Fahrenheit Koran51

Well, I guess it had to come to this. With the nine year anniversary of 9/11 only a day away, a small man at a small church has decided to mark the occasion by burning the Koran. Why? Because God told him to.

Except maybe he isn't burning it after all. As I sit down to write this, Pastor Terry Jones of the Dove World Outreach Center has suspended his plan to burn the Muslim holy book because he was led to believe that the controversial Park 51 Muslim Community Center--set to be stationed 2 1/2 blocks from Ground Zero in New York--will now be relocating further from the site of the former World Trade Center. Which turns out not to be true. The NYC Imam only agreed to meet with Jones somewhere down the road for an open discussion.

Now that Jones has learned this, he is going to pray on it more before he decides what to do tomorrow. So stay tuned, I guess.

In the meantime, what do we make of this Jones character and this current controversy?

Let's start with Jones. A mutton chopped moron attention seeking whore. You know how big his Gainesville, FLA congregation is? 50. That's 5-0. This guy who regularly preaches to a congregation that I can fit in my backyard and still have plenty of room for a swing set has been holding the media captive for the better part of the last week. The amount of power that has been given to this clown is staggering. His little bonfire has captured the headlines on newspapers, websites, as well as the cable and network news shows.

Even worse, the President, General Petraeus, and Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates have all made public (and in Gates' case private) pleas to this narcissist to reconsider this first amendment folly. This guy must be the happiest jackass on earth about right now.

It's hard to see what benefit having President Obama making a statement would be. In a country where 18% of the population believe that he is a Muslim, it's not hard to believe that Jones isn't a part of the other 82%. And since Jones believes that Islam is "the devil's religion," I can't imagine the Kenyan Muslim President having any effect on this pastor's (has that word ever been more misapplied?) decision.

Make no mistake, Jones beliefs about Islam are based in ignorance. He has admitted to not even having read the Koran. If he did, he would find the inclusion of positive portrayals of both Moses and Jesus, but why try to find common ground when you know that won't get your bigoted mug on CNN?

So now that this nonsense has been blown completely out of proportion by a media that can't find anything better to cover (are you kidding me?), why should we care?

We should care because the actions of this close minded individual will potentially have far reaching effects. If Jones goes through with the Koran burning--which he has crassly titled "Burn a Koran Day"--he will be putting our troops at a higher risk overseas as well as creating the best recruitment poster for Al-Qaeda since "Shock and Awe." Muslim extremists in Pakistan and Afghanistan have begun distributing information about Jones' endeavor in advance of the foolishness that may take place tomorrow. It has already reached a level where the state department has issued a travel advisory to Americans roaming abroad to be on the lookout for anti-American activity.

But I have to say, I wouldn't put all the blame at the feet of Jones and the media--although they certainly deserve their share. No. I also blame us. Not all of us mind you, but definitely the nearly 70% of our citizenry who so vehemently oppose the building of the so-called "Ground Zero Mosque" in New York City. Or how about the 51% of us who are routinely suspicious of Muslims? And what about the 32% who believe that a Muslim should NOT be allowed to run for President? All of these percentages are appalling. Numbers like these foment Islamaphobia and create an environment that lets ignorant fools like Jones believe that they have a license for anti-social behavior towards Islam because, hey, doesn't everyone hate Muslims? If you look at these poll results, it's not hard to see how Jones might feel that he has the approval of this nation's citizens.

I wonder if the polling organizations started surveying those that oppose Islam in our country and asked them if Jones spoke for them, what they would say? My guess is most of them would be against his "Burn a Koran Day" celebration. Unfortunately, that thus far mythical poll won't be out before tomorrow. And in the meantime, Jones thinks that those who would oppose the constitutional rights of Muslims are with him. He can simply point to these opinion polls for support.

I'm sure he believes that if he gets the NYC Muslim Community Center to move, or simply goes through with his book burning, he will be hailed a hero by a large segment of our population. Between us and the media, we have certainly given him the standing that he has not earned.

Shame on us.

Sumo-Pop
September 10, 2010