Originally Posted By mawnck >>Now the "pastor" is rethinking his decision to rethink thinking about thinking that he should rethink burning the Quran. Got it?<< All that thinking? He'll hurt himself!
Originally Posted By ecdc >>All that thinking? He'll hurt himself!<< Or worse, he'll become an elitist.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt Has anyone heard a peep from his followers? I'd be curious to know what they think about this. Oh silly me, they're just dumb sheep. Of course they probably believe anything that fool has to say.
Originally Posted By ecdc I thought he said he saw a sign from God to not go through with it. Now he's rethinking that. Fickle, that God is.
Originally Posted By mawnck His FORMER followers aren't impressed: >>A German congregation founded by the Florida preacher who has sparked global controversy with plans to burn Qurans on 9/11 says it has had nothing to do with the preacher since 2008, denouncing him as "violent and fanatical."<< >>In the 1980s, Jones formed the Christian Community of Cologne, a charismatic Christian church in a heavily Catholic part of Germany that, at one point, claimed 800 members, reported dpa, the German Press Agency. However, Jones was ousted from the church in 2008 over financial irregularities and personality clashes, according to the report.<< <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/08/quranburning-pastors-form_n_709878.html" target="_blank">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...878.html</a>
Originally Posted By skinnerbox Oh, it gets better: <a href="http://jonathanturley.org/2010/09/09/creepier-than-thou-questions-raised-about-koran-burning-church/#more-26479" target="_blank">http://jonathanturley.org/2010...re-26479</a> "The 50-family Gainesville church is headed by Jones and his wife Sylvia. Its “Academy Rulebook” was written in November 2007 by Sylvia Jones. The rulebook restricts every part of the lives of students including cutting off contact with family members. They warn “[f]amily occasions like wedding, funerals or Birthdays are no exception to this rule . . . No phone calls. Exceptions can be made under certain circumstances but only after receiving permission.” Romantic relationships are barred: “there is no need to talk at all, or even flirt!” Students must be weighed repeatedly and are barred from “eating out in restaurants.” Students are told to “wash or shower at least once a day but not more then 2 a day,” and to be sure to cleanse “Mouth, sweat areas, hair, feet hands.” For members have accused the Jones’ of abuse and using church funds for personal purposes. They appear to be in the furniture selling business, though allegations have been raised about the use of the church for this purpose."
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt In the 1980s, Jones formed the Christian "Community of Cologne, a charismatic Christian church in a heavily Catholic part of Germany that, at one point, claimed 800 members, reported dpa, the German Press Agency." Whaaaat? This story just gets more and more peculiar. What was he doing forming a church in Germany of all places?
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "The rulebook restricts every part of the lives of students including cutting off contact with family members." Two words: Jim Jones.
Originally Posted By dshyates So I spent my day hanging out at the Dove Outreach World Center. And I am going back tomorrow to spend the entire weekend. Today was one crazy day. 13hrs on the clock. 27 live shots, and 2 press conferences. Yeehaw!
Originally Posted By dshyates "Were you there for the "big" announcement today?" Yes. We carried it live. Then while we were doing a live interview with the Imam from Orlando, Jones came out for an impromptu 2nd press conference where he said he felt "lied to". At first I thought yesterday was the end of it and I wouldn't need to back up there today. But after he came back out, it became clear I would be there through at least Sat. It was a very interesting day.
Originally Posted By wahooskipper Interesting opinion piece in the Orlando Sentinel yesterday about whether this is a "made for tv" event or if tv "made" this event. There are some pretty fringe "churches" in our country who do some incredibly bizarre things. If every one of them ended up on camera we would all run for the hills.
Originally Posted By SingleParkPassholder Not that I came up with anything earth shattering, but this situation just reinforces my belief that the following can be applied to anything: "It's also a large part of why I'm convinced that when left to their own devices and decision making, enough people will make bad decisions that will eventually affect those around them." Give 'em an inch, they'll take a mile. In this case, as it applies to the First Amendment.
