Pastor Jones and his planned Qur'an burning
Far From Ground Zero, Obscure Pastor Is Ignored No Longer Mr. Jones, in a lengthy interview at his church, said he sincerely hoped that his planned Koran-burning would not lead to violence. He dismissed the idea that it could put American troops at greater risk, and — echoing his sermons — he said that his church was being persecuted. He said his bank recently demanded immediate repayment of the $140,000 balance on the church mortgage; that his property insurance had been canceled since he announced in late July that he intended to burn copies of the Koran; and that death threats now come in regularly. “We have to be careful,” he said. He tapped a holster on the right hip of his jean shorts; it held a .40-caliber pistol, which he said he was licensed to carry. “The overall response,” he added, “has been much greater than we expected.”
I read that article in the NYT today and just watched Terry Jones on Hardball w/ Chris Matthews. Jones struck me as nothing but a publicity-seeking demagogue who’s enjoying his fifteen minutes of fame. His church has but 50 members and he boasts of receiving a whopping $1,000 in donations since his Koran-burning crusade was picked up by a mainstream media desperately seeking evidence of rampant Islamophobia among Americans.
A detail in the NYT article that stood out to me was Jones’ promising to press ahead with the Koran burnings even though he was turned down for a burning permit by the City of Gainesville. His flouting of the law and the civil authorities is contrary to Scripture. He could do more good by stating he’s canceling the burning because the Bible commands him to honor those civil authorities.
A detail in the NYT article that stood out to me was Jones’ promising to press ahead with the Koran burnings even though he was turned down for a burning permit by the City of Gainesville. His flouting of the law and the civil authorities is contrary to Scripture. He could do more good by stating he’s canceling the burning because the Bible commands him to honor those civil authorities.
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