Christian Leaders Repeat Calls to Halt 9/11 Qur'an Burnings

[Bill Whatcott]

Christian Leaders Repeat Calls to Halt 9/11 Qur'an Burnings
By Joshua A. Goldberg
Christian Post Reporter
http://www.christianpost.com/article/20 ... index.html

As thousands of Muslims worldwide gathered over the weekend to protest one Florida group's plans to burn copies of Islam’s sacred text on the upcoming anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Christian leaders – liberal and conservative – reaffirmed their opposition to the burnings.

The Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon, general secretary of the National Council of Churches, said the council had chosen to reiterate its statement in response to "many requests from persons of good will who wish to make it abundantly clear to the international community that millions of Americans reject the anti-Muslim expressions of some communities who seem to be reacting out of fear and a misunderstanding of the true nature of Islam."

“Misguided or confused about the love of neighbor by which Christ calls us to live, leaders and members of the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Fla. and others are engaged in harassment of Muslims, and in the planning of an ‘International Burn the Qur'an Day,’ to be held on September 11th,” stated the NCC’s original Aug. 11 statement.

“Such open acts of hatred are not a witness to Christian faith,” it added. “They contradict the ministry of Christ and the witness of the church in the world.”

Meanwhile, the World Evangelical Alliance on Friday republished on its website the July 29 announcement from the U.S.-based National Association of Evangelicals, which said it “laments efforts that work against a just and peaceful society.”

“The plans … to burn copies of the Qur'an on September 11 show disrespect for our Muslim neighbors and would exacerbate tensions between Christians and Muslims throughout the world,” the U.S. evangelical body stated. “The NAE urges the cancellation of the burning.”

In response to past calls, Dove World Outreach Center has maintained its position and defended its plans, claiming the burning “is a loving act.”

“We are using this act to warn about the teaching and ideology of Islam, which we do hate as it is hateful,” it explained. “We do not hate any people, however. We love, as God loves, all the people in the world and we want them to come to a knowledge of the truth. To warn of danger and harm is a loving act."

But NAE leaders argue that the “most powerful” statement by the organizers of the planned Sept. 11 bonfire would be to call it off in the name and love of Jesus Christ.

“We have to recognize that fighting fire with fire only builds a bigger fire,” said Joel Hunter, senior pastor of Northland, A Church Distributed, in Orlando, Fla., and member of the NAE Board of Directors. “Love is the water that will eventually quench the destruction.”

On Monday, hundreds of Afghans gathered in the capital city of Kabul to denounce the Qur'an burnings, chanting "Long live Islam" and "Death to America."

The day before, thousands of Indonesians gathered outside the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta to protest the planned burnings, carrying signs saying, "Jihad to protect Koran" and "You burn qur'an you burn in hell."

According to reports, the protesters included members of the hard-line Muslim group Hizb ut-Tahrir Indonesia and the pluralism care movement, a multi-faith group.

"We hope that the U.S. government to stop this plan," Damien Dematra, the coordinator for the pluralism care movement, said in a news statement. “We represent Muslim, Christians and other religions who all wants to avoid any clashes as a result.”

This Saturday’s three-hour Qur'an burning is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET on the property of Dove World Outreach Center despite having been denied a permit by city officials last month.

The Gainesville, Fla., group’s Facebook fan page, meanwhile, has to date chalked up over 7,000 fans.

Dove World Outreach Center, led by Dr. Terry and Sylvia Jones, claims to be a “New Testament Church – based on the Bible, the Word of God.”

[evolution8]

Planned burning of Qur’an will 'endanger troops': Petraeus
Sardar Ahmad, Agence France-Presse · Tuesday, Sept. 7, 2010
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/Planne ... story.html


KABUL — The U.S. commander of the Afghan war warned on Tuesday that a decision by American evangelicals to burn the Qur'an on 9/11 would endanger his troops as the Muslim world reacted angrily to the plan.

General David Petraeus said the planned torching of Islam’s holy book by a Florida church would be a propaganda coup for the Taliban in Afghanistan and stoke anti-U.S. sentiment across the Muslim world.

