Pastor says may halt Koran burning if White House asks

[Turborama]

Source: AFP

A Florida pastor at the center of a global storm over plans to burn hundreds of Korans said Thursday he would likely call off the event if asked to by the Obama administration.

Terry Jones, head of the Dove World Outreach Center, told USA Today he had not been contacted by the White House, Pentagon or State Department about Saturday's planned ceremony on the anniversary of the September 11 attacks.

If he were "that would cause us definitely to think it over. That's what we're doing now. I don't think a call from them is something we would ignore," Jones told the daily.

US President Barack Obama on Thursday warned the burning ceremony would be a "recruitment bonanza" for Al-Qaeda, which carried out the 2001 attacks on the United States in which almost 3,00 people died. "You know, you could have serious violence in places like Pakistan or Afghanistan," Obama told ABC television in an interview.

Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jCwDiME3USphWw11SPqA_cfmwBlA

[deutsey]

1. "And they have to say pretty please, with a cherry on top"

:eyes:

[deutsey]

15. and bring him a....shrubbery.

[Kolesar]

16. "I will do no such thing" eom

[SacoMaine61]

18. and then one slightly higher...

:rofl:

[mikelgb]

2. Just stroke my ego and I won't have to stroke it myself on teevee

[blondeatlast]

32. Exactly. Like the annoying kid in class always doing something to get attention. nt

[Gidney N Cloyd]

3. That sonuvabitch. So now it's Obama's fault if the burning happens because he didn't say 'stop'?

[FedUp_Queer]

28. You don't know how right you are...

Think of it:

If you watched the segment on Olbermann with the Imam and Pastor in Tennessee, Olbermann brought up the fact that in Afghanistan, there were people saying Obama could stop this but wouldn't. Olbermann brought up the fact that the government can't stop speech just because it doesn't like it and queried the Imam about explaining this to the Afghans. The Imam said something interesting: when a people doesn't know freedom, it's inconceivable that the government can't stop something it doesn't like. Ergo, if they do it, then Obama condones it. This element in Gainesville knows this. So, here are the scenarios:

1) Obama asks him and he stops. Then he says the government is stifling his speech, Obama IS in fact a Muslim.

2) Obama asks him and he doesn't stop. He's defiant, taking on his government. The money rolls in, the coffers fill up.

3) Obama doesn't ask him. In the eyes of the much of the Muslim world, Obama condones it. The guy gets the "bloodshed fer Jesus" he wants. Oh...and the coffers fill up. This "proves" how "uncivilized" they are.

[sabrina 1]

49. I think he's getting nervous and is now trying to find a way out.

Obama so far has done the right thing. He placed the burden of recruitment of terrorists on Jones. Now let him do it and he becomes a terrorist recruiter.

I hope the WH stands by what they said and force Jones to take responsibility for his own actions.

[whosinpower]

60. All he has to do....

Is pile all those books into a huge pile....
look to the heavens and ask for God's guidance....
declare that if the books burn, it is God's will....
take two of the books.....
and begin to rub them together.

IF they burn, then surely God wanted it so.
If not, then God does not favour what he is about to do.

THERE! God decided for him!

[sabrina 1]

64. Lol, that could be his out! Good idea!

[whosinpower]

61. EVEN FUNNIER

Would be if someone.....managed to steal all the books away from him!
No books - no bonfire.

[Xipe Totec]

The pucker factor is taking hold

Now he just wants a face saving way to step out of the hole he's dug.

I say don't give him any excuse; let him keep digging.

[marmar]

8. Exactly. He's looking for an assist to get out of this morass.

nt

[Auggie]

13. +1

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

4. And if the White House does that, how many here will bitch about reaching out to the loony? (nt)

[Xipe Totec]

5. I will nt

[izquierdista]

9. I would suggest reaching out

...with a white-hot poker.

[ixion]

6. Look: This moran is a publicity hound, notthing more

he should be summarily ignored. If the MSM weren't making a circus out of it, you wouldn't even know the schmuck existed.

Oh, and "Dove World.." Please. :eyes:

[KatieW]

12. You are so right. He should have been ignored from the get go, he got exactly what he wanted.

[arcane1]

57. What every loony fundie church leader wants:

Attention and a persecution complex.

[Arkansas Granny]

23. Absolutely. He has probably gotten more media attention from this stunt

than he could have ever imagined. It probably has given him an inflated opinion of himself and his own importance. He should have been totally ignored.

