Everyone from the Vatican, to Secretary of State Clinton, Attorney General Holder, and actress Angelina Jolie are calling on a Florida pastor to cancel his planned Quran burning on 9/11.
No punches were pulled. The Vatican called Pastor Terry Jones of Gainesville’s plans “outrageous and grave.” During an iftar dinner hosted by the State Department, Secretary Clinton called the proposed book burning “disrespectful and disgraceful.” AG Holder called it “idiotic and dangerous” according to multiple faith leaders who met with him in Washington yesterday. Jolie said she “hardly has words” for desecrating “somebody’s religious book.” NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg said it was “distasteful” but Jones has the legal right to burn the Quran.
Jones told reporters this morning that he is going ahead with the book burning, despite numerous warnings from military officials that it will put U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Iraq in even greater danger. In Afghanistan, Muslims burned Jones in effigy (see pic at top left). His neighbors in Gainesville aren’t too happy with Jones either, and have planned counter-protests and demonstrations for 9/11. City officials have denied Jones a burn permit, but say contained residential fires that do not extend beyond 3 feet are allowed.
Prominent interfaith leaders held an extraordinary summit in Washington to condemn the recent rash of anti-Muslim bigotry. The Justice Department is investigating a handful of anti-Muslim incidents in four states, including the stabbing of a Muslim cab driver in NYC.
American Muslims say their efforts to build relationships with fellow citizens after 9/11 has been torched by the fierce opposition to the planned Islamic center near Ground Zero, according to the NYT. The imam behind the project, recently returned from a Middle East tour sponsored by the State Dept., said the center, known as Park51, will include separate prayer spaces for Muslims, Christians, Jews, and people of other faiths. Backing down from the project, said Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, would “cede the discourse and, essentially, our future to radicals on both sides.”
The White House said President Obama will mark the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks at the Pentagon. Obama extended New Years’ greetings to the Jewish community, putting in a quick plug for the jump-started MidEast peace dialogue.
A federal judge denied Obama’s request to lift an injunction blocking federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. A federal court in Michigan dismissed a challenge by several Christian pastors to 2009’s Hate Crimes Act. The pastors claimed the law interferes with their right to express opposition to homosexuality. Wisconsin’s five Catholic bishops have issued a “framework” to help Catholics evaluate politicians and policies ahead of the mid-term elections.
The Belgian Cardinal who urged a sex abuse victim to hush up about the crimes said he made a “most serious error.” Pope Benedict XVI welcomed the first Catholic university in Sweden since 1477. Doctors are analyzing a miracle attributed to the intercession of the late Pope John Paul II. A Mormon senator from Idaho is pushing a bill to cut federal taxes on microbrewers, God bless him.