Protests have already gone ahead in the capital Kabul and in Indonesia — the world’s largest Muslim-majority country — while Iran has warned that the burning could unleash an uncontrolled Muslim response.

The Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida, says it will burn copies of the Qur'an on this weekend’s ninth anniversary of the September 11 attacks in protest at what it calls “the evil of Islam”.

Afghanistan, where Gen. Petraeus leads a 150,000-strong U.S.-led NATO force against an extremist Taliban-led insurgency, is a deeply devout Islamic country where actions seen as against the religion have previously led to deadly violence.

“It could endanger troops and it could endanger the overall effort in Afghanistan,” said Gen. Petraeus of the plan.

“It is precisely the kind of action the Taliban uses and could cause significant problems. Not just here but everywhere in the world we are engaged with the Islamic community,” the general said in an emailed statement.

On Monday about 200 men gathered near a mosque in Kabul to protest against the planned torching, shouting “Death to America” and “Long live Islam” for about an hour after their midday prayers, witnesses said.

In January seven tribesmen were killed by gunfire from Afghan security forces trying to disperse angry crowds during a demonstration sparked by allegations that US troops had torched the Muslim holy book.

An investigation by NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and Afghan authorities found that no Qur'an was desecrated following a military operation by the alliance force in the southern province of Helmand.

The planned protest by the 50-member Florida congregation — who have set up a Facebook page in support of the event bearing the motto “Islam Is Of The Devil” — triggered a warning from Iran’s foreign ministry.

“We advise Western countries to prevent the exploitation of freedom of expression to insult religious sanctities, otherwise the emotions of Muslim nations cannot be controlled,” ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told reporters.

In late August about 100 Indonesian Islamists demonstrated outside the U.S. embassy in Jakarta and threatened “jihad” or holy war if the US Christian group went through with the stunt.

On Tuesday Indonesian Christians said they feared violent reprisals if the burning went ahead.

Indonesian Protestant Christian Churches Union (PGI) has sent a letter to U.S. President Barack Obama asking him to intervene to prevent the book burning, chairman Andreas Yewangoe told AFP.

“The Qur'an burning will harm world peace. We’re deeply concerned as it could create tension here in Indonesia,” he said.

The PGI represents about 20,000 churches and nine million followers in Indonesia.

Alleged desecration of the Qur'an by U.S. troops in both Afghanistan and Iraq has been an incendiary issue in the past, including when a U.S. soldier deployed to Iraq riddled a copy of the holy book with bullets in 2008.

A subsequent demonstration by about 2,000 people in central Afghanistan turned violent, with a Lithuanian soldier and two civilians killed in an exchange of gunfire between protesters and police.

Terry Jones, who heads the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida, said he had given “serious” consideration to the concerns expressed by Petraeus, but said he would proceed anyway.

“We are taking the general’s words very serious. We are continuing to pray about the action on September 11th,” he said.

Nevertheless, he said “we have firmly made up our mind” to go ahead with burning the Muslim holy book.

“I mean, how long, when does America stand for truth?” he said.

“Instead of us being blamed for what other people will do or might do, why don’t we send a warning to them? Why don’t we send a warning to radical Islam and say, don’t do it. If you attack us, if you attack us, we will attack you,” he said.

Mr. Jones said however that the Qur'an torching on Saturday aimed “to remember those who were brutally murdered on September 11th,” and to send a warning “to the radical element of Islam.”

“We wanted to send a very clear message to them that we are not interested in their Sharia law. And we do not tolerate their threats, their fear, their radicalness. We live in the United States of America,” he said.

Agence France-Presse

[Bill Whatcott]

“Instead of us being blamed for what other people will do or might do, why don’t we send a warning to them? Why don’t we send a warning to radical Islam and say, don’t do it. If you attack us, if you attack us, we will attack you,” he said."

Pastor Terry Jones has made a very good point here. No one is making the Islamic fundamentalists attack churches, non Muslim civilians or NATO soldiers. They are choosing to behave this way. Maybe burning the Koran isn't such a bad idea, as all it has done is produce a bunch of ignorant, insensitive followers of a pedophile named Mohamed; who desecrate other religion's holy places and treat non-Muslims with either complete indifference or hostility, yet when it comes to perceived insults of their false prophet or so-called holy book, they get right worked up.....

