Saturday, July 31, 2010

"International Burn a Quran Day"

As you may imagine, it's not really all that international. Only in America, beloved. And principally in the crazy parts of America. Like CaliforniaMontanaDCAlbanyTexas. And Florida.

A Gainesville church called the Dove World Outreach Center (and, pardon us, but that's the name of your church? It sounds like the fellowship hall) has announced plans to observe the anniversary of 9/11 by displaying a little religious intolerance of their own. The headline says it all.

Nor is this their first brush with raw hatred. They've a got a "No Homo Mayor" protest scheduled for this Tuesday, just in case their town ever elects one. And then there's this:
Last year, [Dove] put up a sign on its property that read “Islam is of the Devil.” Not surprisingly, the sign triggered an uproar in the neighborhood, with residents calling the sign hateful. ...
But here's the part we love:
When asked if he has ever participated in interfaith dialogues, [pastor Terry] Jones said “of course” and said he has talked to the [Committee on America-Islamic Relations] director in Tampa, Fla. He also said he has invited Muslims to come to the 9/11 Quran burning event and is willing to dialogue with them during the activity.
Talk about your good neighbor policy. Because who doesn't love to watch their religion's scriptures burned? Or to use dialogue as a verb?

It all sounds a bit fishy, though. Yes, this is America, the land where churches raffle off automatic rifles. But still, this sort of over-the-top display seems awfully ... retro. As in Deus lo vult and all that. So who, we asked ourselvees, are these people? And whaddaya know, they're friends with Westboro Baptist.

Ahhh. Now we get it. Westboro Baptist, the freakish hate cult that shows up waving ugly signs at the funerals of dead soldiers. The same one that picketed Comic-Con and got its tail kicked by a bunch of pimply-faced nerds.

1 comment:

LoieJ said...

Only in America... can the nut cases on the right left and bottom have open protests. Lets remember that we hear about these people because of our freedom. But I do wonder about the educational system in this country that logical and critical thinking isn't being taught.