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President Obama Hopes That Quran Burning Pastor Will Listen To The Better Angels

Posted by: Bridgette P. LaVictoire on September 9, 2010.

09/09/10-by Bridgette P. LaVictoire
President Barack Obama implored Pastor Terry Jones to not go through with his planned burning of the Quran. The President’s words will probably not change the mind of Jones who is being described by a former congregation as being more of a cult leader than a pastor. Think Jim Jones and David Koresh rather than an actual pastor. On “Good Morning America”, Obama stated:

“If he’s listening, I just hope he understands that what he’s proposing to do is completely contrary to our values of Americans. That this country has been built on the notions of religious freedom and religious tolerance. And as a very practical matter, as commander of chief of the Armed Forces of the United States I just want him to understand that this stunt that he is talking about pulling could greatly endanger our young men and women in uniform who are in Iraq, who are in Afghanistan. We’re already seeing protests against Americans just by the mere threat he’s making. . .

“Look, this is a recruitment bonanza for Al Qaida. You could have serious violence in places like Pakistan and Afghanistan. . .

“I hope he listens to those better angels and understands that this is a destructive act that he’s engaging in. . .

“Part of this country’s history is people doing destructive or offensive or harmful things. And yet, we still have to make sure that we’re following the laws. And that’s part of what I love about this country,”

Legally, there is nothing that can be done to stop Jones from doing this, and according to many sources connected to his old church in Germany, he will not listen to anyone. In the Terry Pratchett book Small Gods, there is a character named Vorbis. He believes that he is talking to the Great God Om, but in reality his head is so enclosed nothing gets in or out. His mind is an echo chamber. This is the portrate of Jones that is emerging.

According to Stephan Baar, a church official connected to Jones’ old Christian Community of Cologne, “Terry Jones is the kind of person who sees things through, if he thinks it’s a task given him by God,”

Very little is being reported about Jones himself, or his church. His church is run more like a cult than a church proper. According to Andrew Schafer, a Protestant church official responsible for moitoring cults in the Cologne area of Germany, “Terry Jones appears to have a delusional personality.” According to the Times of London:

He (and his second wife Sylvia) left Germany in 2008 after one of their three adult children… along with a former church elder… accused them of financial and labour (sic) abuses… (the Florida church) is funded by TS & Company, a furniture shipping business owned by the church, which buys vintage pieces from Europe and sells them at profit in the U.S. The workforce is comprised of the Jones’s disciples, who work for no wages and live cost-free in tatty properties owned by the (Joneses).

Tatty is British English for rundown, crummy, slum-like, or decrepit.

Jones founded the Christian Community of Cologne, a charismatic Christian church back in the 1980′s. He was outseted from it in 2008 due to financial irregularities and personality clashes. The church went from a claimed membership of 800 to somewhere near 80. Stephen Barr has stated with regards to the planned Quran burning “We are distancing ourselves from these actions and don’t want to be connected to them.” Diana Breuel, another member of the church, stated “Thank God we no longer have anythign to do with him. . .He wasn’t the kind of pastor who did everything and took care of everyone.” Baar went on to add to what she said by saying “He didn’t project the biblical values and Christianity, but always made himself the center of everything.”

Jones is out for the publicity of this stunt. Unfortunately, with the recent upsurge in Islamophobia and the attempts to connect this even to the so-called Ground Zero Mosque, the Media has latched onto it. However, last night, the Daily Show offered what is, perhaps, the best possible rebut to all of this. They made fun of the whole thing including making it quite clear that, no, this is not like the so-called Ground Zero Mosque, and that you can take any passage from any holy book and use it to justify what ever you want in terms of violence.

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