[evolution8]

Backlash against Christians feared
Chad Groening and Jody Brown - OneNewsNow - 9/8/2010 4:05:00 AM
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Persecution/D ... id=1158988


An organization dedicated to persecuted Christians worldwide says Christians around the world will be in danger if a Florida church goes ahead with its plans to burn Qurans on the upcoming anniversary of September 11.

In a recent e-mail to The Associated Press, General David Petraeus, the top American military commander in Afghanistan, warned that "images of the burning of a Quran would undoubtedly be used by extremists in Afghanistan -- and around the world -- to inflame public opinion and incite violence" and could endanger U.S. troops and Americans worldwide.

The general's comments follow a protest Monday by hundreds of Afghans over the plans by the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville to burn Qurans on church grounds to mark the ninth anniversary of 9/11. On Wednesday, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates told his staff that he endorses Petraeus' view.

Dr. Carl Moeller, president and CEO of Open Doors USA, argues another people group may suffer even more. He believes Christians in the Muslim world will suffer the brunt of the repercussions from any Quran burnings.

"Look, Danish cartoonists weren't beaten by mobs when the Danish cartoons showed Mohammad," he recalls. "...It was the Christians across the village who were beaten by the mobs and the churches that were burned and the pastors who were killed throughout the Muslim world when those cartoons were released."

Echoing Petraeus' concerns, Moeller adds: "I'm afraid that this church in Florida that's planning on burning Qurans on 9/11 will do nothing but inflame insane people in the Muslim world to take out their hatred and literally murderous wrath on the Christian communities in those countries."

But Dove Outreach Pastor Terry Jones told The Associated Press on Tuesday that while he agrees his plan to burn copies of the Quran could provoke violent opposition, he says America should quit apologizing for its actions and bowing to kings. (Read Associated Press story: Fla. minister says Quran burning still planned)

[Bill Whatcott]

planning on burning Qurans on 9/11 will do nothing but inflame insane people in the Muslim world to take out their hatred and literally murderous wrath on the Christian communities in those countries.

Actually, those Muslims who will use the Koran burning as an excuse to use violence against non-Muslims, would find some other excuse to engage in violence against the poor vulnerable Christians and other non-Muslims living in their midst anyways....

Looks like the pastor was lied to. It does not surprise me as the Islamic faith teaches lying to non-Muslims is acceptable, heck they often even lie and break contracts with eachother!

Qur'an burning plan dropped
By The Canadian Press, The Associated Press
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/1009 ... ning_jones

TORONTO - Word that an organizer dropped a controversial plan to commemorate the 9-11 terrorist attacks by burning copies of the Qur'an was greeted with relief Thursday by a Muslim organization that appealed directly to the event organizer.

Earlier in the day, the Muslim Canadian Congress joined Canadian faith groups of all denominations in denouncing pastor Terry Jones’s plan to torch the Muslim holy text at his 50-member church in Gainesville, Fla.

The Congress issued a direct appeal to Jones asking him to cancel the book-burning and asserting the terrorists responsible for the carnage nine years ago did not represent all followers of Islam.

Congress spokeswoman Raheel Raza said the organization was pleased to hear that Jones had cancelled the event after reportedly reaching a deal with the leader of a plan to build a mosque at Ground Zero. Jones said he called off the burning after winning assurances that the proposed mosque’s location would be changed.

“That’s a very sensible thing to have done because this idea of burning the Qur’an is a very inflammatory move, and it would not have in any way given a message of freedom or tolerance. I totally understand that he had the rights, but I have always said that having rights doesn’t make an action right,” Raza said in a telephone interview.

In the hours leading up to Jones’s announcement, Canadian Faith groups set aside differences of doctrine and spoke out unanimously against the proposal, which also drew sharp condemnation from world leaders and international law enforcement organizations.

