Burn Baby Burn

Pastor Terry Jones pastors a church of 50 people in Gainesville Florida. It is unlikely many people would have ever heard of this guy who sells furniture on e-bay to make a few extra bucks.

But Jones' anonymity changed forever when he announced his churches' intention to burn 200 korans on September 11 of this year. The announcement was met with the expected outrage from Muslims. But, now the outrage has spread to virtually every sentient human being on the planet.

General Petraeus, Hillary Clinton and even Angelina Jolie have expressed their concern and disagreement with this guy. Petraeus' and other military leaders' concerns have been the most serious as they are saying that the burnings will ignite actions against US troops.

Jones' church is ironically called "Dove Outreach Center". The dove is normally a symbol of peace, yet it is the home of this loony tune.
I have no clue what Jones' is hoping to achieve by this stunt - he has certainly garnered international publicity - but all of it is negative.

There are a number of issues I have with this dude with the unappealing side chops. Here's a couple.

1. As Christians we are called into a ministry of reconciliation. This action is causing nothing but alienation. Jones' has alienated not only muslims, but anyone seeking positive dialogue with the Muslim community.

2. Perversion of the term "evangelical". In every media appearance that Jones has made, he is identified as an "evangelical pastor". Let me be clear here: THIS BUGS THE HECK OUT OF ME!!!!
The term "evangelical Christian" has been so co-opted by civil religion right wing tea partiers that it is quickly losing anything that has to do with biblical Christianity. And it drives me crazy that any nut job who claims Jesus Christ is his personal savior gets to claim to be a Christian.

A Christian is someone who obeys what Jesus taught. This lunatic said on ABC that without a doubt Jesus would be burning korans if he was here today. Pastor Jones seems to be reading the gospels through some sort of distorted ramboesque lens.

It truly saddens me that this guys' actions are being broadcast around the world - causing some to equate his distasteful bonfire with Christianity.
I want to challenge all my Christian brothers and sisters to contact their local mosque and imam and explain that this guy does not represent what we believe. I'm going to try it tomorrow.

Blessed are the PEACEMAKERS - not the book burners.

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