What Terry Jones and Dove Outreach REALLY accomplished.

So as you know the "pastor" of the Dove Outreach "church" in Gainesville, Florida has decided to go through with his "International Koran Burning Day". This is despite being urged by people like General Petraeus and even Sarah Palin to reconsider or "stand down". This is despite that he supposedly "prayed" over the subject and, as a result, has yielded to the will of his god despite worldwide opposition to his act of willful and selfish defiance.

Jones now says that he might reconsider if asked to by the Obama administration. This despite the fact that Obama has already openly criticized the event, calling it a "recruitment bonanza" for Al-Qaeda. This smacks to me as a very overt game of "Chicken". If President Obama asks the church not to burn the Quran, immediately those 1 in 5 Americans who think that he's secretly a Muslim will be even more convinced.

And people like Sarah Palin, who made a statement against the Quran burning event, will use anything Obama says to further illustrate the illogical argument that building a mosque and burning a book are two sides of the same coin.

Which, personally, I don't think they are for the very simple fact one seeks to build a bridge, the other to literally burn it. In all the examples of, "We know we can do something but should we," I think burning a Quran (or any book) further seeks to create hate and intolerance than building a cultural center.

But here's the bloom on this very thorny rose.

This tiny group of religious extremists (Jones, not Al-Qaeda) in their zeal to destroy that which they do not understand, fear or hate have actually brought the world together in a very uncommon alliance.

Sarah Palin and President Obama actually agree on something. Pastors like John Hagee have taken a stand for what Jesus thinks on the subject by actually using the passages in the Bible that speak on peace and loving one's enemy.

People are standing up for what is right and good for the best interest of others, rather than themselves.

It reminds me of another day nine years ago when a small group of religious extremists tried to destroy something they did not understand, feared or hated and brought the world together in a very unexpected and beautiful way.

Such is the unbreakable nature of the human spirit; and the infallible goodness that exists in us all.

We can't change what Terry Jones is doing - obviously. But we can change how we represent our values and our beliefs to the world.

9/11 International Nice Day - You have the power to make it happen.