Mohamed Elmasry, founding president of the Canadian Islamic Congress, spoke out against both the proposal and the man behind it.<

“The act is very insulting and it will accomplish nothing. It’s an act which is very deliberate by a person who’s interested in the welfare of no one,” Elmasry said.<

Elmasry praised the strong stance taken by world leaders including Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who cast aside his usual reticence on religious matters to speak out against Jones’s proposal.<

“I don’t speak very often about my own religion but let me be very clear: My God and my Christ is a tolerant God, and that’s what we want to see in this world,” Harper said.<

“I unequivocally condemn it... We all enjoy freedom of religion and that freedom of religion comes from a tolerant spirit. I don’t think that’s the way you treat other faiths, as different as those faiths may be from your own.”<

The Canadian Jewish Congress invoked images of past intolerance in its denunciation of Jones’s plan.<

“We are astounded that in the post Holocaust era so-called Pastor Terry Jones would advocate the burning of the Qur’an. While the terrorist actions of Islamic extremists must be confronted and fought vigorously, book-burning can never be tolerated,” Congress chief executive Bernie Farber said in a statement. “We unilaterally condemn such actions and stand with all those who support freedom and democracy.”<

The Canadian Council of Catholic Bishops declined to comment directly, referring all inquiries to the Vatican. The Holy See press office had previously issued a statement expressing ”great concern” at the proposal.<

“These deplorable acts of violence, in fact, cannot be counteracted by an outrageous and grave gesture against a book considered sacred by a religious community. Each religion, with its respective sacred books, places of worship and symbols, has the right to respect and protection,” the Vatican said.<

International opponents of Jones’s plan warned the pastor would be taking tremendous safety risks if the event went ahead as scheduled.<

Interpol, the international police organization, issued an alert to its 188 member-countries _ including Canada _ warning of a “strong likelihood” of violent attacks if the burning had gone forward. The RCMP said it planned to ”exercise a heightened level of vigilance” in the coming days.<

During an appearance on ”Good Morning America,” Obama described the event as a ”dangerous stunt” and advised Jones he could be putting foreign troops in peril and inciting suicide bombers on American soil.<

But late Thursday Jones said he was rethinking his decision to cancel the Qur'ran burning contending he was lied to.

Muslim leaders deny they agreed to move the planned Islamic centre from New York's Ground Zero. They say they only agreed to meet Jones and discuss the matter.

_ With files from the Associated Press

[Bill Whatcott]

Holy book burnings spark hypocrisy
Chad Groening - OneNewsNow -
9/9/2010 3:55:00
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Defau ... id=1160612

A pro-family organization says it's hypocritical for high-ranking officials in the Pentagon to condemn a Florida church's plans to burn Qurans when U.S. military personnel burned Bibles last year in Afghanistan.

Pastor Terry Jones told reporters outside his church in Gainesville Wednesday afternoon that he remains unconvinced that "backing down is the right thing" to do regarding the planned burning of Qurans on Saturday. That protest has drawn objection from Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. and NATO commander, who says images of burning Qurans will be used by extremists to inflame public opinion and incite worldwide violence. (See earlier story)

related video buttonEarlier today on ABC's Good Morning America, President Barack Obama criticized the event, calling it a "stunt" and warning it could become "a recruitment bonanza for al-Qaeda." Other notable Obama administration officials, including Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, have also condemned the planned Quran burning.



But Bryan Fischer, director of issues analysis at the American Family Association (AFA), thinks it is the height of hypocrisy for the U.S. government to condemn the church, considering the fact that the U.S. military incinerated Bibles that were sent to Afghanistan in May 2009.

Bryan Fischer (Amer. Family Assn.)"There's really a staggering level of hypocrisy and double standard here for the military to burn the Holy Bible and then complain when a pastor's going to do the same thing to the Quran," Fischer contends. "You know, if the military was going to be fair here and even-handed, they would count up the number of Holy Bibles that they incinerated in Afghanistan, and then they would allow Reverend Jones to burn the same number of Qurans."

The AFA issues analysis director believes the whole incident illustrates the difference between Christianity and Islam. "When these Bibles were burned [in May 2009], the Christian community did not riot in the streets; we did not threaten violence against anyone," he points out. "[But] when even the threat of Qurans being burned takes place, it's like we're dealing with Armageddon [or] with World War III."

