Fanning The Flames Of Ignorance And Liberty Or Just Being Stupid ?

Fanning The Flames Of Ignorance And Liberty Or Just Being Stupid ?

It should come as no surprise to anyone that with the upcoming ninth anniversary of the September attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon Building the nation has yet to heal from the most heinous of attacks perpetrated on US soil. And while we're seeing a rise in anti-Islamic resentment and a full scale attack on Muslims not just verbally but also physically with a number of what we're told are now random acts of violence. I've got to ask myself is this country actually now reverting back to the sixties and earlier wherein the seeds of resentment were actually aimed at African Americans and other minorities of color ? Clearly an argument could be made that this seems to be journey now being taken . Call it what you will xenophobia , racism or just plain ignorance and the unwillingness to accept the differences between the races that makes us so different.

This all seems to be coming from a rallying cry of what appears to zealous bigots who are stating that this is simply their way of reacting to the actions of the radical Islamists and jihadists out there whose call for death to imperialistic Zionists has to be heard. And while I condone those atrocities carried out by Al Qaeda and the Taliban I’ve got to say that should the proposed action of the Florida pastor Terry Jones of the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida ________ who calls for the burning of the Quran this Saturday to commemorate the tenth anniversary of 9/11 and also to act as a deterrent to the Islamists of the country’s will. I see it as a rather futile and idiotic act that will not only place the lives of US military men and women in harm’s way as well as that of the coalition forces still waging on an ongoing war for the survival of Afghanistan and Iraq. Somehow this seems to have been lost on this pastor and the members of his congregation who seem intent on joining him in this exercise .

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Having served in the military courtesy of Her Majesty’s (UK) armed forces in the Royal Marines where my own experiences on the front line was to witness what full blown atrocities were all about with the actions of the IRA in Ireland as well as on mainland Britain. I can say to you that any life lost on the field of battle is a needless one, unless there’s a certainty that one knows what exactly it is that you’re fighting for. I’ve taken lives in the service of my country and I’ve also tried to assist in the rebuilding of lives as it concerns that of the returning servicemen from active duty from both fronts in the current war being waged on terror. The law firm for which I work does a great deal of pro-bono work in order to aid military veterans gain the services denied to them by the VA and government due to the bureaucracy that tends to be thrown up in their path repeatedly. And for those of you who currently believe that the US government does all it can to assist these men and women then think again as nothing could be further from the truth. There have been horror stories out there that’ve gone reported and unreported that shows that this country tends to do a horrendous job in really honoring its men and women in the military. The lip service that’s paid by the politicians and on air political pundits alike is merely being done to solicit favoritism and little else beyond that.

Courtesy of The San Francisco Chronicle

9/11 Burn a Quran day motivated by Terry Jones’ greed, money & avarice ?

By Yobie Benjamin

Terry Jones, zealot pastor of a Florida church called the Dove World Outreach Center of Gainesville and author of “Islam is of the Devil” claims to be motivated and inspired by God as he toys with the world’s leaders, media and lives of American soldiers and civilians.

Barack Obama, Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, Pope Benedict, Hillary Clinton, NATO, Interpol, every country in the European Union, every religious group in Gainesville, Florida and perhaps the entire civilized world has implored and pleaded with the zealot so-called pastor Terry Jones to cease and desist from burning Korans on September 11, 2010. The foreign ministries of Pakistan and Bahrain issued official denunciations with Bahrain calling it a “shameful act which is incompatible with the principles of tolerance and coexistence.” The president of Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, has also sent a letter to President Obama asking him to stop the bonfire.In Pakistan, about 200 lawyers and civil society members marched and burned a U.S. flag in the central Pakistani city of Multan, demanding that Washington halt the burning of the Muslim holy book.

Jones’ answer? He feigns religious persecution. He says his bank wants his church to pay what it is owed. He also says he has 200 Korans and he wants buy more to burn. There is no subtext or code for what this pastor wants. He wants you to send him and his 50 followers money and lots of it. Yes, please send money by joining as a “member” of the church. He also needs money because Florida authorities discovered that he was running a for-profit eBay enterprise and the state wants to get paid for sales taxes.

God has no part of Jones’ plan. Jones’ plan is the Terry Jones plan and it was the reason why his old church in Cologne Germany fired him. His motive is as earthly, worldly and as old as humanity itself – greed and avarice. Terry Jones has figured out the magic formula to get every self loathing zealot nut job in the world to send him money — Get on every TV, radio, newspaper and web site and plead for like minded idiots to send money. There is no doubt that several hundreds of new “members” have sent in their tithes to pastor fake doctor of theology.

The First Amendment of the US Constitution protects Jones’ right to say and do what he wants. Jones has the right to burn Korans even in the face of Gen. David Petraeus’s dire warnings. To emphasize his intention to burn Korans, Jones wrote a screed on his blog.

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Now you may consciously ask why can’t this pastor carry out his wish to burn the Quran as it is his wish , given his First Amendment Rights ? But I’d ask what en if the repercussions should be the loss of US military lives or that of US civilians abroad as an act of retaliation ? Does that comfort those who think this ought to be an appropriate act by the pastor ? Regardless of what your beliefs might be, this all could create a tremendous amount of blow-back for all of the wrong reasons of which we will have to ask ourselves was it all worth it at the end of the day ? Clearly there’s food and room for thought here on all sides of this equation no matter what one’s beliefs might be.

