As I said in my previous post on Terry Jones, through his bold act of disgrace (to Islam) and defiance (to the Church), put himself into a position where there were only three rational options left: repent, resign or retire. No one who has so misrepresented our Lord on the world stage should be allowed to continue in pastoral ministry. He incited hatred of Muslims and when threatened he started carrying a .40-calibre pistol, making him armed and dangerous. It was this outrageous act which convinced me to present this case for Jones to repent, resign or retire.
Terry Jones put himself in harm’s way through his foolishness. A pastor who is carrying a gun and is prepared to use it is not following in the way of Jesus. He may have been protected by the 1st and 2nd Amendments, but he isolated himself from the Christian church and even among his 50 followers, at least 15 left him, maybe more now. We watched a man self-destruct. Since he clearly will not repent, it is best that he has now effectively resigned or retired.
Ken,
ReplyDeleteOne of the problems of the current technological age is that the world has shrunk. An event good ,bad ,or ugly can spread across the world in seconds. We have all become journalists without editors, or sober second thought. Two recent example of this are of course Terry Jones ,and another is the rape case in Pitt Meadows BC. Once Pandora's Box is open... it is impossible to turn back. Freedom of speech and expression has taken on a new dimension.
Just think, If Terry Jones had just reported his done deed without the forewarning. Chad.
So, I was talking to this young Muslim friend of mine today(actually giving him an art lesson), and he brought up Pastor Terry. He was absolutely disgusted that this guy became an issue. He said, so what if someone burns a book. It's paper, it's trees. The book is written in hearts. The book is known verbatim by many devout Muslims throughout the world. Nothing is lost if one lunatic burns books. The young man laments that now America must think people like him suffer a freakout when a nut makes a threat to his book and Americans in general equate him and other American Muslims with extremists like the Taliban. He says, it's something he's had to face most of his life, being treated like he's a threat. And he doesn't see things getting better. :-(
ReplyDeleteWriteChic, Thank you for this important contribution to the discussion. Some of us are really trying hard to understand the Muslim reaction and really looking for the variance that we think should be there.
ReplyDeleteWould your friend consider himself to be a "reformed" Muslim. Isn't that the term the group wanting to build the Islamic Center more than 2 blocks away from Ground Zero use to identify themselves? I wonder why that Imam didn't speak out and say what your friend is saying.
I'm honestly curious to know how your friend would feel about what happened to the cartoonist behind the Everybody Draw Mohammed Day -- Molly Norris has been assigned a new identity and relocated by the FBI due to the death threats. Or Kurt Westergaard (Danish cartoonist who is amazingly still alive after several attempts). If you have the chance to ask him about these incidents, I'd really like to hear his response.
Thanks again. To clarify one more time, I do not in any way wish to stir up ill feelings toward Muslims, I want to understand Islam and mutual tolerance. I will not hold all Muslims accountable for the actions of a crazy few, but neither do I want Christian churches around the world being held accountable for men like Terry Jones. We tried VERY hard to silence him and I'm still calling for him to repent or resign.
He is Sunni, and that's likely the only distinction he'd make about his faith. I know him well enough to say he'd take a rational, philosophical view on the cartoonist and cartoon day. You don't vilify one and a half billion Muslims for the behavior of a few. You may not apply a judgment to the whole because you have perspective on a tiny part.
ReplyDeleteI should make sure he knows about 9th-10th century physician and philosopher Muhammad ibn Zakariya Razi who believed in science pursuing truth and considered the work of Plato, Aristotle, and Hippocrates much greater than the holy books. Most Christians couldn't have made such a public assertion at the time without it costing them their lives. Then the young man could get some perspective on ignorance and enlightenment in flux over time.
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