Incendiaryana Jones

No man is exempt from saying silly things; the mischief is to say them deliberately - Michel de Montaigne

Earlier in the month Pastor Terry Jones had been promising to burn 200 copies of the Koran to mark the anniversary of the 3000 citizens put to the sword by men of god on 9/11 – individuals described by Dalil Boubakeur, rector of the Paris Grand Mosque and France's leading spokesman for the Muslim community, as ‘terrorists, despicable people’.

In a demonstration of his pretentiousness Jones called his planned event ‘International Burn a Koran Day.’ International? The man tends to a congregation of 50 in Gainsville, Florida who worship in a church grandiosely known as the Dove World Outreach Center.

Hardly the epicentre of global opinion Jones nevertheless succeeded in reaching out to the world but not with a torch. Judging by its reaction Jones seems to have shoved a turd beneath the nose of the international community. Mark Mardell of the BBC asked rhetorically:

How come an extremist planning a book-burning that would disgrace any time after the Middle Ages has some of the top politicians in the West jerking around like puppets on a string?

The malevolent power of religious mania I imagine.

The international response came in torrents, quickly assuming the characteristics of a political tsunami. Jones even grabbed some premium US presidential time. The US commander in Afghanistan, Gen David Petraeus, the Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon, and the Vatican all added their voices to the fray. President Barack Obama warned that any Koran burning would be a ‘recruitment bonanza’ for al-Qaeda. Perhaps, but hardly any more so than murdering people on Flotillas or bombing to smithereens Palestinian children from American manufactured jets.

As expected the usual suspects turned up to rail against Jones’ proposed move. In Afghanistan the chant of ‘Death to Christians’ went up, as a mark of brotherly love, no doubt. Elsewhere, the Iranian Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki warned that it could be a pretext for violence. Maryam Namazie the campaigning Iranian rights activist describes the peaceful government he represents as ‘the regime of flogging, stoning and execution.’ They presumably find justification for lashing women and hanging gay men on the basis of some ramblings to be found in the book Jones wanted to torch.

Some of the protestors were said to be enraged that the US government had
not banned the Koran-burning. If it does not ban the burning of its own national flag it is hardly going to ban burning the Koran. And of course those demanding that the burning should be banned never seem to consider that adding flogging and stoning to the banned list might be a better idea.

Still, none of it is an excuse for the Jones plan which he eventually abandoned; not after international pressure but upon receiving a sign from god.

It is probably too much to ask of the good Christian pastor that he should never have considered burning the Koran in the first place. God’s man there to do god’s bidding and god’s alone. Mere lowly mortals could not aspire to speak with him. It might interfere with the communications from god.

Jones may well be nothing other than a religious crank slapping down those he feels are lesser beings because his good book is better than theirs, but book burning is so steeped in Nazi thematics that the US blogger John Smart said ‘we need to voraciously oppose those who believe burning books is appropriate.’ Whether it is the Koran or a Stig Larsson novel, the principle is the same: book burning, unless done for the purposes of keeping warm in sub zero temperatures, signifies a Dark Ages mind. Anyone familiar with Ray Bradbury’s inspirational Fahrenheit 451 will remember the battle by one lonely fire fighter against the book burners.

Water, out of which humankind evolved, not fire, is the weapon of the heroic in these encounters.

23 comments:

  1. Mackers, I think Jones is either incredibly insane or incredibly brave, in other words a gutsy lunatic!

    Muslims, seem to get very upset when anyone threatens their sacred text.
    People like Jones are quite happy to start fires, unfortunately it is usually other people who get burnt.

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  2. Nuala,

    self righteous comes to mind. It is not what book is burned that prompts me to comment but that any book is burned. I would feel the same about The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo being torched.

    I know that many Muslims want privilege for their religious opinion. They should not get it. Their religious opinion is no more relevant than my soccer opinion. At the same time I don't believe they should be hounded for their religious beliefs.

    I recall from the Cartoon controversy in 2006 just how intolerant aspects of Islam can be.

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  3. AM,

    Knowing absolutely nothing about this Jones outside of what I read in the paper, he sort of reminded me of Rev. Ian Paisley in his heyday. Although, I believe, Paisley had a following of 25,000 armed "holy men" behind him?

    While I feel Jones had the right to burn the Koran in protest, as Muslims hang our President in effigy and burn our flag, it would have served no purpose other than to play into the hands of some of these Muslim lunatics as well.

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  4. a lot of people killed on those
    9-11 attacks would have consider'd
    themselves as men and women of god,
    those who were killed were most faiths or none, those in al-qada who took part in 9-11 were all of a sunni muslim sect,
    can not remember any group even the nazi's who were just of 1 religios sect, most communists were not the same or were they,
    wonder if the jap kamikaze pilots
    were of the same religios sect.

    pastor jones gives religion a bad name, like his non burning of the koran action his word means nothing.

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  5. i do not think that all the 9-11
    hijackers last video tape messages have been shown in public,
    i was expecting another one to be on the news this year, perhaps
    al-qaeda is waiting for the tenth
    anniversary or the 25th, i don't
    think time means that much to them
    wonder why bin laden does not seem to be in to much hurry to get into
    the next life.

    AM-
    "on the basis of some ramblings to be found in the book jones wanted
    to burn"- the koran,
    there could be fatwa threats on the way old hand.

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  6. I kinda admire that guy Anthony,a small time pastor in a small time church, he seen the main chance,i.e. 9-11 anniversary as an opportunity not to be missed,whats the betting that his congeration swells in the coming weeks along with his bank account,that man doesnt hate the mussies, they will make him richer than Adams and all for the clever use of a cheap publicity stunt,Danny Morrison eat yer heart out!