Originally Posted By Mr X You could apply that just as easily to the people pressuring the kook NOT to burn the books. The first amendment is important, whether or not you approve of the way some are exercising their right. (just playing devils advocate for the moment...I'm not an advocate of book burning in general)
Originally Posted By FaMulan In this piece from Good Morning America this morning, I get the impression that this so-called pastor didn't expect the controversy he's caused. <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/" target="_blank">http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/</a> What rock has this guy been living under? And, yes I believe he does have the right to burn the Qu'ran but I don't believe it is the right thing to do. Listening to NPR this morning, the host interviewed the Director of the Islamic center of Fresno who said he's rescheduled his groups Eid al-Fitr Carnival originally scheduled for Saturday because he felt it could possibly send the wrong message and inflame extremists. Eid al-Fitr is the celebrations that mark the end of Ramadan.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "In this piece from Good Morning America this morning, I get the impression that this so-called pastor didn't expect the controversy he's caused." I don't think he did either. It's clear that this fellow isa bit, shall we say, ignorant. In one interview he admitted to never reading even one passage from the Qur'an. He was also unable to explain exactly why it should be burned other than to say that it doesn't mention Jesus Christ as savior. His primary motivation seems to be his belief that God told him to do this because Islam is evil.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 ///But even if it went up tomorrow, nobody's getting killed. /// <Again, there is no way you can possibly know that unless you possess some divine powers not granted to the rest of us.> A little common sense, please. Sure, it could happen. I could get hit by a bus tomorrow too. Absolutely could happen. But probably not. ///Anything premeditated like a specific violent response to the mosque opening wouldn't fly here(NY City)./// <That can't fly in New York, really??? Are New Yorkers equipped with an extra peace/loving chromosome that others say in Macon, Ga or Boulder Co. lack?? OK, now *YOU* have got to kidding. FREAKS WITH A VIOLENT CAUSE CAN SURFACE ANYWHERE AROUND THE GLOBE...... yes, even in the "Big Apple".> Of course. But we're NOT Macon, either. Look - you can walk out on the streets of midtown ANY day you choose, 365 days of the year, and guess what? You will be surrounded by people of every possible skin tone, every religion, every political stripe, every sexual orientation (and quirk), every philosophy, every eccentricity... all together in one place and one time. Every day of the year. You don't find that in much of small-town America. If you think that doesn't make a difference to how people view other people not like themselves, you're nuts. NYC already has dozens of mosques. They try to open ONE in Murphreesboro, TN, and the locals go into a tizzy. That would not happen here. (Obviously, as we already have dozens.) It wouldn't have happened with the so-called GZ Mosque if it hadn't been ginned up by pols in election season, mostly not even from here. Now, are there intolerant nuts in NY too? Of course. Like I said, we've got everybody. BUT (and it's a big but), unlike a lot of small towns, intolerance is not the prevailing philosophy. Such intolerant nuts will always be the minority here, and know it. They can't take comfort in "I just believe what the people believe" (i.e. most of the people around me). Most people here don't tolerate intolerance - and if you think that doesn't make a difference, you're also nuts. ///Second, there have been no threats of violence over the mosque opening./// <I find that beyond laughable. Even if what you say about an absence of threats is true since when do freaks have to announce their plans to do damage??????> They don't. BUT - I was comparing the likelihood of violence between this specific Koran-burning and the opening of this center. You said there was no more likelihood with one than the other. Talk about laughable. Sure, violence COULD happen if the center opens. If this Koran-burning goes through, though? I'd put that at quite likely indeed. After all, you have people SAYING they'll engage in violence, no less than our leaders in Afghanistan saying it's downright likely, and even the not-exactly-Muslim-friendly likes of Palin and Beck saying it's likely. Again, I was debating the relative likelihood. <Furthermore, your assumption about "no threats" doesn't account for the more spontaneous violent outbursts that may well play out which could trigger something HUGE. Here's a quick thought: Say one stops at a hot dog stand minding her own self and is thinking about her 2 pm meeting to show off her marketing plans to launch a new perfume line and some rude gal who happens to be wearing a burka bumps into her leaving mustard on her $800 outfit. Burka wearing woman doesn't apologize. "Marketing woman" then stupidly links the woman's burka to the new Islamic Center..... which in turn she links to 911 and shoves her half eaten frankfurter in the burka wearing woman's face while calling her a murderer. News gets out around the globe and now half of Indonesia wants to refuel their efforts to rid the world of infidels. Really? Yeah, I suppose that COULD happen. And monkeys could fly out of... you get the idea. But if none of us are clairvoyants, what we have to deal with in the real world is the LIKELIHOOD of what will happen as the consequence of various actions. The NYC mosque is at least 18 months away from opening IIRC, even if everything goes right. That's a lot of time to cool down, and for the media to go on to other things. This could well have all the urgency a couple of years from now as other momentarily-urgent-seeming things do. Remember how earth-shattering the whole Elian Gonzalez thing was for some people at the time? It was all over the news, every major pundit and politician had to weigh in on it, it was everywhere for weeks, they tracked his every movement, interviewed every relative they could find... then he went back to Cuba, and... is anyone even going to remember that whole "urgent" controversy a few years from now? Yeah, we can play the "butterfly effect" game if you want... some strange sequence of events COULD happen. But come on. Meanwhile, the specific response to this specific Koran burning? Already threatened, already warned against - hardly equivalent likelihood. <I say go ahead and exercise both freedoms if it floats their boats------ "Build it"(the Islamic center) and "Burn it"(the holy books) and whatever happens, well, happens.> Easy to say when it's not your butt on the line. If you had someone you knew and loved in harm's way I think you might think again. ///Third, you may not realize that the (physical) Koran is seen quite differently by Muslims than the Bible is seen by Christians. Christians revere the text of the Bible, but not really the physical book. But Muslims consider the physical book itself to be sacred, and any desecration a serious act/// <Yes, I more or less knew that. And that was a very persuasive part to your argument about the prospects of violent reprisals. I just have to pretty much scoff parts 1 and 2 of your position but part 3 made a truckload of sense.> Thanks, but you shouldn't scoff at the rest of it either. It's all about the relative likelihood, and you claiming they're equally likely is just off the wall.
Originally Posted By Princessjenn5795 <<So far, such TV news operations as CNN, NBC, ABC and CBS have told TVNewser they will cover the Quran burning as they would any other news story.>> Actually, if you look at statements they have given, along with AP, they say they will cover the story but none of them will show footage or pictures of burning Korans. They are covering the story and the pastor and will say whether or not he did burn Korans but there will not be footage shown of the actual event if it takes place.
Originally Posted By plpeters70 <<They are covering the story and the pastor and will say whether or not he did burn Korans but there will not be footage shown of the actual event if it takes place.>> I think they should all just pack up their cameras and ignore this SOB. The longer this goes on, the more publicity they are giving to this loon, and people like him. Now we've got that crazy Westboro Church claiming that if he doesn't burn Korans, they'll do it in his place. (Lovely people...) And don't you just love how he's trying to negotiate a deal to have the "Ground Zero Mosque" moved? A week ago no one had even heard of this idiot, and now he thinks he can broker a deal. Seriously, the world has gone mad!
