Rev. Jones is a Fool but He Proved a Point

Until just a few weeks ago no one outside his small circle of friends, family, and congregants had ever heard of Rev. Terry Jones. This morning, merely typing in three letters on a Google search, “T-E-R” produced several listings for the reverend.

Jones is the pastor of Dove World Outreach Center, a small evangelical Christian church in Gainesville, Florida. Founded in 1985, the church has only about 50 members.

In July of this year, Jones announced his plan to burn a number of Koran holy books at his church on Sept. 11, the ninth anniversary of the al Qaida terrorist attack on the U.S. The news media picked up on the reverend’s planned book burning event and catapulted Jones into the international limelight. Religious groups of all flavors from the U.S. and around the world condemned Jones’s plan and called on him to cancel the event. Jones had steadfastly refused to do so until very recently.

But this morning, on NBC’s Today, Jones declared that there would not be a Koran burning at his church, “Not today, not ever.” So why the change of heart? Did he succumb to pressure or fear? And is this man a genius or a fool?

Whether or not he is a fool depends on his original motive. If, as he claimed in the Today interview that he was on a mission from God, then he is a fool. Anyone who believes God has spoken to them and given them a mission has a few screws loose. On the other hand, if his mission was to gain notoriety in an effort to bring his church more popularity among Florida’s evangelicals, then he has certainly accomplished that mission with great alacrity. That would make Jones a public relations genius, at least with respect to his own base of faithful.

Jones claimed he has not caved in to threats of violence against him. He also claims that the negative publicity had nothing to do with his decision. He compares what has happened to him with the story of Abraham in the bible. God commanded Abraham to sacrifice his own son. Abraham was about to go through with it when, at the last minute, an angel appeared and stopped him. The point to the bible story is a mystery. It is apparently an allegory, but with what message, that God is capricious or mercurial? If God is omniscient he certainly didn’t need to test Abraham’s faith.

But Jones claims that God’s plan for him was to show the world how violent and dangerous Islam is. Whether that plan was God’s or Jones’s the point was definitely made. Jones pointed out that his view of Islam as a fanatical, dangerous religion was confirmed by the violent uproar that has pervaded the Islamic community abroad since his announced Koran-burning event. Demonstrations, threats of violence, and condemnation have been pervasive throughout the Islamic world. Gen. Petraeus, the commander in Afghanistan, begged Jones to call off the event because he feared for the lives of his soldiers. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the Commander in Chief himself, Pres. Barack Obama, called on Jones to cancel his plans for fear of repercussion by Muslim fanatics. And those repercussions would have come. Some blowback may still occur despite the fact that the Koran-burning event has been cancelled.

For years, Muslims have burned the American flag in protest of the fact that America is the leader of the Free World and they are obviously jealous of our ways. Of course, their claim is that America is an evil nation who wants to wipe them out and take over their religion. But Americans just chalk up their demonstrations and chants to the fact that they are lunatics. If a Muslim Imam were to threaten to burn a few bibles, there might be a denunciation by devout Christians, but they would not resort to mass violence.

But draw an unflattering cartoon of Mohammad in a newspaper or threaten to burn a Koran, and death threats, violence, demonstrations, and chaos abound in the Islamic world. And that does tend to prove Jones’s point about Islam, even if he didn’t have to go through with his Koran burning exercise.

So was that his plan all along? If so, the reverend may be a genius. But I am highly skeptical. The fact that he vacillated so much over the past couple of days – the event was on, then it was off, then it was maybe on again, then it was definitely off – indicates that he really didn’t have a clue. He was looking for a way out that would save face, and he found it. He would play the role of Abraham, this time with a real message to the world that Islam is a freaky violent religion. And even if that was not his plan all along, serendipity stepped in and allowed him to come away from this debacle declaring victory.

The events of the past couple of weeks show that Muslims, at least those who reside in Islamic nations, are dangerous and misguided. It is not just the fringe element of Islam; it is Islam itself that promotes violence and hatred. There are, of course, Muslims who do not fit the well-deserved stereotype. But to the vast majority of Muslims whose views have not been tempered by civilization, Islam gives them the green light to invoke terror at will.

We Don't Need No Stinking Mosque

Enough already! I’m sick of hearing about the proposed mosque and community center that will occupy a new 13-story building only two blocks from Ground Zero. Do people really have nothing better to do than to go protest for or against the building of this mosque? So what if they build it? The sky is not going to fall.

Sure it is disrespectful to those who lost loved ones in the 9/11 terrorist attack. I understand that. I also understand that it is disrespectful to Muslims to protest their building a mosque. There’s enough disrespect to go around.

