A federal judge in Michigan on Thursday cleared the way for Koran-burning pastor Terry Jones to lead a protest in front of the nation's largest mosque this weekend, saying efforts by officials in Dearborn, Mich., to essentially force organizers to guarantee the rally would be peaceful were unconstitutional.
Pastor Terry Jones, the Florida-based minister who sparked deadly riots in Afghanistan last year after he burned a copy of the Koran, is suing a Michigan city he says is interfering with his right to protest this weekend against Islamic Shariah law.
The Florida pastor who threatened to burn a Koran — and later did so after putting the Muslim holy book on trial — is planning a visit to the Big Apple to speak out against radical Islam on the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
The Rev. Terry Jones, who was jailed briefly Friday after refusing to pay a peace bond following a jury trial in Dearborn, Mich., over a protest permit, said he may sue Wayne County and other government agencies for violating his constitutional rights to free speech.
Should the burning of Islam's holy book, the Koran, be banned? This is the question many in Washington are asking, following last weekend's deadly rampage in Afghanistan. On March 20, Pastor Terry Jones, who heads the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Fla., presided over a Koran-burning. The actions of this crazy church leader set off cascading demonstrations across Afghanistan. Afghan President Hamid Karzai publicly denounced it, fanning the flames of religious hatred.
As Florida officials worried about public safety surrounding a small church's plan to burn the Koran, President Obama added his voice to the chorus of opposition to the church's intention to burn copies of Islam's holiest text to mark the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
On Sept. 11, 2001, radical Islamic terrorists committed the most deadly and destructive foreign attack on U.S. soil. Nine years later, the American people are being told that the country overreacted to the whole thing. President Obama last year declared that Sept. 11 is to be a "national day of service." Others in the administration seem to think that means it is a day upon which Americans should rise up to protect the Koran.
The media frenzy over a minister in Gainesville, Fla., and the unusual trajectory of his activities has distracted the public momentarily.
The Florida pastor who plans to burn the Koran on Saturday's anniversary of 9/11 is rooted in Pentecostal tradition that believes Christians are engaged in a modern-day spiritual battle with evil.
