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From Denny: When I heard about this nut case in Florida, claiming to be a Christian, yet screaming how another religion is "of the Devil," well, evidence there is yet more from Camp Stupid and Camp Outrageous. The first question that came to mind was, "So why is this guy so adamant to get his 15 minutes of negative attention fame?" Like so many things in life, what is on the surface is rarely the truth.
Usually, when people pull destructive stunts like this it is often for misdirection away from something else. The internal suspicion radar wonders if this guy is tied into a white supremacist militia group. Then there are the Republican political strategists who are always stirring up the Moral Majority religious fringe right.
It is curious how this bizarre stunt suddenly surfaces when President Obama is working so hard on Middle East Peace with Israel and Palestine. There are always those fools on all sides who try to derail Peace initiatives. Our job is not to give in to them and allow them to destroy Peace.
The vast majority of Americans think this "pastor" has crossed the line. After all, when you condemn someone else's religion you end up condemning your own. All religions could take a lesson from that thought.
Often these small fringe Protestant churches are a bunch of odd misfits who think they don't have to answer to anyone or respect anyone. They lie and hide behind the apron strings of religion and constitutional rights while they incite violence and hate. The same could be said of Islamic terrorists for they operate in the same manner. They are both wrong and both not honoring their claimed religions, rather they are wallowing in negative cultures that grew up around those religions.
If ever there was a time for a rallying call it's now. The rallying call is not for Christians to line up on the battle field against Muslims or Muslims to line up on the battle field against Christians. What we all need to do is take a deep breath and ask ourselves one question: "Do we think God is great?" For that is where our focus should rest - not upon ourselves or "the other guy" we don't like.
If we do agree on that one precept then it's obvious what is the next logical line of reasoning. If God is greater than all of us combined, does He really need us to defend Him? Of course not. What God wants from all of us is to figure out how to live in Peace and kindness toward one another while we each individually - or collectively as nations - travel on our spiritual journeys toward understanding. Part of that path is to grow our attitudes away from violence and toward patience and tolerance.
While we do have religious freedom and freedom of expression in this great country of America, there are also local fire ordinances. Remember, at the moment there is only the threat of burning the Koran. Sometimes, it's the simple things that take care of stupidity like this. The city of Gainesville, Florida has prevented the "pastor" from burning the Korans as that burning presents a fire hazard. Apparently, the ink is highly incendiary. Now that's the understatement of the year.
*** Update 10 Sept 2010, 7:23 PM: This story is constantly changing back and forth from threatening to burn the 200 Korans to not doing it. There are claims this pastor has made that the mosque near Ground Zero will be moved or not built at all - all because of his stunt. The New York City mosque has no plans to move their planned building nor has that Imam agreed to meet with this Florida pastor threatening violence - even though Pastor Jones has claimed the Imam will meet with him.
As of Friday night the Florida pastor has stated he will not go through with the burning of the Korans and may not even be in town. Let's see, the FBI probably warned him that if he went through with it - and if anyone was harmed by violence or rioting - that he would be held responsible by federal hate crime law. The planned burning was also in violation of the city of Gainesville's fire ordinances.
Saturday is the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorism in New York City on the World Trade Center. Tensions continue between American Christians and Muslims around the world because of this act of terrorism. The Republican political strategists continue to stir up people to anger rather than tolerance and cooperation as one nation, different faiths and beliefs. After all, you can easily control people by keeping them angry, so angry they take their focus off solving problems by thinking their way through them with wisdom.
On this anniversary of hate, let's lower the political temperature and instead respond with spiritual forgiveness and wisdom.
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Terry Jones Defies Administration, Plans to Burn Korans Anyway
FBI Says Retaliation for Koran Burning 'Likely'
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