Burning Quran Endangers Troops

The top American and NATO commander in Afghanistan warned last Tuesday an American church's threat to burn copies of the Muslim holy book could endanger U.S. troops in the country and Americans worldwide.

As far as free speech goes, yes it’s protected, as it should be, but is it wise to simply use it as an excuse to be patently offensive towards others? Many imagine it is making a political statement of some kind to our own government to followers of Islam, but in my own opinion all it is saying is that people who aren’t going to have to bear the responsibility of their own words and actions find some virtue in being patently offensive and insensitive, even if it leads to violence.

The problem is that it's going to be a very small group of Americans participating in this event, just like it’s a very small group of Muslims who turn to extremism to make political statements. I find this act that the participants are labeling as a "Protest" to be basically abhorrent and insane, yet there is no mechanism that allows me to prevent it, any more than there is a mechanism for me to prevent the small group of Muslim extremists from committing their own abhorrent and insane acts.

So what we see on both sides of the coin is how the perverse and angry actions of a few then paint and tarnish the whole. That's the most troubling thing, is that the most extreme elements in both cultures then get to set the agenda through action to prompt reaction, instead of the moderate and rational elements. It seems to illustrate to me that all religious extremists are dangerous.

Now when you get to the very fact that Christianity preaches charity and these particular congregants would rather spend money on a book they see no value in and have no respect for, and to burn it, rather than taking that same money to provide charity to the needy in their own community and congregation tends to speak volumes about just how they interpret their own gospels. They will hide behind the American Flag, twisted versions of Jesus and God, the Constitution and the right to free speech, but it really is just the politics of hate and fear no matter what kind of ribbon you wrap it in or bow you stick on top. GIVE ME A BREAK! And they might consider crawling around in the dirt as they’re being shoot at mumbling, "PLEASE God I don’t want to be here."

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