Pastor Terry Jones is a misguided bigot.
The part-time preacher and part-time used furniture salesman has done his damndest to earn that title, using his role as the leader of the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Fla., to create more controversy than any poorly funded, 50-member hate group — that’s the Southern Poverty Law Center’s designation, not mine — deserves.
The trouble began last year, when Jones and his followers planned to burn copies of the Quran on the ninth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Jones’ intentions were widely publicized and sparked international outrage, which eventually led to the cancellation of the event dubbed “International Burn a Quran Day” by Jones.
Jones apparently could not help himself, however, and decided to preside over a “trial” on March 20 in which the Quran was convicted and executed — by burning, of course.
This time, the outrage was real as well. Protests erupted in Afghanistan and Pakistan, resulting in the deaths of at least 20 people.
American politicians and religious leaders scrambled to repudiate the actions of both Jones and the violent protestors, and some went so far as to place the blame for the deaths on Jones himself.
Jones’ credentials as a poorly informed polemicist were well-established prior to his Quran burning. He first came to nationwide prominence by placing a sign on the church’s lawn that read “Islam is the Devil.” To top it off, Dove World Outreach participated in a joint protest last year with the ultimate provocateurs at the Westboro Baptist Church, who are known for their inflammatory signs and staging of protests at U.S. soldiers’ funerals.
That being said, Jones is not a murderer. Shifting the responsibility for these deaths to anyone other than those who committed the murders is irresponsible because it disallows us from examining this issue in its entirety.
It’s an inescapable fact that the violence in Afghanistan and Pakistan was perpetrated by radical Muslims. Unfortunately, the assurance this type of response would result probably empowered Jones, who uses the violence committed by Muslims as a justification for his hateful proselytizing.
Violent reprisals following perceived slights are not a new phenomenon for radical Muslims, and it would be unwise to write off these actions as the expected response to any affront. So then, who is to blame?
Appropriately enough, the LSU Muslim Student Association held a seminar Wednesday entitled “Islam: Should We Be Afraid?” The featured lecturer was Omar Suleiman, an Islamic religious leader in New Orleans.
Suleiman spent a large portion of his time dispelling negative stereotypes of Muslim Americans and emphasizing their integration and positive influence on American society, but also addressed the Quran burning controversy. He echoed the criticism of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who has been skewered for stoking the flames of violent protest for imploring the international community to punish Jones on March 24. Jones’ actions were largely unknown in the Arab world this time, as the American media had largely ignored him to prevent violence from occurring.
Karzai and Jones both acted irresponsibly, but it is folly to pin the blame for the violence on either of them. Though radicals no doubt represent a small portion of Muslims throughout the world, they are unequivocally responsible for these violent protests, with many using the uninformed bigotry of Jones to exercise some violent bigotry of their own.
Unfortunately, the responsibility for marginalizing these voices of violence and extremism falls upon moderate American Muslims like Suleiman. The only real option American Muslims have is to lead by example and heed Suleiman’s advice when the next Terry Jones comes prodding: ignore him.
Chris Seemann is 20-year-old mass communication senior from New Orleans. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_CSeemann.