There is a dangerous man in Gainesville, Fla., who is now enflaming both the Christian and Muslim worlds alike. I believe the devil himself has somehow wormed his wretched way into the brain of the same man, Terry Jones, and I can prove it because a convoy of “my” American soldiers was pelted by a rock-throwing mob in Kabul, Afghanistan yesterday. That is absolutely inexcusable.

I staunchly defend freedom of speech and freedom of religion, but what do we do when a zealot who believes he is called by God wants to desecrate and defile others in an act that will harm and endanger both Christians and Muslims alike?

Jones is the leader of the Dove World Outreach Center and he is so blatantly anti-Islamic he is planning an “International Burn The Qur’an Day” on Sept. 11, the ninth anniversary of what some believe is the darkest day in the history of the United States. Jones claims “Islam is an evil religion” and has even authored a book, Islam Is of the Devil.

But the better truth is that Jones himself is “of the devil,” and, in my morning reading, I came across a rash of reports after one of “my” generals, David Petraeus, told the Wall Street Journal that one man – a pastor in Jacksonville – could “endanger troops and it could endanger the overall effort” in Afghanistan.

Once again, because of Terry Jones alone, a huge crowd of Afghanis threw rocks at “my” troops yesterday.

Worse, an internal FBI report reads, “While the FBI has no information to indicate a specific attack has been planned against the United States or U.S. assets in response to the International Burn a Koran Day event, the FBI assesses with high confidence that, as with past incidents perceived as acts of desecration against Islam, extremist actors will continue to threaten or attempt to harm the leaders, organizers, or attendees (of the event.)”

The FBI bulletin, dated Aug. 19, further states, “Depending on the continued national and international publicity the event receives, it might also inspire retaliatory attacks against U.S. facilities overseas.”

As you may well expect, the true leaders of the Christian world are upset. In Monday’s edition of the Christian Post we read, “The Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon, general secretary of the National Council of Churches, said the council had chosen to reiterate its statement in response to "many requests from persons of good will who wish to make it abundantly clear to the international community that millions of Americans reject the anti-Muslim expressions of some communities who seem to be reacting out of fear and a misunderstanding of the true nature of Islam."

“Misguided or confused about the love of neighbor by which Christ calls us to live, leaders and members of (the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Fla.) and others are engaged in harassment of Muslims, and in the planning of an International Burn the Qur'an Day, to be held on Sept. 11th,” stated the NCC’s original Aug. 11 statement.

So what’s the answer? As I struggle to get my arms around a very complex mess, let’s look at some of the things that have happened. Granted, we had some very evil people attack our homeland at the World Trade Center. And, yes, we’ve still got “boots on the ground” in both Iraq and Afghanistan because terrorism and hatred is still very much alive in those places.

More recently, even Harry Reid, the zany Senator from Nevada, has come out against building a Muslim mosque near Ground Zero in New York and just the other day in nearby Murfreesboro, they found the earth-moving machinery being used to build a mosque there had been doused with gasoline in an apparent attempt to set the equipment ablaze.

Sadly, I find hatred is alive in America too. Further, it isn’t a hard stretch for me to label a pastor in Jacksonville as a “terrorist,” based on the root of the word, because Terry Jones is most definitely inciting terror. That’s gotta be against the law.

So I say put the kook in jail, tell anybody else who desecrates the Bible, the Kor’an, or the American flag that they’ll soon join our terrorist in the hoosegow, and let’s move on.

But don’t be throwing rocks at my soldiers, especially when they are trying to help.

royexum@aol.com