Memphis Reacts to Pastor Threatening to Burn Koran

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Saturday marks the 9th anniversary of the September 11th attacks and one pastor in Florida plans to mark the infamous occasion by burning a few hundred copies of the Koran, the holy book of Islam.

"What we are aiming at is that radical element that we feel is much larger than our politicians want us to believe," said Pastor Terry Jones.

The pastor of a small Gainesville church said he wants to send a message to hard line Muslims that the U.S. isn't going to take it anymore.

Since his plans to burn copies of the Koran have gone global, nearly every major world leader is urging him not to do it.

That list includes President Obama and his top military man in the Middle East, General David Petraeus. General Petraeus condemned the move, saying it could incite terrorists to attack our troops. Even with the president and top military commanders begging him not to do it, Jones said he doesn't care.

"We realize that this action will probably offend Muslims just like I am offended when they burn the bible or they burn the American flag, but we have tried to make it very clear in America that we have freedom of religion, freedom of speech," said Jones.

Since this story broke, Jones said he has received more than 100 death threats.

Persian Gulf Vet, Phillip Richards joined FOX 13 to discuss his thoughts on the pastor's plans. Plus we wanted to hear from you the viewer on whether this was considered a good idea. We received several comments through our website and Facebook.