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Rev. Terry Jones is the newest character to come out of this wave of Mosque and Muslim bashing. In the days leading up to the 9th anniversary of September 11, Rev. Terry Jones of the Dove World Outreach Center has taking it upon himself to burn copies of the Islamic holy book, the Quran, in hopes of sending a message to Muslim extremists.

What Jones fails to realize is that Muslims consider the Quran along with any printed material containing its verses or the name of Allah or the Prophet Muhammad to be sacred. Any intentional damage or show of disrespect Quran is deeply offensive.

As like everything else in America, this is just ass backwards thinking and in no way promotes progressive movement at all. Leave it up to news outlets like CNN, MSNBC and ABC that gave attention to Jones and his Dove World Outreach. The best way to not fuel the fire of Jones’ hate is to not pay him any attention. Why are we giving this dude any airtime? So far Jones has appeared on Chris Matthews, Anderson Cooper and Fox News. I have nothing against these commentators but fueling the fire to Jones’ lunacy is not a good look. The thing is we have to know are the names of the inmates in the asylum. We have to know as much about this dude as we possible can.

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What’s funny is, people aren’t as mad about Jones’ Quran burning as they are about the “Ground Zero Mosque” being built 2 blocks away from ground zero, and they should be. Jones’ proposed Quran burning only solidifies that America is full fledge into an Islamphobia state of mind. Since the proposed Muslim community center at Park 51, New York has been under siege by Islamic hatred, people are protesting, Muslims are being attacked and are being looked at as second class citizens. What’s upsetting is that many Republican leaders aren’t speaking out against Jones’ Quran burning. 

Why aren’t the loud-mouthed G.O.P. leaders coming to the free speech defense of Jones? After all, Jones’ actions most likely would be protected by the First Amendment’s right to free speech. The U.S. Supreme Court has made clear that speech deemed offensive to many people, even the majority of people, cannot be suppressed by the government unless it is clearly directed to intimidate someone or amounts to an incitement to violence. 

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The reason why many Republican leaders aren’t condemning Jones’ behavior is probably because they don’t want to be looked at by their supporters as siding with anything that has to do with Muslims. Jones’ actions planned on September 11 would undoubtedly be used by extremists in Afghanistan and around the world to inflame and incite violence. 

So on the ninth anniversary of the attacks on September 11, let us not giving any attention to Jones and his mission but let’s remember the loved ones we lost and continue to let their spirit live on by remembering them the best way we know how. Let’s remember America’s resilience on that day and how we all came together to help one another, let’s remember those firemen, police officers, construction workers and ordinary citizens who lost their lives lending a helping hand.