In a OneNewsNow poll conducted in May 2009, more than 60 percent of respondents said -- in reaction to the decision by the U.S. military to destroy the Bibles -- that "if it had been the Quran, this never would have happened."



Story continues below ...

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Hypocrisy 'pretty well established'

Meanwhile, a senior Army strategist and Pentagon advisor also sees hypocrisy in high-ranking officials in the Pentagon strongly condemning the plans of Florida's Dove World Outreach Center to burn Qurans, when the Pentagon itself burned Bibles last year in Afghanistan.

Bob MaginnisLt. Col. Bob Maginnis (USA-Ret.) says while the concerns expressed by Petraeus, Gates, Clinton, and Obama are certainly legitimate, there is a note of hypocrisy in light of the fact that the U.S. military -- in order to appease Muslims -- last year torched Bibles sent to Afghanistan. (Listen to audio report)

"[Certainly] the armed forces should be sensitive to people's religious symbols or their text," he states. "[And] I said at the time [of the Bible burning] that I thought people would go ballistic if the armed forces were to burn Korans.

"But instead of burning the Bibles, there is no reason that they shouldn't have returned them to those who purchased the Bibles," he continues. "But we recognize that in a Muslim country, Christians are just not welcome. The hypocrisy is pretty well established. It is disconcerting."

Maginnis notes that unlike Islam, which tends to make the Quran itself a symbol of holiness, Christians base their faith on a personal relationship with Jesus Christ -- not on the Bible.

[evolution8]

Fla. pastor, imam at odds over Quran-burning deal
ANTONIO GONZALEZ - Associated Press Writer - 9/10/2010 5:00:00 AM
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Defau ... id=1162390


GAINESVILLE, FL - Two religious leaders are at odds about whether a deal was struck to stop a Quran-burning at a tiny church in exchange for moving the location of a mosque planned near ground zero, with the church's pastor leaving the door open to still go through with his plan.

Imam Muhammad Musri said he was clear on Thursday when he told the Rev. Terry Jones that he could set up a meeting with planners of the New York City mosque, but insisted he never promised to shift the location. Jones announced after the meeting -- with Musri at his side -- that they had a bargain and that he would call off the Quran-burning for Saturday, the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Later he accused Musri of lying and said the burning was only suspended, not canceled, leaving a question of whether he'd go through with it. "We are just really shocked," Jones said hours after his original announcement. "He clearly, clearly lied to us."

Musri, the president of the Islamic Society of Central Florida, countered that Jones wasn't confused or misled and that "after we stepped out in front of the cameras, he stretched my words" about the agreement. The imam in charge of the New York Islamic center and mosque project also quickly denied any deal was made.

Musri said Jones had instead caved into the firestorm of criticism from around the world and that his announcement might have been a ploy to try to force Muslim leaders' hand on the Islamic center. "After we stepped out in front of the cameras, he stretched my words" about the agreement, Musri said.

Jones said later that he expected Musri to keep his word and "the imam in New York to back up one of his own men." Musri said he still plans to go ahead with the meeting Saturday.

Despite Jones' wavering, many in Asia greeted the news not to burn the Quran with relief, though some said the damage already has been done. Muslims consider the book sacred and insist it be treated with the utmost respect.

Cleric Rusli Hasbi told 1,000 worshippers attending Friday morning prayers in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, that Jones had already "hurt the heart of the Muslim world."

"If he'd gone through with it, it would have been tantamount to war," the cleric said in the coastal town of Lhokseumawe. "A war that would have rallied Muslims all over the world."

A day earlier in New York, the Islamic center project leader, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, said in a statement that he was glad Jones had backed down but that he had spoken to neither the pastor nor Musri. "We are not going to toy with our religion or any other. Nor are we going to barter," Rauf said. "We are here to extend our hands to build peace and harmony."

Opponents argue it is insensitive to families and memories of Sept. 11 victims to build a mosque so close to where Islamic terrorists flew planes into the World Trade Center and killed nearly 2,800 people. Proponents say the project reflects religious freedom and diversity and that hatred of Muslims is fueling the opposition.

