Faizel Patel, Radio Islam News – 2013-08-26

Dr. Terry Jones is once again on a mission to hold his annual ritual of burning the Holy Quraan. The Christian minister has said no one is going to stop him from burning nearly 3,000 holy Quraan’s to mark the 12th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the U.S.

The burnings usually occur at Jones' Gainesville church, the Dove World Outreach Center that was reported at one time to have 30 members. The church property was sold last month, however, 61 year old Jones took Bill McKinney up on his offer.

Bill McKinney has been supporting Dr. Terry Jones for a few years and knew he would need a location on Sept. 11 to burn 2,998 Quraans as part of his annual demonstration that Dr. Jones says he does.

"I called him to ask if he had found a place, and then it popped out of mouth to invite him to have it right here," said McKinney.

Suzanne Carter-Moore a resident of Mulberry said that when she heard about Jones' decision, she immediately thought, "Not in Mulberry!"

"Why would you come to little Mulberry that is peaceful and diverse?" Carter-Moore questioned. "We like it that way. Why come to our town and stir up the pot of hate and division?" she said.

The local mayor and other officials are reportedly also against Jones holding his anti-Islam protest in their town, but will not intervene.

"He's not welcome as far as I'm concerned," Mulberry City Commissioner James Splaine told TheLedger.com. "That guy in my book is just nothing but a troublemaker. You can't start messing with people's religions. Whether you like them or not, it's up to them to have their own religion."

To show disagreement with Jones' "worldwide burning of 2,998 Qurans," Carter-Moore and her small group will counter-demonstrate on Sept. 7. The group has been using Facebook to get the word out and attract more supporters.

Jones, who calls Islam "the greatest threat to national security," insists that his group "did not choose Mulberry, Mulberry chose us."

"There's actually no way to stop us. We are going to do it," said Jones, who has carried out holy book-burnings before in addition to hanging an effigy of President Barack Obama on his former church property

The Gainesville minister claims his protest is not against Muslims, but is instead meant to draw attention to what he calls "that violent core message that Islam has."

Jones explains in a promotional video for his planned "worldwide burning of 2,998 Qurans," that the demonstration was organized "in order to stand up for the Constitution and honor the victims of 9/11."

The specified number of Qurans is meant to match the estimated number of lives lost in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States

In an article for Counter Current, Mike Ghouse, a speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, politics, peace, said “The big question is why nobody asks Pastor Terry Jones why he needs to do this? The reality today is that his kind will do this in the name of freedom of expression and Muslims are expected to respect this freedom by curtailing their own freedom.”

“I hardly need to ask the usual question, ‘What if instead of the Qur’an being burnt by Pastor Jones, such-and-such book/document was sought to be burnt by Muslims?’ I won’t ask it not because the question is wrong but it is so futile,” said Ghouse

“The world has chosen to become deaf and blind. What can one expect from such except the proliferation of Pastor Jones types until its logical end?” asks Ghouse.