For most Americans September 11th is a day they will never forget. To commemorate the occasion some people light candles, hold events, or flip the Muslim world a massive bird.
Pastor Terry Jones of Florida had threatened to do just that. He had planned to mark the anniversary of the terror attacks by burning a Koran, Islam’s holy book. While the pastors right to do this is protected under the 1st amendment, many think it is not necessarily the best way to proceed.
Now Pastor Jones says his plan is “On Hold”.
Interpol has issued a terror alert, warning that should the book-burning take place demonstration could lead to more violence, and increased resentment of America.
They’re not the only ones imploring the pastor to back down, President Obama denounced the burning as a “stunt” and asked him not to go through with the burning. Even the military has warned against it.
This, however, is just event in a tide of anti-Islamic sentiment. There have been protests over the Cordoba House (Ground Zero Mosque) in New York that, according to a Washington Post poll, are directly correlated with a negative view of Islam.
I know that you cannot judge a society based on its most wackadoodle members but here’s one that might raise eyebrows; a Dallas pastor recently claimed that Islam promotes pedophilia.
So what does this all mean?
This could be an issue that has been stewing for years and periodically reaches its boiling point, a kind of elephant in the room that American society has never (and may never) fully deal with.
Americans love to proclaim their dream — the land of the free and the home of the brave — and yet they set limits and indulge in fear. The great paradox is that they deny others the very things they insist upon: freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom to be who they want to be. What I find truly annoying is the air time they give to one narrow-minded individual who will probably end up on Oprah, ghost-writing a book, and sitting on some island beach with more money than you or I could dream of. By the way, did anyone check to see if this guy even has a Qur’an?
[...] The moustache belongs to The crazy Pastor Terry Jones of Florida. Some months ago his congregation threatened to burn a Koran as a protest against the violent nature of the religion (see our previous coverage of it here). [...]