But when it comes down to it, I do not think the mosque should be built there. And I think that not because of anything to do with 9/11; I just don’t think a mosque should be built anywhere, ever again. We don’t need any more stinking mosques.

And before you call me an Islamophobe, let me quickly add that I also don’t think we should build any more churches or cathedrals anywhere. I also don’t think any more synagogues should be built. What this country does not need is another place of worship.

Churches, cathedrals, synagogues, and mosques are some of the most beautiful, awe-inspiring works of architecture on the planet. And none of them add anything at all to the tax base. Unlike factories, stores, and people’s homes, places of worship do not have to pay into the tax stream. They get a pass because they are non-profit. I wish I were as non-profit as some of the churches out there. I could retire early, in style.

Throughout history some of the most awesome works of art, some of the most beautiful music, and some of the greatest architecture have been produced to honor a myth or a legend. And if that fact were relegated to history it would be sad enough, but it’s still happening in the twenty-first century. If we were ever actually visited by space aliens who were looking to develop a relationship with a race of beings in the process of development, they may very well pass us by when they find out that most of the population on earth still worships mythical creatures and wastes big bucks building monuments to them.

Every story in the bible is demonstrably false. Every story in the Koran is demonstrably false. And yet billions of dollars are spent every year in support of these myths as though they were fact. It’s astounding to everyone who has not already fallen for these myths.

There are Christians out there who realize that the bible stories are not literal. There are Christians out there who admit that they do not know the mind of God. They believe in God and they see Jesus as someone who was somehow in touch with God on a personal level. But mostly they see Jesus as a guiding influence to lead a decent life. These are the true Christians.

The fundamentalist Christians, as well as the fundamentalists of any religion, are the true danger to America. They are the deluded. They are the ones who indoctrinate our children into mindless cult-like sects. They are the ones who threaten science and education. They are the ones who want to take away the freedoms and liberties of anyone who does not subscribe to the same delusion that they do. If people have so much free time that they can go protest a meaningless mosque, they might do better to turn their ire toward the real threat to our nation – fundamentalism.

I would certainly join that kind of protest.

Making Excuses for God

One of the biggest challenges to my understanding of the religious mind is that so many believers continually insist on making up excuses for their god when things go badly. For example, the quintessential excuse used when prayers seem to go unanswered is, “God answers prayer in his own way and in his own time.” So, in other words, either God is behaving capriciously or God is not answering prayers at all. Christians are all too eager to continue praying to a seemingly capricious god, because the other choice is not an option for them. (Muslims, Jews, and other religious people are as guilty as Christians, but I come from a Christian background so my focus is on that branch of religion.)

And then there is always the excuse, “God knows what’s best for us and answers prayer accordingly.” Again, either God knows what’s best for us and hasn’t let us in on his little secret, or prayer only seems to be answered or not answered randomly, as if God didn’t exist.

What about all those suffering extreme burdens or hardships, many of them devout Christians? Why doesn’t God help them out? The excuse given is, “God does not put any more on us than we can handle.” Really? Maybe he does sometimes. Maybe that’s why people commit suicide, because they can’t handle the pain or stress. Why didn’t God see that one coming? Some people suffer heart attacks or strokes because the stress of life has become overwhelming. So how can the Christian excuses explain those instances?

What about all the hardship and suffering in general? How can that be explained if there is an all-powerful and all-benevolent god? The excuse Christians give for God’s seemingly total lack of compassion is, “God allows us to suffer for our own sakes, because suffering makes us stronger and builds character.” Really? How does it build the character of a baby who is born with so many birth defects that it suffers and then dies after a few days or weeks of life? Maybe it was a lesson for the parents? So God creates horrible suffering for an innocent child in order to teach the parents a lesson? Maybe that idea should be sent to M. Knight Shyamalan so he can use it to write a sequel to Signs.

Suffering has always been God’s biggest problem. It has even spawned a whole area of theological study called theodicy. Theodicy has never been able to successfully explain how a good god can allow suffering. Of course, that doesn’t prove that God doesn’t exist, but it does pretty much seal the deal on the existence of an all-loving and all-powerful god; such a god is incompatible with so much suffering. There can be no real excuse for it all.

That, of course, doesn’t stop Christians from making up excuses. “God works in mysterious ways.” “God is punishing us for our sins by causing us to suffer.” “The devil causes us to suffer and God allows it because it is all part of his divine plan.”

If a child came up with excuses so lame for his poor behavior, the parent wouldn’t buy it for a second. But God gets a pass. Why? It’s because everybody wants God to exist, and they want him to be all-loving, all-knowing, and all-powerful. But to be all those things, and still allow suffering is not possible, not even for God. There really is no excuse.