will be perceived by many abroad.

The question is, after his first taste of the bright lights, what caused him to back off, even for a few hours? Clearly he never had an agreement with Imam Feisal. Plus, Jones changed the reason why he was going to burn the Koran's from "exposing Islam for what it is" to one where he was simply trying to convince the imam to move the Islamic Center. My guess is he overplayed his hand. He got carried away with his power over the media and his success. He didn't name his church The Dove WORLD Outreach Center for nothing. He wanted a seat at the table. If he does get a meeting with the imam or any other major religious or political figures he will certainly be encouraged in his egregious quest for fame. Just imagine how many fundamentalists are out there right now kicking themselves and saying, "Why didn't I think of that?"

There is nothing uglier than religious bigotry. Pastor Jones is the face of that bigotry. Everyone who agrees with him about Islam should take a good look in the mirror. It is true that, under the first amendment he has a right to burn the Korans. That's the same first amendment, however, that says a mosque can be built near Ground Zero.

Maybe it will make him even more famous. Maybe it will keep him on the front pages of newspapers, magazines and TV screens.

This could well be a tipping point for the viral media if a tiny little story of no consequence ends up causing riots, devastation and bloodshed.

Even if he doesn't go through with it this time, he's already achieved the notoriety he has sought. He's not going to go away. He's clearly addicted. When the publicity dies down, he'll simply threaten to burn them again and everyone will take the bait.

On Faith Panelists Blog: The notorious Pastor Terry Jones - Sally Quinn