When a self-righteous idiot intentionally provokes the more homicidal variety

[the_archfiend]

Remember "Pastor" Terry Jones? Of course you do. It turns out his crusade to burn Korans merely turned into a quieter effort to burn just one, but don't let me get in the way of the sickening details:

Ten people have been killed in the Afghan city of Kandahar during a demonstration against the burning of a Koran in the US, officials say. Hundreds of people took part in the protest. Gunfire was heard and cars were set on fire. On Friday, seven UN workers were killed after a protest over the same issue in in the northern city of Mazar-e Sharif. It was the worst attack on the UN mission in Afghanistan since the international invasion in 2001.

The demonstrators were angered by the actions of US Pastor Wayne Sapp, who set light to a copy of the Koran at a church in Florida on 20 March.The burning took place under the supervision of Pastor Jones, who last year drew condemnation over his aborted plan to burn copies of the Koran on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Pastor Jones has denied responsibility for the lethal protests in Afghanistan.

Well, of course he denied responsibility. Most irresponsible morons would. 

In case you're wondering I stand on this, there are no legal grounds for legally punishing Jones. The First Amendment clearly states that he can burn a Koran if he so chooses, just as anyone else has the right to burn a Bible, Torah or any other holy book they disagree with. He also didn't stick guns or weapons in the hands of the murderous freaks who engaged in the attacks on Friday.

Unfortunately, Jones does not understand the difference between "can" and "should", since the kangaroo court he held for the Koran mentioned above comes off as being particularly idiotic:

Over more than four hours, Jones sat and presided over the strange scene. The jury was made up mostly of his church members or curious volunteers. One woman, Jobeth Gerrard, had travelled down to Florida from Atlanta, Georgia. She described the trial to the Atlanta Journal newspaper and said she had no problem with the proceedings. "We are told that Muslims are peaceful and we don't have a Muslim problem. Why are they all freaking out about this? Don't we have free speech?" Gerrard told the newspaper.

Gerrard and the other jurors heard the prosecution outline a long series of charges against the book. They included the promotion of terrorist acts, crimes against humanity, rape and torture of people of other faiths and the persecution of minorities and women.

Jones outlined to the court the consequences of guilt in a curious mix of quasi-legal language and folksy down home wisdom. "If you are found guilty, if you are convicted of murder, you don't get to go home. It does not matter if we love you, if your mommy loves you, if your daddy loves you – you do not get to go home, because you have killed someone. And because of that you will face punishment. You will go to jail, you will possibly someday be electrocuted, or you will be shot up with poison and you will die," he said, and added: "That is what justice is."

Of course, this was hardly a fair trial. Jones' church promotes its anti-Islamic beliefs fervently. Nor has he been put off by the wave of negative publicity stoked by the horrific scenes in Afghanistan. In a statement released after news of the killings of the United Nations workers broke, Jones expressed no remorse or regret.

Again, of course he didn't. He seems completely oblivious to the possibility that what he's doing is suspect. His interview with Thom Hartmann transcript here) bore out that fact in September 2010, even when Hartmann (accurately, IMHO) termed him a sociopath.

If anybody won anything in this supposed clash of civilizations (to use Samuel P. Huntington's overused term), I fail to see what it is - unless you're counting public displays of stupidity or body bags as being indicators of "victory". If you are, you need serious professional help.  

Comments

[yamamanama.livejournal.com]

Of course he doesn't have remorse. More killing = one step closer to the apocalypse.