I am most troubled by the announcement of a pastor named Terry Jones of Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida that he intends to burn Korans on 9-11. This is wrong.
Not to say that I am a subscriber to everything that is written in the Koran-I am not. Yet, the idea of a Christian minister organizing such an event is totally repugnant to me. After all, this is the Holy Book of Muslims. This action is completely divisive. This is not what our religious leaders should be doing.
Of course, anyone who reads this blog knows that I am opposed to any idea of Islam becoming dominant in America or any Western society that considers itself a free and democratic society. I am similarly opposed to the idea of shariah law in our country. Recently, I have written in opposition to the idea of building a mosque at Ground Zero, not on legal grounds, but on the grounds of sensitivity to what occurred at that site on 9-11. Likewise, I am very suspicious of many (not all) of these interfaith conferences that are going on in America.
Yet, to deliberately insult the religion of Islam is wrong. Yes, we can have a serious discussion as to the nature of Islam's teachings and how it impacts non-Muslims. That is fair. If you want to argue that Islam is intolerant, that is fair. If you want to argue that Islam is not a religion of peace, that is fair. These are points that we and Muslims must have an honest discussion about if Muslims want to co-exist in the (non-Muslim) West.
While I believe that we must be firm that we will not tolerate shariah law in the US, burning Korans is not the way to stand firm. Defacing a mosque is not the way to stand firm. Harassing or assaulting Muslims is not the way to stand firm. All this does is give ammunition to the Islamists who would love nothing more than forward these incidents over to the Muslim world overseas as proof that Americans hate Muslims, and that Muslims are being persecuted in America. I continue to believe that is not what we are.
I hope that this pastor will reconsider his plans to burn Korans on 9-11. There are more respectable ways to stand firm.
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5 comments:
I have to agree with you on this. Not only is it wrong, it sends the wrong message. Civilized people act in accordance with the rules of courtesy and custom, not by playing barbarian.
All this does is give ammunition to the Islamists who would love nothing more than forward these incidents over to the Muslim world overseas as proof that Americans hate Muslims, and that Muslims are being persecuted in America.
Bingo. I don't care for The Bible or the Koran, but I wouldn't think of burning them. (That's not entirely true that I don't care for them - there are bits and pieces in both of them that I either have no problem with or actually like.) In fact, I have them both on my bookshelf along with The Book of Mormon.
They're on the same shelf with my books on Norse, Celtic, and Greek mythology. That's about as big of an "insult" (I'd consider it "accurate placement") as I'm willing to give.
Once again our President came down on the wrong side of a position where at least 60% of the country was on the other side. Offhand, I can think of the healthcare bill, the Arizona law, cap & trade, hostility to Israel, takeover of the auto industry, letting the Bush tax reductions expire, bigger and bigger government, more regulations, more national debt, more deficits, etc., etc.
Very well said, Gary. Like you I strongly oppose the imposition of shari'ah law in the United States whether it be by executive or judicial fiat or by the more likely, and more subtle, creep of progressive submission to Islam. Burning books is not a protest. Understanding the ideas that are in the books and vociferously opposing those ideas on intellectual grounds is. Mr. Jones is wrong but fortunately we can count on the fact that his actions, reprehensible though they are, will not cause other Christians or Jews to follow suit with violence towards Muslims. Fortunately Christian preachers do not issue fatwas but the same cannot be said of Imams and Islam.
The sad part is that ruling class continues to fail to provide the American people with a confidence that it, too, believes in and supports our own culture and the Christian basis of our Nation's founding. Rev. Jones actions, ignorant though they may be, are a reaction to a lack of confidence that Americans have in the current leadership in Washington, DC. This November we will be able to send that leadership a message and hopefully they will listen and understand. That said, I won't bet on that happening.
Again, very well put.
You're a gentleman and a scholar Gary, whatever else we may say about each other's opinions.
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