The New York Times reports:
If building an Islamic center near ground zero amounts to the epitome of Muslim insensitivity, as critics of the project have claimed, what should the world make of Terry Jones, the evangelical pastor here who plans to memorialize the Sept. 11 attacks with a bonfire of Korans?
Mr. Jones, 58, a former hotel manager with a red face and a white handlebar mustache, argues that as an American Christian he has a right to burn Islam’s sacred book because “it’s full of lies.” And in another era, he might have been easily ignored, as he was last year when he posted a sign at his church declaring “Islam is of the devil.”
But now the global spotlight has shifted. With the debate in New York putting religious tensions front and center, Mr. Jones has suddenly attracted thousands of fans and critics on Facebook, while around the world he is being presented as a symbol of American anti-Islamic sentiment.
Muslim leaders in several countries, including Egypt and Indonesia, have formally condemned him and his church, the Dove World Outreach Center.
An Islamic group in England has also incorporated his efforts into a YouTube video that encourages Muslims to “rise up and act,” widening a concern that Mr. Jones — though clearly a fringe figure with only 50 members in his church — could spark riots or terrorism.
“Can you imagine what this will do to our image around the world?” said Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Washington. “And the additional danger it will add whenever there is an American presence in Iraq or Afghanistan?”
Naomi Klein had suggest around 10 recognizable point of a society decending into facism… The US has walked through all of them.
What ever the outcome, the blame for what is now taking place lies squarely on “O”‘s shoulders. He should have nipped all this hate mongering from the start. He’s responsible for letting the “Genie” out of the bottle, but like every other person in denial, will let all the crap fester into one big boil, then run to hide someplace while the Country explodes into revolution.
While I agree with Norman, that Obama could have done far more to contain this kind of thing (if he’d appointed a special prosecutor to investigate possible Bush administration criminal actions at the beginning of his presidency), the (Arab) racial and religious hatred in the US started decades before. I mentioned my observations (in another comment) in Libya in the mid-sixties when I worked for a US oil exploration company.
As for the Islamophobia today, I would suggest the prime candidates for cooling the hate in society should be its religious leaders. That might be difficult when the culture gives rise to so many rinky-dink sects built around loudmouths’ pet delusions.