With regards to Terry Jones—pastor of the Dove Outreach ministry and not the bloke from Monty Python—it was certainly interesting to watch the media that created the monster attempting to condemn the monster for being monstrous.
It’s a hell of a start, It could be made into a monster
If we all pull together as a team
—Pink Floyd, “Have a Cigar”
Terry Jones, whose congregation has ballooned to circa 51 people, became an instant worldwide celebrity when the media spread his message as far and wide as possible: he planned to burn Korans / Qur′ans on Sep 11, 2010 AD.
Let us play a version on the Sesame Street game “One of these things is not like the other”—see if you can detect which of the following denotes American Judeo-Christian values and which do not:
You can consult media sites for the details, the timelines and the back and forths. I wished to focus on a couple of issues:
Is it not deeply offensive that we are being told that if we speak, write and act in certain ways some Muslims worldwide will go on murderous rampages? Is this what we are to think of Muslims? This means that terrorism wins. Besides, what is the big deal about threats of Muslim violence? We are constantly told that only an extreme minority of Muslims are violent extremists. Surely, we can just sit back and let the vast majority of Muslims rein them in; they will take care of it—right?????
Thus far; there have been riots, murders, attack on Christians (including schools), etc. Surely, any moment now the vast majority of Muslims will do something—surely.1
Acts 19:19 states, “Also, many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all.”
They had renounced the practices outlined in those books and burned them. They did not get the books of others, particularly the books to which non-believers were still committed, and burn them. Moreover, they did not spend money purchasing the books to which non-believers were still committed and burn them. They were done with them and got rid of them by burning.
It would be fascinating if the media was the least bit versed in that which they cover. It would have been interesting to ask Terry Jones and any Muslim that they interviewed for a counterpoint who was the first person ever to burn a Koran / Qur′an. Burning Korans / Qur′ans has a long history; a history just about as old as Islam itself. The first Korans / Qur′ans, various manuscripts of the Koran / Qur′an, was burned circa 1,365 years ago by the first Caliph, ′Uthman—see this link for details.
According to this Muslim’s sentiment, Caliph ‘Uthman is in hell:
It is sad, disappointing but not surprising that we are left, via the media and pop-culture, discussing surface level issue and caricatures whilst not getting at, or even being aware of, the true and deeper issues.