Moving the mosque is not why Jones canceled his threat, Musri said. Instead, he relented under the pressure from political and religious leaders of all faiths worldwide to halt what President Barack Obama called a "stunt." Musri said Jones told him the burning "would endanger the troops overseas, Americans traveling abroad and others around the world."

"That was the real motivation for calling it off," Musri said.

Jones had never invoked the mosque controversy as a reason for his planned protest at his Dove World Outreach Center. Instead, he cited his belief that the Quran is evil because it espouses something other than biblical truth and incites radical, violent behavior among Muslims.

Obama urged Jones to listen to "those better angels," saying that besides endangering lives, it would give Islamic terrorists a recruiting tool. Defense Secretary Robert Gates took the extraordinary step of calling Jones personally.

Jones' church, which has about 50 members, is independent of any denomination. It follows the Pentecostal tradition, which teaches that the Holy Spirit can manifest itself in the modern day.

The cancellation also was welcomed by Jones' neighbors in Gainesville, a city of 125,000 anchored by the sprawling University of Florida campus. At least two dozen Christian churches, Jewish temples and Muslim organizations in the city had mobilized to plan inclusive events, including Quran readings at services, as a counterpoint to Jones' protest.

Jones said at the news conference that he prayed about the decision and concluded that if the mosque was moved, it would be a sign from God to call off the Quran burning. "We are, of course, now against any other group burning Qurans," Jones said. "We would right now ask no one to burn Qurans. We are absolutely strong on that. It is not the time to do it."

Despite Jones' words, in the Gaza Strip, Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said to a crowd of tens of thousands of Muslim faithful that they had come "to respond to this criminal, this liar, this crazy priest who reflects a crazy Western attitude toward Islam and the Muslim nation."

"We came to say, the Quran is our constitution, we are committed to God and his holy book," he said to those holding the texts in their hands at a stadium in the northern town of Beit Lahiya. "God willing, should they try to carry out their crime against the Quran, God will tear their state apart and they will become God's lesson to anyone who tries to desecrate the holy book."

Part of the pressure exerted on Jones came from Gates who briefly spoke to the pastor before his first announcement to call it off. Gates expressed "his grave concern that going forward with this Quran burning would put the lives of our forces at risk, especially in Iraq and Afghanistan," said Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell.

Morrell said earlier that the decision to issue a personal appeal was not easy because it could provoke other extremists "who, all they want, is a call from so-and-so." Earlier, Jones had said if he was contacted by the White House that he might change his mind. After Gates' call to Jones, Morrell said the secretary's "fundamental baseline attitude about this is that if that phone call could save the life of one man or woman in uniform it was a call worth placing."

In Afghanistan, where tens of thousands of U.S. troops are in harm's way, President Hamid Karzai said he heard Jones had perhaps abandoned his Quran-burning plan. "The holy book is implanted in the hearts and minds of all the Muslims," he said from Kabul. "Humiliation of the holy book represents the humiliation of our people. I hope that this decision will be stopped and should never have been considered. I ask the world for peace and stability and the respect of each other."

[Bill Whatcott]

The eternal flame of Muslim outrage
Michelle Malkin - Syndicated Columnist - 9/10/2010
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Perspectives/ ... id=1162414

Michelle MalkinShhhhhhh, we're told. Don't protest the Ground Zero mosque. Don't burn a Quran. It'll imperil the troops. It'll inflame tensions. The "Muslim world" will "explode" if it does not get its way, warns sharia-peddling imam Feisal Abdul Rauf. Pardon my national security-threatening impudence, but when is the "Muslim world" not ready to "explode"?

At the risk of provoking the ever-volatile Religion of Perpetual Outrage, let us count the little-noticed and forgotten ways.

Just a few months ago in Kashmir, faithful Muslims rioted over what they thought was a mosque depicted on underwear sold by street vendors. The mob shut down businesses and clashed with police over the blasphemous skivvies. But it turned out there was no need for Allah's avengers to get their holy knickers in a bunch. The alleged mosque was actually a building resembling London's St. Paul's Cathedral. A Kashmiri law enforcement official later concluded the protests were "premeditated and organized to vitiate the atmosphere."

