We shouldn't have given Jones the ink

One man or one person can make a difference. Martin Luther King lead a revolution in the United States that changed the way Black Americans were treated in the United States. He rallied the nation to make a change and inspired presidents, senators and congressional leaders to pass legislation that would treat all peoples equally.
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, both a political and spiritual leader in India’s independence, pioneered mass civil disobedience or non violence to helped India gain independence. His nonviolence civil disobedience has become the leading political action followed by countless others throughout the world.
Terry Jones a Gainesville Florida pastor gained his 15 minutes of fame last week by threatening to burn the Koran on the anniversary of 9/11. His threat inflamed thousands of Muslims around the world prompting many to take to the streets to burn US flags and denounce western democracies.
Sadly it forced world leaders to respond to the threats of this small church pastor. When someone like Terry Jones can gain overnight world recognition and force leaders to respond to his threats something is wrong.
Prime minister Harper, President Obama should not have had to go before the cameras to plead for this person to change his mind.
Similarly, as a media person, I couldn’t help but chuckle when Hilary Clinton laughed when she wished that the news media would not cover the actual bonfire. Clinton realized that the news cycle was acting like a dog with a bone and was not going to give up the story until the deed had been done.
She too was trying to put out the flames that might endanger our soldiers in Afghanistan and our civilian aid workers who are working with Afghanistan and Pakistan people.
In hindsight, we the news people should not have given ink, sound and face time to Jones. We fanned the flames of the fire. Jones only lit the match that started the fire. He has made a difference. He forced Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus and Muslims across the western world to come together to condemn religious intolerance.
That universal condemnation is a victory in itself.

–Jim Cumming,
Publisher