Florida pastor on al-Qaida hit list opens french fry stand at Bradenton's DeSoto Square mall | Small Business | Bradenton Herald

I have been doing a lot of "re-thinking" of prior issues and this happens to be one of them. Are Jones' actions (burning of the Qur'an) and rhetoric on par with Charlie Hebdo?

The Florida pastor who is near the top of an al-Qaida hit list is now running a french fry stand at a Bradenton mall.

The Rev. Terry Jones has opened Fry Guys Gourmet Fries in the food court at DeSoto Square mall. When customers arrive at the counter, they see a drawing of Jones' stern face front and center in what looks like a police sketch beside pictures of the other two co-owners. Their slogan: "We Take Fries Seriously."

"At first I thought the pictures would not be so recognizable," Jones told the Bradenton Herald in a phone interview Thursday. "They were supposed to be more of a cartoon type of thing."

The mall's manager was not aware of Jones' associations until contacted by the Herald for this story, and he immediately contacted the minister with his concerns. Just the sight of Jones' face could stir outrage.

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Jones is No. 2 on an al-Qaida propaganda poster for being wanted dead or alive. Slain French editor Stephane Charbonnier of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo was also on that list. That poster circulated on Twitter this week with an X on Charbonnier's face after he was murdered Wednesday in an attack that killed at least 12 at the Paris office. The terrorist group targeted the cartoonist after he published a satirical cartoon of prophet Muhammad in 2011.

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The events in France, said Jones, reinforce his beliefs against Islam. He said he does not group all Muslims with radical Islam.

"I will continue to speak out against Islam or even if you want to define it as radical Islam," Jones said. "I'm not putting everyone in the same box, but Islam itself is a very oppressive religion."

Florida pastor on al-Qaida hit list opens french fry stand at Bradenton's DeSoto Square mall | Small Business | Bradenton Herald

ADDENDUM::Coward Donohue doesn't understand liberty - Freedom From Religion Foundation

Donohue’s appalling beliefs are a bigger threat to freedom than any satirical cartoon. First, he entirely misses the point of free speech, thinking it a right meant only for “political discourse.” As I pointed out yesterday, the purpose of freedom of speech is to protect the freedom of thought. It’s understandable that Donohue has no conception of that most basic and important freedom because he thinks that “Narcissistic artists who associate obscenity with creativity would do us all a favor if they converted to Catholicism.” He thinks that “Catholicism is the answer.”

Second, Donohue wants self-censorship. Like the shooters, he want's the people he disagrees with to shut up. His and their goals are the same. Their methods are different. Donohue doesn't resort to violence, but he wants people to give in to their fear—see his parting quip to Ms. Kelly—and cower under the threat of religiously motivated violence. He thinks trembling under Islam’s blade is moral. He thinks giving in to a bully’s demand is ethical. In short, Bill Donohue is a coward.
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Special treatment for religion and the religious is society’s biggest stumbling block to true freedom. Religion is an idea or set of ideas that cannot be free from criticism on any level, legal or moral. Of course, Donohue must know deep down that he wants this special treatment because religious ideas—blasphemy, vicarious redemption, heaven and hell, original sin, etc.—cannot withstand criticism. Without that protection, religion crumbles. That’s why Donohue wants to be a sacred cow.

Coward Donohue doesn't understand liberty - Freedom From Religion Foundation

ADDENDUM::Megyn Kelly puts Bill Donohue in his place by linking Larry Flynt and Charlie Hebdo

Fox News host Megyn Kelly called Catholic League president Bill Donohue out on Thursday over his remarks concerning the mass shooting attack against the satirists at Charlie Hebdo.

“I understand you didn’t like the message,” Kelly said, before asking him, “Did you really think they were not courageous in the face of death threats to be publishing what they did?”

“No. I think, first of all, they’re pornographers disguised as satirists,” Donohue replied. “We’re not talking about Mel Brooks. We’re talking about the functional equivalent of Larry Flynt going to print.”

While Donohue compared the French satirists to the Hustler publisher in a derisive manner, Kelly argued that the Supreme Court’s 1988 decision affirming Flynt’s right to mock public figures protected even “scatological” satire, calling it “the bedrock of the First Amendment.”

“The political cartoon is a weapon of attack, of scorn and ridicule and satire; it is least effective when it tries to pat some politician on the back,” she said, quoting from Chief Justice William Rehnquist’s decision. “It is usually as welcome as a bee sting and is always controversial in some quarters.”

Megyn Kelly puts Bill Donohue in his place by linking Larry Flynt and Charlie Hebdo

After Charlie Hebdo attack, U.S. Catholic group says cartoonists ‘provoked’ slaughter - The Washington Post

In the aftermath of the deadly assault on the offices of Charlie Hebdo, a French satirical newspaper, much of the world has rallied in solidarity with the publication, its irreverent cartoonists and their right to free speech.

But not everyone is so supportive. Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League, a U.S. organization that "defends the rights of Catholics," issued a statement titled "Muslims are right to be angry." In it, Donohue criticized the publication's history of offending the world's religiously devout, including non-Muslims. The murdered Charlie Hebdo editor Stephane Charbonnier "didn’t understand the role he played in his [own] tragic death," the statement reads.

"Had [Charbonnier] not been so narcissistic, he may still be alive," Donohue says, in what must be one of the more offensive and insensitive comments made on this tragic day.

"Killing in response to insult, no matter how gross, must be unequivocally condemned. That is why what happened in Paris cannot be tolerated," says Donohue. "But neither should we tolerate the kind of intolerance that provoked this violent reaction."

After Charlie Hebdo attack, U.S. Catholic group says cartoonists ‘provoked’ slaughter - The Washington Post