[Dappleganger]

7. Does he want the president to kiss his white ass?

'Cuz that ain't gonna happen. The president already gave his opinion and my guess is that's it. This ass clown is all about attention-whoring and money, that's all. Now he is foolish enough to draw a giant bullseye on himself for some same-batshit crazy nut to take revenge for the rest of his life. Hope he thinks it was worth it!

[KatieW]

10. That's what this jack a$$ wants, ATTENTION!!!! I wish no one covered what this jerk wanted to do,

and he stayed unknown in his own little hate filled world. I realy believe he did all of this to get attention, and unfortunately that's exactly what he got.

[wtmusic]

11. Hmm, let's guess what would happen next.

Maybe every moron who wants 15 seconds of fame decides to burn one too? :silly:

[HipChick]

14. There is a second church now that is also doing this..

[Turborama]

26. Oh, fuck! Got any more details? n/t

[HipChick]

34. Thread here..

http://demopedia.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4533685

[ProgressiveEconomist]

63. Legitimate religious leaders might petition the IRS to deny tax exemptions for these sham churches

sham churchs that really exist to promote ultra-right politics, not religion. Let the IRS launch investigations, send these "chuches" huge back tax bills, and seize their properties if they don't pay immediately. IMO that might slow down the copycats.

There is recent precedent for such action: thanks to Rachel Maddow's exposure of the "C Street Foundation", 13 Ohio ministers succeeded in getting the IRS to remove a large part of their tax exemption--see http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/22/AR2010022204511.html .

[CountAllVotes]

17. he should be arrested IMO

for attempting to incite a riot and cause harm to people worldwide. That is the reality of this crap! :mad: He deserves no pleas for mercy, etc. FUCK HIM.

:kick:

[Bragi]

21. Really?

So if people thousands of miles away riot because this loon burns something, then it's the loon's fault?

I don't think so.

[CLANG]

25. remove the 'so'.

[Binka]

52. Fecking A!

I often think of DU as my family, I love some of them but others are just a giant pain in the ASS. :loveya:

[CLANG]

59. I know exactly what you mean. Just drink some wine!

[OrangeGrapes]

42. Wrong

If they're rioting because of something he did, then they would not be rioting if he did not do it. So yes, it's his fault if they riot because of what he did or does. If A, then B; if not A, then not B.

[Bragi]

44. No, you're wrong

Jones is exercising his legal right to free expression. Jones is a certifiable loon. The act of a certifiable loon meaningless.

If the rioters choose to attribute meaning to a meaningless act, and decide to engage in illegal acts of violence in response to this, then they must be held responsible for their actions.

[Turborama]

50. Correct

Some people seem unwilling to accept that simple concept of cause and effect, though. Probably because they are as dogmatic about their beliefs as this "pastor".

[ET Awful]

19. And then as mid-terms approach, Republicans will claim that Obama

stole his 1st Amendment rights.

[Booster]

20. I think the President should ask him to stop the burning. It's a

small thing for Mr. Obama to do and to the rest of the world he will come out looking good and it will give the idiot an out. Ok, the teabaggers won't like it, but who gives a shit what they think.

[prolesunited]

30. No way!

It's just like negotiating with terrorists.

If Obama does it, he unleashes a whole wave of loonies that will stop if the president personally asks them nicely.

[MH1]

40. I agree. If he does it right it could be a strong moment for him.

Kind of like the race speech he gave in Philadelphia.

[bluestateguy]

22. What will he want next, a private meeting in the Oval Office?

Followed by a joint press conference standing next to the president in the East Room?

[SomeGuyInEagan]

58. BEER SUMMIT!

Of course.

[Bragi]

24. Jones only says he'll take the call

This article claims Jones says "he would likely call off the event if asked to by the Obama administration."

I don't see Jones saying that. What he is quoted as saying is "I don't think a call from them is something we would ignore," Jones told the daily."

So all he has agreed to is to take the call.

[Ragrum]

27. Quite Glad Terry jones has the courage of his conviction

I am quite glad the Florida Preacher has the courage of his conviction that the Bible is the infallible word of his God.

Those Christians that do not agree with him simply point they are hypocrites. Either you know as in 100% the Bible is the infallible word of your god or it is not so.

Too much silence on from the political right shows how indebted they are to Christian Fundamentalist. Those claiming to be religious, Christians or Muslims, etc should repudiate those passages in their holy books that are extreme.

If everyone took an honest look at their holy books and discard those passages that command on pain of death this that or the other (insert horrible behavior) we might have religious that would be live in harmony.

[enuegii]

36. Can you translate that into English?

[Name removed]

29. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[no_hypocrisy]

31. And what else? Withdraw HCR? Let the Rich keep their tax cuts?

Let Churches have unlimited access to voters during Sunday services?