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  7. Tend to agree with Marty. Paisley did the same and carved out a very lucrative little empire in the North. Then at the end of the day had the audacity to play-act peacemaker. Is it just me who gets the stinking/sinking feeling that all religious and political figures are cynical shameless oportunists? Ordinary folk seem to get blinded by the issue at hand and miss the game such individuals are engaged in. As with telling the world freedom and democracy are being exported for the benefit of humanity. Iraq is a safer place without Sadam. For who? Iraqi's? The burning of koran will endanger American forces in Afghanistan..what, unlike sending them there in the first place!!Also, 'international book burning' would that be international in the same American sense as the World Series in baseball?

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  8. All characters and events in this show—even those based on real people—are entirely fictional...

    Jones has since moved to preach in South Park, Colorado.

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  9. Ah Larry I love it when you get your digs in at American sports. I was missing it since the snoozefest World Cup ended. Bet you're just excited that American football has arrived!
    On a more serious note this guy is just doing what most religious clerics do, which is do anything to increase the flock and increase the donations. No different than the imam or whatever you call him who absolutely had to have a mosque at the old World Trade center site, despite being able to build anywhere else.

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  10. This guy sounds like our own "head the ball" we call Ian and look what the british government let him rant on about, his downright hatred of other religions is what got him to the lofty heights of Stormont, his hatred of catholics is well documented for all to see and hear and at this moment he is ready to protest against the pope coming on a visit to britain maybe Mr Jones has his eyes on capital hill if Ian can anyone can.

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  11. Yes Ryan, I do enjoy the odd swipe at USA 'we are the world' mentality. Guilty as charged. As for clerics, sicko's the heap of em. If they're not raping kiddies they're getting everyone wound up for profit. But hey, it's not as if anyone seems to learn down the centuries. Maybe too much money in it-good living for a living. As for catholic priests...Garry Glitter got deported from Asia, the RC priests get a new flock of kiddies to play with and a free ticket to S. America N. America and a Vatican stamped cover up.

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  12. a lot of folks have the opinion that ordinary men and women can not
    carry out exceptional major attacks
    like 9-11 or the billy shite killing, all right, wright,
    some think that the american goverment was behind 9-11 or that the brits done wright, pure nonsense,
    al-qaeda done 9-11 by themselves
    and the i.n.l.a was 100% behind the
    wright execution
    some think because they were not involved in a operation then nobody else could have done it,
    thats why the talk of goverments
    doing the jobs start,
    the killing of wright was a hard operation to take part in but the
    killings of innocent catholics were
    easy shoots, there is a difference,

    i was not sorry when wright was shot- wright did not want to be equal he wanted to be a subject.

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  13. My son said it was all a load of hype that apparently Jones did not actually burn any of the books?

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  14. As yer man in the Godfather said Nuala it aint personal just business,and religion is is one Hell of a business,

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  15. Apparently, big Ian and a load of Free Presbyterians are away scurrying over to annoy the Scottish.

    Lord Bannside (must be a euphemism for asshole) is apparently enraged that the Pope has not sorted out the on going sex scandal in the Catholic Church. So it has been left up to the big Rev to 'champion' the cause.

    Strange, how his big motor mouth did not work so well when it came to William Mc Grath or the other paedos in his congregation.

    I totally agree with any decent person protesting against the Pope's visit. His refusal to honour the wishes of the sex abuse victims was despicable, still is.
    However, to have that disjusting excuse for a human being protest at his visit is pure hypocrisy.

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  16. Nuala,

    I wonder if he will have the brass neck to bring Willie McCrea with him

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  17. Nuala,

    he didn't burn any. After getting word from god he cancelled

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  18. Well Nuala my darling dear me an her are away again tomorrow so keep er lit for me but in passng I hear that the Scottish police have placed a sniper on every bridge in Glasgow for the popes visit..........surely to fuck one of them will get him.....x

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  19. Mackers, must have been Salman Rushdie than was on the blower to him, he has just got confused.

    Salman done alright out of his close encounter though, death by a thousand cuts, actually translated into a celeb lifestyle.

    Marty, you are now living the 'jetset' lifestyle that Paul Maskey said the shinners enjoy.
    Was'nt supposed to say it the half-wit, but he did.
    Or have they roped you in as the pimp?

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  20. Purely R&R Nuala hon, gonna hit the wellie and shout for Down,gonna give yourself ,Anthony el all a break, even the sheep,

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  21. a lot of the english media are sick
    to-day at the thousands of people
    who turned up to greet the pope,
    these idiots had reported that very little would turn up
    once more the people have proved
    them wrong,

    the pope made a speech to-day in which he sent his congratulations to every one involved in the IRISH
    peace process including dr paisley
    or his bought name-lord bannside,
    paisley repaid the pope with a
    protest along with other dissidents
    theres gratitude for you.

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  22. michaelhenry, everyone said that no one in West Belfast would vote for Adams due to the fact the man was proved to be a serial liar, yet they did. People are fickle as a shinner you should know that better than most!

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  23. billy wright was supposed to have
    shot dead over 20 catholic people
    but he was sent to prison because he made verbal threats against a
    protestant woman, if you were a cynic it would make you think,

    after the billy killing at the H-blocks a number of catholics were shot, the media spoke nonsense again with there old tit for tat excuse,
    but then the i.n.l.a shot dead u.d.a member jim guiney
    the I.R.A then shot dead another u.d.a member robert dougan,
    the media forgot there old tit for tat saying like they forgot it when billy wright was shot dead,
    tit for tat was just used to explain why catholics were shot dead, nice media we had,

    notice very few complaints about the cost of the billy wright inquiry, indeed that unionist wit
    jeffrey donaldson m.p has called for yet another billy wright inquiry in the house of commons,
    you see its not an inquiry about a catholic, so its all right.

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