For many of us the devastation and emotional horror of that momentous day is still something of a traumatic shock to the system and it may well have felt surreal. I can only speak for myself when I say that I was aghast sad and horrified when the reality began to set in as to what had taken place on 11th September 2001. For many of my friends and relatives whom I knew lived in the New York my immediate concern was for their safety but also the needless loss of lives all for the purpose to send a message of hate was one that simply reviled me. Now in the same essence I view the actions of this pastor as simply playing into the hands of the radical Islamists (Muslims) who’ll merely use this as another way of showing that they can simply show us that the disdain they have for all things Westernized and that should they choose to unleash a new reign of terror then we will simply have no real reply for it all. It’s not as if this pastor himself will take to the field of battle but he’ll simply revert to the fact that it was his calling and God’s will ? Well I was under the impression that the Christian teachings taught us to be compassionate and tolerant of others ?

Islam itself is being perverted by fundamentalist clerics (imams) but unfortunately there are very few Muslims who are actually prepared to step forward and make their own thoughts be heard as a passionate call to show that they don’t believe in the perversion of their religion. And it’s the same here with this pastor and the very fact that there has been little or no call to state their disdain for what is being proposed by Terry Jones . On the right of the political aisle there’s little opposition and to the left of the argument you have those stating that it is within the pastor’s rights no matter how abhorrent it might appear to be. That may well be the case but what about common sense and decency ? Clearly this pastor and the members of his congregation think that they’re above that and that whatever transpires out of this all won’t be any concern of theirs even if it means the loss military lives.

Here also you have right wing Christian conservatives who come out and openly with disdain in their protests outside of military funerals and have called stated the fallen men of women of the US military who’ve died so valiantly and with honor in the service of their country. They have in effect stated that their deaths have been because this country has sought to embrace homosexuality,socialistic ideals and other things that they deem to be perverted and un-American . Which begs the question what is now meant to be American in terms of an ideology ? Unfortunately these idiots aren’t as enlightened or as educated as they believe themselves to be.

As the ninth anniversary 9/11 approaches this ought to be a time of reflection and conciliation but instead we’re seeing a divergence of not only of cultural beliefs but morals and integrity on both sides of the diaspora with each faction trying to lay claim that they’re right. The sadness in the midst of this all is that while this idiocy carries on the lessons there to be learned and taught are falling on deaf ears. And it’s an indictment of how far man has fallen of his path as a human being .

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Islam Is of The Devil a book written by religious zealot and pastor Terry Jones. The book itself takes a rather disdainful look upon the Muslim religion and is somewhat biased and without little credence as to its opinions and findings.

Jones seen here outside his church The Dove Outreach Center in Gainesville , Florida . In the background is a board signifying the date on which he and members of his congregation will carry out the burning of several editions of the Quran (Koran) . The outcry for the pastor to stop this action is now slowly mounting but Jones himself has a rather fervent following supporting his stance. courtesy of AFP/Reuters/ Chris Blackwell ……

The north and south towers go up in flames on that fateful day. Associated Press /Alex Parsons

An aerial view in the aftermath of the destruction of the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers. Associated Press

NYC Firefighters whose gallant efforts to save lives on that fateful day shouldn’t be forgotten. courtesy of Tim Kerhsawe

Comfort and medical assistance is given to those survivors at the Pentagon Building after a plane is flown directly in the Defense Department Headquarters. Chris Sommerville @ copyrighted material all rights reserved

The charred remains of and scorched earth are all that solely remains from United Airlines Flight #93 which crashed in Shanksville , Pennsylvania killing all on board. The passengers fought gallantly to stop the hijackers from flying into their desired target . Associated Press / Getty Images / Chris Sullivan

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – JULY 31: An American soldier aims his gun at an unarmed Afghan man on his way to work near the site of a suicide bomb attack aimed at the US-led coalition on July 31, 2007 in Kabul, Afghanistan. The attack happened near a convoy of US troops outside the American base Camp Phoenix, wounding three American troops and around seven civilians. Getty Images / Paula Bronstein

: General David Petraeus testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Capitol Hill September 11, 2007 in Washington, DC. Later in the day, Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker will also appear before the Senate Armed Service Committee to continue delivering their reports on progress made in Iraq since additional U.S. troops were sent to the nation earlier this year. Petraeus is now the senior-most commander of the international coalition forces in Afghanistan. He has remained totally vociferous and opposed to Jones’ action. Alex Wong /Getty Images

Christian bigots on the warpath for God ? Whatever will they think of next ? AFP/ Reuters / Chris Young

Anti-Gay Activists Continue Protests At War Funerals Maywood, IL – April 19th 2009. Shirley Phelps-Roper, a member of Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas, protests across the street from the Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital April 19, 2006 in Maywood, Illinois. Members of the church are known for their protest outside military funerals but as many states have drafted laws limiting access near funerals they have begun to focus on Veteran’s hospitals as a means of getting their anti-gay message heard. photo appears courtesy of Getty Images/ Scott Olson ………………

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Picture gallery for your perusal .

What are your own thoughts on the actions being proposed by this pastor and if there’s retaliatory actions taken by the terrorists how would you feel about it ? By all means simply chime in with your thoughts on the matter and as always thanks for the continued support !

Alan aka tophatal 🙂

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Depeche Mode ” Personal Jesus ”