[babydollhead]

33. remeber that scene from Raiders of the Lost Arc?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anEuw8F8cpE


What happens on September 10th? What preemptive action might happen?

[qb]

35. Obama's word trumps the Word of God?

:wow:

[Parker CA]

37. So then Obama would be denying his rights and supporting the Koran and cementing his Muslin

affiliations.

This asshole has likely planned this from the onset.

Either response from Obama now causes a shitstorm. Here comes the media and minute now...

[sarge43]

38. My, what a little attention whore. n/t

[monmouth]

39. I'm thinking he's had a visit from guys who wear really cool sunglasses....n/t

[OrangeGrapes]

41. Really

They're calling this a ceremony? A ceremony? It looks like Florida has its own little neo-Hitler. No, I don't like Islam either, I think its full of violent radicals, but this is not the thing to do about it.

[valerief]

43. That's one way to get the president to block the First Amendment, which is probably

what whoever is paying Jones for the stunt wants. And that would validate Bush's Patriot Act.

[disillusioned73]

45. Sounds like he is looking for an out..

good :dilemma:

[Zorra]

46. Dude needs to STFU and go away before he gets more innocent people killed.

Religious fanatics can driving other religious fanatics to violence.

It's the definition of insanity, a long, sad story about as old as the human race, repeated day after day, year after year, always with the same result.

Unbelievable how these people can spend a lifetime studying the words of Jesus Christ and yet never understand a single thing that he said.

[glinda]

47. MSM should expose the back history of this guy publicly in order to shame him into either

quitting or to destroy his reputation so badly his teenie cult leaves him.

[struggle4progress]

48. President Barack Obama is exhorting a Florida minister to "listen to those better angels" and

call off his plan ...
AP Top News at 9:25 a.m. EDT
(AP) – 3 hours ago
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g8-DEMtAE9q4i4ySQ0eV_qZefmRQD9I4E0G00

... In an interview on ABC’s Good Morning America today, Obama called plans by part-time pastor Terry Jones to burn a Koran “a recruitment bonanza for al Qaeda" ...
September 9, 2010, 11:46 AM ET
Obama Decries Quran Burning
By Elizabeth Williamson
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2010/09/09/obama-decries-quran-burning/

... hundreds of angry Afghans burned an American flag and chanted "Death to the Christians" on Thursday to protest the planned Quran burning ... Obama said what Jones proposes "is completely contrary to our values as Americans. This country has been built on the notion of freedom and religious tolerance" ... Florida Gov. Charlie Crist said ... "In addition to being offensive, the Gainesville protest puts at risk those brave Americans who are fighting abroad for the freedoms and values that we believe in as Americans" ...
Fla. governor worries about safety over Quran burn
MITCH STACY, Associated Press Writer
Published: 07:17 a.m., Thursday, September 9, 2010

[struggle4progress]

51. Quran Pastor refuses to stop burning

... "As of right now, we are not convinced that backing down is the right thing," said Jones ... Along with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert Gates -- who spoke out against it Tuesday -- former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, conservative radio and television host Glenn Beck and actress Angelina Jolie, in her capacity as a goodwill ambassador for the U.N.'s refugee agency, condemned the event Wednesday. The Vatican also denounced it and a religious watchdog group, Military Religious Freedom Foundation, said it would send a copy of the Quran to the Afghan National Army for every one that might be burned ...
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2010/sep/09/spotlight-quran-pastor-refuses-to-stop-burning/

Jones - If the White House asks me to stop, I might stop
White House and everybody else - Please stop!
Jones - Eff yall! I'm gonna do it anyway

[Zorra]

53. Jones is exposing himself as a pathetic, ignorant little man that represents the worst element

in our country.

He can at least partially redeem himself with a little grace and dignity by admitting he is wrong and apologizing to the rest of America like an adult would.

[Vehl]

54. Who cares? let him burn it.....the media should simply stop promoting such an idiot

I mean..what next....every single nutjob in the country will follow this trend...and will say "i will burn a koran unless the whitehouse asks me not to"

Obama should stay out of this...let those idiots do whatever they want.

Only in this country you see nutjobs getting so much press!

[whosinpower]

55. I am not sure the White House can do such a thing

Isn't there a seperation of state and Church thing in the constitution?

If Obama personally called Jones and asked him to stop - would that be seen as the state interfering in the affairs of a Church?

Thoughts anyone?

[Bragi]

56. Lucy will let Linus kick football after meeting him /nt

[BlueIdaho]

62. This asshole's 15 minutes of fame are up now. nt.