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Sept 12, 2010
For the past eight years, the anniversary of 9/11 came and went without any distraction…until now. This year, a clown disguised as a pastor has become quite the pesky distraction that has marred the ninth anniversary of 9/11.
This man, who calls himself a pastor, has singlehandedly managed to tip the political cart sending the U.S. president himself and other politicians into a tailspin. He’s got the media in a tizzy and the Muslim world outraged.
This publicity hound got what he wanted. His picture, showing him standing by a sign with his arms crossed and wearing a stern facial expression, is now everywhere. His small fundamentalist church in Florida is now a household name. His bigoted religious views and hateful message against Muslims have resulted in a firestorm that has threatened this government’s reconciliatory efforts with its enemies.
This is the last thing that this country needs at a time when political diplo- macy with the Muslim world is handled with pristine white gloves. All it takes is one clown to get in the Beetle for it to flip over.
The suggestion to burn copies of the Quran on the anniversary of 9/11 is the kind of stunt that only those with wicked minds dare to actually fashion into reality. For most people, it simply does not make sense. It’s idiotic! I do not profess to know this pastor’s religion other than its strict and literal interpretation of the Bible. But at the same time, it’s hard for me to wrap my brain around the fact that as a pastor, he is the source of discord. Worst, the cause of an upheaval that could be global in scope. Supposedly, he heard from God.
Supposedly he has changed his mind – not canceled but suspended his evil plan – after he alleges that the leader of the Islamic center project, through an intermediary, agreed to move the building of the mosque away from Ground Zero. The intermediary how- ever said that the pastor misunderstood what he said thereby prompting the pastor to reconsider his plan and may revert to his original plan come Satur- day. We’ll see.
In the pastor’s case, does an irrational mind equate to brilliance? The pastor who heads his 50-member Pentecostal church saw that sliver of chance and went for it. What better way to shine the spotlight on your church than by endangering our soldiers in enemy territories or endangering American citizens abroad? A minister of another church sums up his reaction in two words – sickened and appalled. He further said that the message preached by this pastor is not Christian faith that he knows.
The pastor’s plan also prompted national religious leaders – Christians, Jews and Muslims – to hold an emergency summit in New York this week. Rev. Chuck Currie reported in The Washington Post that in the Christian tradition according to The Rev. Michael Kinnamon, general secretary of the National Council of Churches at the summit, “we denounce anti-Muslim bigotry. We identify ourselves with religious tolerance” and that “we are made richer and deeper in our Christian community by our relationship with Muslim and Jewish colleagues.”
The plume of ominous clouds that emanated from the plan to build a 13- story Islamic center and a mosque near Ground Zero by a group of business- men has taken a volatile turn. For reasons that will never be known to us, this once unheard of church has taken center stage in no time only because its leader seized the opportunity to grab the spotlight and as expected, the media lapped it up like hungry hounds. Reports said that one of the busi- nessmen, who looks at this as a mere business transaction and the one who coughed up the most money for the two buildings, is planning to sell them for the right price.
The uproar that this business venture has generated could not be ignored. Even Donald Trump jumped in on the fray and offered to buy them. More than anything else, it is sad to note that this year’s anniversary of 9/11 has been defaced by an onslaught of negative media publicity and circus brought forth by religious bigotry and greed. I have not put much thought on the news that there’s a possibility that a mosque will stand where once the Twin Towers stood. Knowing why they are no longer there, it’s a bit unsettling for me for the simple fact that I am an American citizen – one of the millions affected by the events of almost nine years ago.
But regardless of how I feel, my Christian faith prompts me to do what is right – not to judge. I am grateful that my church, our priests and our lay brothers and sisters remain steadfast in their belief that in the eyes of God, everyone is created equal. In the case of the controversial pastor, I wonder where that bigotry comes from if the inherent commonality of all religions is God’s Word, The Holy Bible? Don’t we have the obligation to love our neighbors if we are God’s emissaries? This may be my naiveté coming to the surface but it’s one of the very first things that we were taught growing up. But is understanding and listening really that hard that we become so engrossed with our own immediate realm that any deviation becomes a threat?
Something does not sit well when an adult who is entrusted with a huge spiritual responsibility becomes the aggressor. Like a bunch of clowns in that Volkswagen that tipped over, it’s only funny until somebody gets hurt. In the case of this particular clown, he really needs to stop dead on his tracks and think this through. In case he does not know, a lot of lives are at stake here. Clown or no clown, this is no laughing matter. It’s not funny and nobody is laughing!