So would-be Koran-burner Terry Jones has abandoned his plans to have an Elijah moment.
The pastor of the Dove World Outreach Center made the announcement this afternoon after Defense Secretary Robert Gates telephoned him, and after allegedly extracting a promise to relocate the Cordoba House Islamic center further away from New York’s Ground Zero.
In other words, Jones perpetrated extortion in the name of the Lord.
Jones’ proposed 9/11 commemoration had stirred protests virtually everywhere outside the Republican Party. If Jones had followed through, his action might have been seen as the equivalent of Elijah’s competition with the priests of Baal:
At noon Elijah began to taunt them. "Shout louder!" he said. "Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened." So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed. Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention. (1 Kings 27-29).
Instead, Jones says that the idea of threatening a Koran barbecue was divinely inspired. Muslims connected with the center denied that any such accord was reached, and that in turn caused Jones to waffle on his promise.
But Jones shouldn’t have needed to broker a deal through blackmail. A truly divine solution would have ended the threat while holding fast to the spark of humanity that connects us all.
"Religion without humanity is a poor human stuff." — Sojourner Truth.