This is not a reach. When Americans announce that they will commemorate 9/11 this weekend by hosting a Qu’ran bonfire, Muslims are going to be a little offended.
Muslim extremists, being extremists, will go to extreme means to lodge their protests. And this gives General Petraeus, commander of American troops in Afghanistan, troops that are presently in harm’s way, good reason to be concerned.
So concerned that he would personally take this otherwise innocuous Christian group’s planned activity to task from half a world away and suggest that in carrying out their promise, American troops could be targeted for retaliation.
So what do we get in response to the general’s concern?
They’ll “pray on it.”
Pray on it to what end, I ask. If it wasn’t clear to them that Jesus wouldn’t want His flock to defile the holy scriptures of an organized religion before Petraeus made his opinion known, how will they understand His wishes after?
Former Governor Howard Dean was on “Countdown” tonight discussing this, and I heard him say that America is a great country that does not lower itself to mimic the actions of religious extremists. And to that I call BS.
Because some of us do mimic the actions of religious extremists. The only difference is in the “lowering” aspect of this. You know, these Islamophobic Christians down there in Florida (why, O God, did You give us Florida?) are not lowering themselves to the level of the terrorists who destroyed buildings and erased lives.
They are already there.
3 comments:
The announced plans of the Florida preacher to burn the Qur'an as a way of protesting the radical Islamic terrorist attack on 9/11 is one of the most hateful and despicable acts that can be done against another religion in the name of religion. I am still waiting on mainstream Christian leaders to raise their voices to condemn this utterly tasteless, stupid, and anti-Christian action. This mentality strikes a blow to the moral core of our country. It's not just a PR blunder and fodder for the anti-American movement in the Muslim world and danger to our troops. It is all that, but most importantly it is wrong and a sin against another established religion. Enough is enough of this manifestation of intolerance, ignorance, hypocrisy, and disrespect. This is not constitutionally protected freedom of religion or freedom of speech. It is akin to slander and "crying fire in a crowed auditorium" and should be condemned and prevented.
I find it interesting that you are not taken aback by military leaders (and political leaders) trying to suppress the free speech rights of American citizens.
Again Greg, we find ourselves at opposite ends of a social justice debate. You as a Jew find it interesting that our military takes sides when it comes to the lives of our soldiers in harm's way. Allowed to burn Qur'ans these nitwits invite others to attempt to kill our people.
This is not a free speech issue, Greg. It is all about doing something that assures the death of others. Your state, the state of Israel, explicitly forbids the burning of the holy scriptures of Islam, the Qur'an. They do that for a reason, Greg. They do that because they realize that people who lack good judgment should not be allowed to cravenly bring on the death of their fellow man. Just as a supreme court justice, so long ago, decided that someone did not have the right, under Free Speech, to yell "Fire" in a crowded theater.
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