Bonfire of one man's vanity: Pastor abandons Koran-burning stunt, but too late to stop bloodshed

[Turborama]

Bonfire of one man's vanity

Pastor abandons Koran-burning stunt, but too late to stop worldwide fury - and bloodshed

By Stephen Foley and David Usborne

Friday, September 10 2010

The fundamentalist pastor who promised to mark the anniversary of the September 11 attacks by burning hundreds of copies of the Koran pulled the plug on his stunt last night, in the face of blanket condemnation from world leaders and a warning from Interpol that Christians around the world were at risk of violent revenge attacks.

=snip=


The UK's Foreign Secretary, William Hague, said burning the Koran was offensive to those who respect religious freedom. The governments of Indonesia, India and Pakistan, the likes of Hillary Clinton, Tony Blair, and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak also all criticised the plan. Their calls for the event to be cancelled came as reports emerged from Baghdad of an apparent revenge attack on Iraq's only operating Anglican church, St George's. According to two eyewitnesses, up to four people were killed after gunmen opened fire on guards outside the church, which lies in a compound just outside the comparative safety of the Green Zone.

It has been targeted by extremists before but Canon Andrew White, the British-born vicar of St George's, said he believed that yesterday's attack was directly related to events in Florida. Iraqi authorities had already warned of the prospect of such an incident. "Without a doubt it is linked to Florida," he said by telephone from Baghdad. "The book-burning is huge news in Iraq at the moment. Every newspaper, every television station and radio, they've all been covering it."

=snip=

One Iraqi church member said that he had seen at least two guards killed, although Father White said he had been told that four were dead. The Foreign Office last night said it could not confirm whether an attack had taken place but eyewitnesses said that gunmen approached the complex in the late morning and opened fire on a group of guards with automatic rifles.

=snip=

Father White said that an Iraqi army colonel had recently warned him that extremists were planning to target the church "because of what the pastor in Florida has said about burning the Holy Koran".

In an anguished email sent to supporters the night before the attack the vicar warned: "There is nothing we can do to protect ourselves. The army is being sent to us in force to try and protect us, what they can do is also limited." He added: "Here we do not hate the Muslims, we love them. They are our colleagues that we work with to try and reduce violence. Jesus even said to us "love your enemies" – we do have many here but we try and love them all."

Full article: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/bonfire-of-one-mans-vanity-2075472.html

(apologies for going over the 4 para limit but it proved too hard to edit down more than I did)

[tularetom]

1. It wasn't the little dog and pony show that caused the problem

It was the media overreaction to the dog and pony show.

My guess is we've already had dozens of these silly exercises in little backwoods churches around Jesusland.

Somehow this asshole got the attention of the press and when they took the bait he was crafty enough to milk it for a solid week of front page news.

Why do we fall for shit like this?

[TheBigotBasher]

4. The somehow

was that the media actually came late to this story. Republican sites and even more so Palin fan sites have been encouraging this idiot for ages, even volunteering to send Quorans for the idiot to burn.

They backed off when the World objected.

The Republiscums have not however backed off their desire for an outright religious war and they are still happy to fan the flames.

[Matariki]

2. You know as much as that guy is a deplorable asshole

you really can't blame other people's violent acts on him.

Seriously, response to book burning == hurting or killing a human being? That's even more fucked up than Pastor Whackjob.

[Turborama]

3. The "pastor" agrees...

Told of the shootings in Baghdad, Mr Jones, the leader of the Florida church, said had he was "devastated", but still gave no clear indication that he was willing to back away from the planned bonfire. Nor did he acknowledge any responsibility for the shootings.

"This is a terrible act of terrorism," he said. "This should not be justified or tolerated by the world community. It is time for us to join together in the western world, in the Muslim and Christian world, and condemn such acts. We must no longer tolerate or close our eyes to such atrocities."

[whosinpower]

12. What exactly did he hope to prove?

If a person knows a trigger point which will make people violent - why deliberately pull that trigger? What glory and purpose does it serve when people are harmed or killed? Does it make him feel righteous about his faith when the target lashes out as he expects them to?

