The Dove World Outreach Center Church in Florida run by Pastor Terry Jones has made plans to have a 'burn the Qu'ran' day on 9/11 “in remembrance of the fallen victims of 9/11 and to stand against the evil of Islam."
Needless to say, this has attracted some attention and a great deal of anger in the Muslim world. Even though the Dove World Outreach Center Church is a small, non-denominational outfit, there's no doubt that a few churches will be torched in the Muslim World in revenge..not that they customarily need an excuse.
Even General Petraeus has weighed in, saying that the Qu'ran Barbecue could further endanger US troops in Afghanistan even more than the farcical Rules of engagement they're forced to fight under.
He's certainly correct that it doesn't help the situation any.
For the record, I oppose book burnings on general principle. There are much more effective ways to fight Islamization and creepin' sharia in the West.
But it brings to mind a question my pal Greg over at Rhymes With Right raised a while ago: If you can burn a flag , why can't you burn a Qu'ran?
The answer of course is that you can.
It's revealing that the Left is absolutely bat bonkers about the Qu'ran barbecue but has always been totally supportive of burning the American flag as a matter of Constitutionally mandated free speech if nothing else.
(via memeorandum)
What's more, these same lefty folks are, on their sites and blogs, praising Petraeus and condemning the church for engaging in speech he says will damage the war effort and endanger troops. Oddly enough, when military commanders and the civilian chain of command raised similar issues about reporting by certain news organizations ond protest by left-wing groups, that was insufficient grounds for silence and evidence of "creeping fascism eroding our liberties".
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks for the link!
Good point. It is literally impossible to imagine left-wing groups thinking this is a spectacularly bad idea and a danger to troops in war time without simultaneously supporting Jones' Constitutional right to do it. That's just crazy talk.
ReplyDelete@ Rhymes With Right. The difference between the two cases is glaringly obvious: war-time journalism designed to inform the public has an upside. That upside must then be weighed against the obvious potential downside of a backlash against the troops. You might not like how that balance was called; your perogative (though the arguments made at the time by those who wanted gag orders were so specious as to be deeply suspect). But the upside to burning Qurans is... what, exactly?
The journalists were trying to let the US population know what was happening to the troops they sent and the money they paid. Jones is trying to be the biggest douchebag he possibly can.
Pastor Jones should think again to do that, because the Muslims will not stay dian for this, and probably will return more powerful than what is already happening, and this will confuse inter-religious relations
ReplyDelete