Terry Jones pastor of the Dove World Outreach Center - a so-called church organization - is a New Testament Church based on the Bible, the Word of God. This is the "pastor" that announced his intent to burn a Qur’an on the anniversary of 9/11 in 2010. The U.S. government, put intense pressure on him to desist and eventually he called off his plans.
After receiving much attention at his attempt Jones in fact went on the Today Show and said, "We will definitely not burn the Qur'an, not today, not ever." But while the rest of the world's eyes were not focused on this issue he did burn a copy of the Qur’an, Islam’s holiest text, following a “trial” at his church on March 20th. In a six-hour ceremony called “International Judge the Koran Day” Jones convened a mock-judicial process in Florida that deemed the book “guilty of crimes against humanity,” then set a copy on fire.
But of course, you didn't see any mention of this on the mainstream media because it was intentionally ignored, in hopes that it would not bring about any violence. So much for that theory, because On April 1, infuriated Afghans lashed out, killing twelve in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif; the next day, suicide bombers dressed in women’s clothing attacked a coalition base in Kabul and street mobs in Kandahar again killed twelve.
Should Terry Jones and the Dove World Outreach Center be held accountable for the deaths? Obviously he doesn't think he did anything wrong he did however issue a statement, "The killings are "a very tragic and criminal action," he said in a statement. "We must hold these countries and people accountable for what they have done as well as for any excuses they may use to promote their terrorist activities."
So, I was thinking about this event, and I have to ask. What is it that is different that Terry Jones has done, that Julian Assange did on WikiLeaks?
In 2010 WikiLeaks released classified U.S. diplomatic files that the US government says were stolen. "By releasing stolen and classified documents, WikiLeaks has put at risk not only the cause of human rights but also the lives and work of these individuals," Gibbs said. "We condemn in the strongest terms the unauthorized disclosure of classified documents and sensitive national security information."
Did WikiLeaks released documents get anyone killed? I have not really heard if it had or not. If so would Julian Assange be held accountable for this action? Seems, no different than what Terry Jones did despite warnings from the government of the outcome that would happen.