Indeed, art and graphics have an uncanny way of vitiating the Muslim world's atmosphere. In 1994, Muslims threatened German supermodel Claudia Schiffer with death after she wore a Karl Lagerfeld-designed dress printed with a saying from the Quran. In 1997, outraged Muslims forced Nike to recall 800,000 shoes because they claimed the company's "Air" logo looked like the Arabic script for "Allah." In 1998, another conflagration spread over Unilever's ice cream logo -- which Muslims claimed looked like "Allah" if read upside-down and backward (can't recall what they said it resembled if you viewed it with 3D glasses).

Even more explosively, in 2002, an al-Qaida-linked jihadist cell plotted to blow up Bologna, Italy's Church of San Petronio because it displayed a 15th century fresco depicting Mohammed being tormented in the ninth circle of Hell. For years, Muslims had demanded that the art come down. Counterterrorism officials in Europe caught the would-be bombers on tape scouting out the church and exclaiming, "May Allah bring it all down. It will all come down."

That same year, Nigerian Muslims stabbed, bludgeoned or burned to death 200 people in protest of the Miss World beauty pageant -- which they considered an affront to Allah. Contest organizers fled out of fear of inflaming further destruction. When Nigerian journalist Isioma Daniel joked that Mohammed would have approved of the pageant and that "in all honesty, he would probably have chosen a wife from among them," her newspaper rushed to print three retractions and apologies in a row. It didn't stop Muslim vigilantes from torching the newspaper's offices. A fatwa was issued on Daniel's life by a Nigerian official in the sharia-ruled state of Zamfara, who declared that "the blood of Isioma Daniel can be shed. It is abiding on all Muslims wherever they are to consider the killing of the writer as a religious duty." Daniel fled to Norway.

In 2005, British Muslims got all hot and bothered over a Burger King ice cream cone container whose swirly-texted label resembled, you guessed it, the Arabic script for "Allah." The restaurant chain yanked the product in a panic and prostrated itself before the Muslim world. But the fast-food dessert had already become a handy radical Islamic recruiting tool. Rashad Akhtar, a young British Muslim, told Harper's Magazine how the ice cream caper had inspired him: "Even though it means nothing to some people and may mean nothing to some Muslims in this country, this is my jihad. I'm not going to rest until I find the person who is responsible. I'm going to bring this country down."

In 2007, Muslims combusted again in Sudan after an infidel elementary school teacher innocently named a classroom teddy bear "Mohammed." Protesters chanted, "Kill her, kill her by firing squad!" and "No tolerance -- execution!" She was arrested, jailed and faced 40 lashes for blasphemy before being freed after eight days. Not wanting to cause further inflammation, the teacher rushed to apologize: "I have great respect for the Islamic religion and would not knowingly offend anyone, and I am sorry if I caused any distress."

And who could forget the global Danish cartoon riots of 2006 (instigated by imams who toured Egypt stoking hysteria with faked anti-Islam comic strips)? From Afghanistan to Egypt to Lebanon to Libya, Pakistan, Turkey and in between, hundreds died under the pretext of protecting Mohammed from Western slight, and brave journalists who stood up to the madness were threatened with beheading. It wasn't really about the cartoons at all, of course. Little-remembered is the fact that Muslim bullies were attempting to pressure Denmark over the International Atomic Energy Agency's decision to report Iran to the U.N. Security Council for continuing with its nuclear research program. The chairmanship of the council was passing to Denmark at the time. Yes, it was just another in a long line of manufactured Muslim explosions that were, to borrow a useful phrase, "premeditated and organized to vitiate the atmosphere."

When everything from sneakers to stuffed animals to comics to frescos to beauty queens to fast-food packaging to undies serves as dry tinder for Allah's avengers, it's a grand farce to feign concern about the recruitment effect of a few burnt Qurans in the hands of a two-bit attention-seeker in Florida. The eternal flame of Muslim outrage was lit a long, long time ago.

COPYRIGHT 2010 CREATORS.COM

[Bill Whatcott]

Here is some news about the US government burning Bibles......



As far as I know, there was no Christians murdering non-Christians or rioting after this act of insensitivity towards our faith.....