Posted on 09/11/2010 8:36:50 AM PDT by Qbert
Florida pastor Terry Jones said Saturday that he would never carry out plans to burn copies of the Quran, according to NBC.
Jones had planned to burn the Muslim holy text on the ninth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, but now says he’ll never go through with it.
"We will definitely not burn the Quran, no,” he said in an interview with the “Today” show in New York. “Not today, not ever.”
Jones said he would refrain from Quran-burning even if a proposed Islamic community center and mosque is built near Ground Zero, according to NBC. Jones heads a small church in Gainesville called the Dove World Outreach Center.
The pastor’s plan drew warnings from top military officials and President Barack Obama that burning the Quran would endanger the lives of U.S. service members. Obama criticized the plan during a press conference Friday.
“The idea that we would burn the sacred texts of someone else’s religion is contrary to what this country stands for. It’s contrary to what this country, this nation was founded on,” Obama said. “We’ve got an obligation to send a very clear message that this kind of behavior or threats of action put our young men and women in harm’s way. And it’s also the best imaginable recruiting tool for al Qaeda,” he added.
Jones is seeking a meeting with Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, who heads the Cordoba Initiative that’s proposing the Islamic center, but said nothing has been set up, according to NBC.
Jones told the network that his goal was to “expose” that there is “very dangerous and very radical” element to Islam, and claimed, “we have definitely accomplished that mission.”
Not sure what turned this pastor around, but his threat to burn the Koran resulted in one important thing. It flushed out, once again, the Islamic extremists who screamed, rioted, and burned the American flag this week to protest his threat. I think it’s ironic and kind of fitting that Jones brought to the forefront those who hate us just when we remember 9/11. Too many have forgotten and need to be reminded.
If the FBI visits resulted in the Obama administration acting on behalf of Islam, does it not follow that the US government is acting on behalf of foreign interests against its own people?
Thanks Qbert.
Probably a fair number.
It should be a solomn occaision, without trumpeting the event in advance - just have your bonfire and post.
>So, how many Koran-burning videos will be posted on Youtube by sundown tonight?
I have one soaking in this morning’s bacon grease waiting for sundown to ramadamn it.
Where are the Free Speech advocates?
Artists? ACLU?
If one guy can be shut up by death threats, that’s less freedom we all have.
9/11. Another win for the terrorists.
I wonder how the muzzie countries are observing 9/11. Well, I’m sure Brian and Katie will be covering it.....
“I’m guessing he was threatened with the IRS.”
This guy in Richmond hung out a huge poster of Obama as the Joker on his club. Look what happened to him:
Ex-owner of Velvet indicted on federal tax charges.
http://www2.timesdispatch.com/news/2010/sep/09/velv09-ar-495992/
NAACP protests anti-Obama poster outside strip club.
http://www2.timesdispatch.com/news/2009/sep/29/velv29_20090928-215603-ar-28401/
[poster in background of picture]
“Sounds like the pastor got a talking to by some guys with shades and ear pieces.”
Somebody’s mob made him an offer he couldn’t refuse. Not all mobs are Sicilian, capisce?/s;)
The problem is the Pastor is entitled to free speech and the iman cannot build anywhere he pleases in the name of this "evil, murdering, anti christian" so-called religion.
The Koran burning, if he had gone through with it, would have been far worse in almost every sense. The GZM will not get built where they want it, so that is no big deal.
“does it not follow that the US government is acting on behalf of foreign interests against its own people?”
YESSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is not good makes the savages feel we fear them,that is not going to play well here.
I guess God changed His mind about Islam being of the Devil, huh? The “Pastor” is a flake.
Theo Van Gogh. Dutch filmmaker that made a documentary criticizing Islam’s treatment of women. He was murdered in 2004 by Islamic extremists.
I’m sure there will be lots of unholy korans burning today, and a few coated with syrup and fed to pigs. Never has so much been made over so little. Never has there been such an asinine book or idiotic religion. Seriously, there is more spiritual wisdom in Playboy, and more charity and genuine purity in a whorehouse. Voodoo and Satanism are more humane and conducive towards civil society, and a lot less scary.
That’s about as ecumenical and tolerant as I can make myself be today.
A decision that was largely driven by fear of muslim reaction. It is a back-handed indictment of Islam.
“While I didn’t endorse the Pastor’s koran burning program, it is what it is....... that horse has left the barn and for better or worse, the muslims stood their ground and yelled, screamed and threatened us. In their eyes we (not just the pastor) blinked. For them this is a huge victory and will give them more resolve on every other issue including the ground zero mosque.”
Yep.
And I guess the question that lingers for a lot of people is, why would it be so wrong for an American president to take a stand and give a speech explaining to Muslims around the world that we do have a First Amendment right, and that this a value of *ours* that needs to be respected? As you note, this right doesn’t always *have* to be exercised (as Palin and many others have noted, “Just because you can doesn’t mean you should”, especially in a situation like this), but without some effort to defend this liberty, it does feel like capitulation for many people.
Why are we expected to tiptoe around Islam?
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