MikeLigalig.com

It’s un-Christian

I have a message for Pastor Terry Jones, who has promised to publicly burn a koran on September 11:
Just don’t do it.

Rights are important. Constitutional rights to free expression are critical. But some things are more important than rights, and one of them is to do the right thing.
Burning a koran on September 11 is not a religious act, it is certainly not a Christian one. “Put away your sword,” as the Master pointed out. “Those who use the sword will die by the sword.”

Worse, in this case, they may cause innocents to die.

Pastor Jones attempts to cite Acts 19 as the “scriptural basis” for his koran barbecue:

“Many of those who had become believers came forward and openly acknowledged their former practices. Moreover, a large number of those who had practiced magic collected their books and burned them in public. They calculated their value and found it to be fifty thousand silver pieces.”

But those early Christians were burning their own books, not someone else’s sacred scriptures. Books were expensive luxury items in the days before the printing press. They could have made money selling these books, and instead they tossed them on the fire in a costly act of sacrifice as a proof of their own faith, not as an act of aggression against another’s.

I could have more sympathy for Pastor Jones if he were running risks for a cause greater than personal self-expression. If he were stubbornly handing out Bibles in Kabul, even though Afghans rioted, for example, Pastor Jones’ action might be foolish and unwise in worldly terms, but it would at least be morally admirable.

If he were a plain Mr. Terry Jones, a performance artist, a New York Times editor or even a professional atheist, I might have more sympathy. The guys who sling elephant dung over a Madonna or dunk a crucifix in urine to prove their commitment to their unfettered artistic freedom—if any of those guys were doing this, I might still think it unwise, but at least they would be, for once, taking a real risk in pursuit of art instead of doing only what will win plaudits from all their friends, grant directors, museum curators, art reviewers and cocktail party hangers-on.

I could perhaps understand it if on September 11 Pastor Jones were doing something that primarily endangered himself, but instead, from the safety of America, he is endangering the lives of others in far distant lands, not the least of which are American troops in Afghanistan, who may fight and die for his publicity stunt.

“It could endanger troops and it could endanger the overall effort,” Gen. David Petraeus said in an interview with The Associated Press. “It is precisely the kind of action the Taliban uses and could cause significant problems. Not just here, but everywhere in the world we are engaged with the Islamic community.” Already in Indonesia, thousands are protesting in front of the US Embassy and demanding the US government intervene to stop it. That would be wrong, of course; it won’t happen.

Pastor Jones is free to do what he knows will provoke murderous rage in less enlightened people and lands—in order to accomplish what? To prove that he can? To provoke bad behavior he can denounce?

This is not a Christian idea or a Christian act. It is a childishly adolescent act of self-aggrandizement.
Pastor Jones: Just don’t do it.


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 The only spiritual or political figure who will not denounce Florida pastor Terry Jones' plan to commemorate Sept. 11
    by burning copies of the Quran is Jones himself.
Wednesday brings the news that even the church Jones founded in Germany in the 1980s  is condemning the
   upcoming Quran-burning at his small place of worship in Gainesville, Fla.

"We are surprised and shocked at the extreme radicalism being displayed [by Jones] right now on this issue,"
   Stephan Baar of the Christian Community of Cologne told the Associated Press.
The 60-member church kicked out Jones in 2008.
 Jones' estranged daughter says the eviction arose from her father's reported penchant for dipping
  into the church's till to pay his own expenses.

Jones' wish to burn hundreds of copies of the Islamic holy book has drawn a wide chorus of protests.
Gen. David Petraeus said on Monday the action could hurt U.S. troops, while hundreds of Afghans protested
  in Kabul and burned Jones in effigy.
 The Gainesville Fire Department has denied Jones a permit for the event -- but the pastor says he plans to go ahead with it anyway.

  The excerpt of Jones  background above explains his self-centered attitude by ignoring the possible
           outcome thus endangering the safety of our soldiers.
  Basin wala siyay anak nga tua gideploy sa gubat maong wala siyay paki....
   

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Fla. minister cancels burning of Qurans on 9/11

by Antonio Gonzalez, Associated Press Writer – 25 mins ago

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The minister of a Florida church said he has canceled plans to burn copies of the Quran because the leader of a much-opposed plan to build an Islamic Center near ground zero has agreed to move its location. The agreement couldn't be immediately confirmed.

The Rev. Terry Jones said Thursday that Americans oppose the mosque being built at the location and that Muslims do not want the Quran burned. He said instead of his plan to burn the books on Saturday to mark the ninth anniversary of 9/11, he will be flying to New York to speak to Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf about moving the mosque.

"We are, of course, now against any other group burning Qurans," Jones said during a news conference. We would right now ask no one to burn Qurans. We are absolutely strong on that. It is not the time to do it."

President Barack Obama, the top U.S. general in Afghanistan and several Christian leaders had urged Jones to reconsider his plans to burn the Quran, Islam's holiest text that Muslims consider sacred. They said his actions would endanger U.S. soldiers and provide a strong recruitment tool for Islamic extremists. Jones' protest also drew criticism from religious and political leaders from across the Muslim world.

Jones said Imam Muhammad Musri of the Islamic Society of Central Florida told him that officials would guarantee that the mosque would be moved.

"I asked him three times, and I have witnesses," Jones said. "If it's not moved, then I think Islam is a very poor example of religion. I think that would be very pitiful. I do not expect that."

Musri thanked Jones and his church members "for making the decision today to defuse the situation and bring to a positive end what has become the world over a spectacle that no one would benefit from except extremists and terrorists" who would use it to recruit future radicals.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100909/ap_on_re_us/quran_burning

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ga pa pansin lang to siguro siya..ug sa tagalog pa kulang sa pansin.

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