"What can one person do?"
It's a question I've never really understood.
Aren't our heads full of the names of people
who have made it clear what one person can do?
My thoughts go to Gandhi, da Vinci, Madonna, Picasso, Utah Phillips, my grandfather, my mom and the list goes on for hours from there... but
for those who might find themselves listless
at the moment, here's a name in the news
for you - Terry Jones.
Who's Terry Jones? Just a guy... the "pastor"
at the Dove World Outreach Center in Florida,
a congregation of some 30 souls.
His "mission" is spreading the word that Islam and the Koran are instruments of “violence, death and terrorism” so he put the book held sacred by more than 1.5 billion people around the world, "on trial".
The Koran was found guilty of the charges he'd made up about it (quelle surprise), so he passed
the sentence he'd promised he would, and burned it.
He burnt that holy book despite the fact
that many people, including the US Secretary of Defence and President Obama prevailed upon him not to and alerted him as to the probable outcome of his actions.
Now, "Pastor" Terry Jones has the blood of 42 people who did him no wrong on his hands,
and that number will probably grow in the days to come.
Staffan de Mistura, the head of the U.N. mission
in Afghanistan where 7 people working to help were murdered, called the Koran burning an "insane
and totally despicable gesture by one person".
Sayeed Humayoun, a teacher in Kabul, said "How can you do something that you know is going to cause violence and not be held accountable? Even my littlest pupils know better than this."
They are two among many, including me, who condemn Mr. Jones' evil pantomime of faith. Clearly, Jones doesn't understand Christianity
any more than than he understands Islam. The fact that his actions have demonstrated to people around the world that Christianity and the Bible are instruments of violence, death and terrorism
seems to elude him too.
But the buck doesn't stop with this ignorant, illiterate man. One pathetic used furniture salesman, even with a "congregation" of 30 deluded followers did not and does not have the power to spread their sick, stupid hatred around the county, let alone the world.
In that sense, and that sense alone, he is correct when he says it's unfair for people to blame him and the others at Dove World. This little Hitler
may have lit the match, but he didn't create the ensuing inferno of death and suffering.
They had help. News media, pundits, bloggers
and who knows how many mullahs have taken his performance to the eyes and ears of people
around the world.
Quelle surprise, encore.
Just the facts, I guess. Some of them, anyway. Some of the time...
Jones' news value has always escaped me.
Finding an ignorant white guy with a disgusting interpretation of the Bible in America is about as hard as turning on a TV. But no... one hare-brained crackpot with a bad idea about burning a holy book gets a pulpit as big as all outdoors.
When exactly what everyone knew would happen then unfolds, pretty western "newspeople" cluck their tongues about the day's deaths and injuries and pigboy pundits prattle on about how "primitive" those people" are...
The story's not about how many people in how many places respect difference. It's not about how many people empathize with the revulsion that so many Muslims feel about this event and disagree profoundly with the delusions of this sad little man.
The "story" (sic) was Jones and it still is... because it works too well for too many people. Some work for major media conglomerates. Some are mullahs.
In both cases, Jones is just their bitch.
What can one person do?
Terrible damage.
One person can cause mayhem, destroy the best efforts of thousands of people and in worst cases, like this one, be responsible for the deaths of nearly 42 innocent people.
42, and counting...
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