In two days time, the US will mark the anniversary of the terrorist attacks on September 11th and Pastor Terry Jones thinks he's come up with a fantastic way to celebrate such an event; by enticing extremists to do it again.
The pastor believes it is time for the US to stand up and say no to radical Islam. His actions however seem to be saying no to all of Islam. Muslims believe the Koran to be the word of God. Damaging or destroying such a book intentionally is the biggest insult one could give to the religion. Yet it seems Terry Jones didn't realise this until he was told by the likes of General Petraeus that an action like this would endanger US troops, not just in Afghanistan but around the world. The pastor's response? "We can't back down now".
Now I ask myself why does Terry Jones and his fifty-strong congregation think they need to send a message to Islam? It has been nine years since the attacks on the world trade centre. Surely by now they should be trying make peace with the Islamic community. It seems the answer lies with the nation's media and in particular, Fox News.
Over the past few weeks there has been heated debate about the proposed construction of an Islamic community centre and Mosque two blocks away from Ground Zero. The idea was for this community centre to help Muslims reach out to Americans and become part of the same society and not two societies living side by side. However, the US media has termed it the "Ground Zero Mosque". Most Americans take what they see on news channels as gospel. Especially the Fox News audience who have been trying to portray those behind the project as evil. I bet people such as Terry Jones haven't come close to reading up on the so called Ground Zero Mosque. If so he would have learned the the community centre will contain a performing arts centre, a fitness centre, a swimming pool and a basketball court along with a September 11th memorial. Does that sound like an evil building to you?
Islam in general doesn't have a problem with America. There are plenty of Muslims in the States who are living their lives peacefully within their communities. America does seem to have a problem with Islam though. However it seems this hatred that some members of the population have towards Islam is in fact aimed towards what they see in the media. Stories that may be born from a small truth but have been warped and exaggerated to a point that they no longer resemble any real part of Islam.
It seems Americans think they hate Islam when actually they don't. They hate this fictitious portrayal of Islam that they themselves have dreamed up. Let's hope the silent majority of US citizens, those that have no qualms with other faiths and religions, speak up before someone like pastor Terry Jones takes a step too far and brings on another attack from the minority of Muslims who think bloodshed solves problems.
Let's not have any more innocent people die over such nonsense.
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