Did he feel great when others suffer because of his stunt? How does this improve humanity?

If the pastor was telling me to join with him to condemn the shootings in Baghdad, I would look him square in the face and tell him I would NEVER join you Jones, you pathetic excuse of a human. I condemn YOU for your bigotry, and your self righteous, small minded, petty, bull headed, divisive racist sense of superiority. Their blood is on your hands. They suffered while you enjoyed your moment of free speech. I will exercise MY FREEDOM OF SPEECH to utterly condemn you and your petty little church. YOU cannot hide behind the world communities pain at the attack in Baghdad - especially after ignoring for so many days it imploring you to rethink your insult.

Shame on you Pastor....you give Pastor a bad name. I would spit on you, but it isn't worth my bodily fluid to do it. I would slap you, but it isn't worth the calories spent to lift my hand. Instead, I turn my back to you, close my ears to your hateful voice and shut you out utterly.

[Turborama]

13. Wow!

The best and most powerful condemnation I've read so far. I couldn't agree with you more strongly.

Thanks for the input.

[mjane]

5. I agree

It's not like one couldn't expect stuff like this. We've had murder of a director, fatwahs (Rushdie, etc.) and rioting/murders over cartoons and false rumours (Quran/toilet).

The pastor is a complete moran. But the people who do this stuff because their sacred book was damaged are just evil.

[formercia]

7. Not evil

just the Muslim version of ignorant peckerwoods being egged on by right-wing reactionary forces bent on fomenting strife for their own ends.

[mjane]

10. I think killing somebody because they burned a book

is evil. You can feel free to disagree.

[formercia]

14. Evil or not, this behavior is driven by forces that manipulate

the ignorant and misinformed among us to violence.

[blondeatlast]

8. Dupe,

[blondeatlast]

9. Then this Christian better be terrified of herself. because Lord (lieterally) knows

the sharers of my faith have done just as much in the name of God.

[mjane]

11. Sure. Many religions supported slavery.

Some still do. That is evil, too.

[gophates]

6. The Republicans supporting this guy knew what would happen.

The blood is on their hands. They're getting exactly what they wanted.

Nice job, fuckwits.

[OhioChick]

15. The fires of religious fury are easily lit but hard to put out

Patrick Cockburn: The fires of religious fury are easily lit but hard to put out

Christian communities in the Muslim world that date back 2,000 years are finally being extinguished

Friday, 10 September 2010

In the Pakistani town of Gojra in Punjab just over a year ago word spread among Muslims that a local Christian had burned a copy of the Koran. It was untrue, but within hours a mob had started setting fire to Christian houses in Gojra. In one of them, a man, a woman and four children were burned to death.

The persecution of Christian communities across the Muslim world has escalated rapidly since the start of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Christians are often seen as the natural allies of western occupiers and, as a minority, are highly vulnerable to retaliation.

In one case in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul a few years ago US soldiers damaged a mosque with their vehicle and Sunni Arab insurgents retaliated by bombing two churches.

Christian communities that date back 2,000 years are finally being extinguished. Their numbers in Iraq are estimated to have dropped by 50 per cent to about 400,000 since the US-led invasion of 2003. The Iraqi variant of al-Qa'ida has targeted them along with Shia Muslims. In Baghdad Christians are too few to have their own militia to protect them as they do in Christian villages around Mosul. And last night's statement from Pastor Jones comes too late for St George's church in Baghdad, where four people were reported killed.

More: http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/patrick-cockburn-the-fires-of-religious-fury-are-easily-lit-but-hard-to-put-out-2075470.html

[Turborama]

16. Bush "Crusade" FAIL!

"The persecution of Christian communities across the Muslim world has escalated rapidly since the start of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq"

Relationships between Muslims and Christians in Indonesia are still calm, though. As I highlighted here:


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x9108501">A Very Important Clarification: The Anti-Qur'an Burning Protest Sign In Indonesia Says "CHURCH COMMUNITY" On The Banner Beneath