You’ve probably heard that we have a pastor in Gainesville, Florida, who wants to make a “statement” on September 11th to “commemorate” the terrorist attack that occurred on that date in 2001. Pastor Terry Jones intends to burn the Muslim holy book on the ninth anniversary of that tragic event. That’s very "Christian" of him.
His congregation is believed to number around 50 members. Who would have thought that he could ever have garnered that much support? You’ve just got to love the name of the church as well: the Dove World Outreach Center. A “dove” is often used as symbol of peace. “World Outreach” generally implies an “open-arms” approach to the world around you (and I mean “arms” in the literal sense … rather than in the colloquial sense of “weapons”). As best as I can tell, “Center” must stand for “center of attention” … which appears to be the only reason for threatening to perpetrate this act.
Pastor Jones purports to be a “non-denominational, charismatic Christian.” Let’s break that down. I’ll go along with the “non-denominational” part. What denomination would want to claim him? As for “charismatic” … I think he only qualifies in the same sense as that other renowned, former religious leader with a similar name: Jim Jones. And “Christian?” I think not! I recall something in the Bible about “Love thy neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39). It’s also in the Torah (Leviticus 19:18), just in case Pastor Jones wants to convert. I don’t know about you, but burning someone else’s holy book just doesn’t seem “neighborly” to me.
Then, there’s the whole issue of the Commandment: “Thou shalt not kill” (Exodus 20:13). Heck, I believe the Qu’ran says, “And do not take any human being's life - that God willed to be sacred - other than in justice” (17:33). The reason I bring this up is because there are always radicals who will look for an excuse to exercise an exception to the rule … just like there were 19 of them on September 11, 2001. Needlessly throwing gasoline onto their fire seems to be a poor choice of alternatives for putting out the flames.
But Pastor Jones may know better. After all, his ministerial career began at the Christliche Gemeinde Köln, a church in Cologne, Germany, until he was thrown out because of his untenable theological rhetoric. Church members there reported that he ran the church like a sect and applied psychological pressure on members of its congregation to force them to abide by his will. It sounds to me like he picked the right country … he just missed it by 60-70 years.
Pastor Jones also runs a boarding school called the Dove World Outreach Academy. The local Gainesville newspaper (the Gainesville Sun) reported that the Academy’s students are prohibited from having any contact with their families (including attending family funerals, weddings, etc.). On the bright side, they’re taught a trade. They get to sell, pack, and ship furniture for TS and Company, which is a business owned by Sylvia Jones (a senior pastor at the church and Pastor Jones’ second wife). Oh, and did I mention that they get to do it without compensation? Nice! Just as an aside … Hey kids! Don’t drink the Kool Aid!
Pastor Jones has routinely castigated Islam (and probably any other religion that disagreed with his position); he has made a habit of bashing gays (at least in the non-literal sense); and he obviously has a strong interest in shaping the minds of young children (… what could possibly go wrong with that?). As a result, he is willing to put our overseas troops at risk … as well as every one of our citizens.
I say that because I’ve got this gut feeling that there just may be a few radicals who didn’t go down with a plane back in 2001. So, when this “man of the cloth” waves a red cape at them, they’re likely to look at it as another excuse to charge. Common sense tells me that we really don’t need the good Pastor’s “help” in that regard. Ever since our politicians openly declared that our combat troops have been withdrawn from Iraq, our remaining support troops have been subjected to a higher level of attacks. You see, in the absence of our combat troops, our perimeters have collapsed and the terrorists have been able to move closer to the troops who have been left behind. Good call, Washington! And now, we have this moron trying to express his animus in a way that will further threaten out troops.
But don’t think that the threat will end there. I’m not really sure that the terrorist cells will respect our borders and only carry out their activities in Iraq and Afghanistan. No, I think there is a good chance that Pastor Jones’ act may cause the terrorists to broaden and accelerate their response within our own shores. Still, I’m sure the ACLU will defend his First Amendment right to exercise “free speech.”
I seem to recall an exception to that right. The classic example is that you can’t yell “Fire!” in a movie theater because it might cause people to panic and be hurt in the process. As the Common Sense Czar, I say that we should apply the same exception to Pastor Jones and preclude him from “lighting fire” to a Muslim holy book. With our luck, he’ll perform his stunt in an area suffering from draught and burn down half of the State of Florida. “Fire!” anyone?
Do I think that we have the guts to exercise this “common sense” exception to the First Amendment? Probably not! After all, we have citizens who participate in equally benighted and despicable acts such as burning the American flag and picketing the funerals of our fallen soldiers. We’re very fervent about protecting these “rights” … which, perhaps, are morally misguided. I just hope that those who would burn our flag and support the pastor’s “right” to burn the Qu’ran won’t be attending any funerals as a result of his selfish act (or at least not picketing them).
Mark Twain once said, “So much blood has been shed by the Church because of an omission from the Gospel: ‘Ye shall be indifferent as to what your neighbor's religion is.’” It was true then; and it is still true today. It reminds me of another one of Twain’s stories that I have always cherished. He was apparently concerned that God’s creatures did not seem to get along, so he told the falling tale:
“To get matters in hand, I built a cage, and in it I put a dog and a cat. And after a little training, I got the dog and cat to the point where they lived peaceably together. Then I introduced a pig, a goat, a kangaroo, some birds and a monkey. And, after a few adjustments, they learned to live in harmony. So encouraged was I by such successes that I added an Irish Catholic, a Presbyterian, a Jew, a Muslim ... and a Buddhist ... along with a Baptist missionary ... And in a very short while there wasn’t a single living thing left in the cage.”
Some things never change …
Rather than to “symbolically” burn a holy book to impress 50 members of a meaningless congregation and a few brain-washed Academy attendees, why don’t we apply some common sense. Let’s choose to honor the victims who lost their lives on that tragic day in 2001 rather than bringing attention to the terrorists who took their lives. Let’s sincerely express our deepest sympathy to the families of the victims rather than showing the same level of hatred, stupidity and extremism demonstrated by the terrorists on that dark day. And let’s stand strong as a Nation in defense of our citizens and of our troops, so that neither may be needlessly threatened by this type of insanity.
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Copyright © 2010 Dr. T.J. O’Hara. To support viral distribution, this article may be copied, reprinted, forwarded, linked, or published in any form as long as proper attribution is given to the author and no changes are made.
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