The pastor of a Florida church says he takes very seriously Gen. David
Petraeus' warning that his church's burn-a-Quran day on 9/11 could
endanger U.S. troops and that his congregation is praying about it,
but he still plans to go through with the protest.
Afghans wave banners saying
CAPTIONBy Musadeq Sadeq, AP"We are definitely weighing the situation,"
Terry Jones, pastor of the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville,
Fla., tells CNN today. "We are weighing the thing we are about to do,
what it possibily could cause, what is our actual message, what we are
trying to get across. How important is that now."
Petraeus, top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, said in a
statement Monday that the actions by the 50-member church "could
endanger troops, and it could endanger the overall effort."
But Jones says the protest aimed at radical Islam is still on. "Once
in awhile, you see that in the Bible, there are instances where enough
is enough and you stand up," Jones tells CNN.
Our colleagues at Faith & Reason have details on an interfaith summit
of Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders that plans to issue a joint
declaration later today.
Gainesville police plan to set up a checkpoint at streets around the
church on Saturday to check driver's licenses and maintain a
heightened police presence, The Gainesville Sun reports. The three-
hour protest is scheduled for 6 p.m. ET.
This comes a day after someone in Gainesville scrawled the word
"Nazis" on a sign erected near an Islamic center announcing
"International Burn A Koran Day," The Sun reports.
The newspaper says a man has turned himself in for the act, but police
are trying to contact the owner of the property before pressing
charges.
At a protest Monday in Kabul, several hundred Afghans rallied outside
a Kabul mosque, burning American flags and an effigy of Dove World's
pastor and chanting "death to America."
**************
Personally, on Fee Speech grounds I can see it.
It is one segment of the U.S. Christian population's right.....just
like it is one segment of the Muslim Afghans (or others) population's
right to counter-protest.
Then you get to the political question.... support or endanger U.S.
troops... well, says who? and will that really happen? Always the
individual person's choice, I would say...... I'm not doing this....
nominal9
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