About that planned Qur'an burning

So a nutty pastor from an insignificant church in Florida plans to lead his congregation this weekend in the burning of a pile of Qur'ans.

Should this church carry out this book-burning? I don't think they should. I frown upon the burning of any book, no matter how much I may disagree with it.

That being said, I have to chuckle as I watch the worldwide media and the Muslim world go ape over this planned burning by a 30-member congregation of a single church in Florida. This whole affair says a lot more about Islam worldwide, and the intolerance of leftists here in the United States than it does about a few dozen wackos in Florida.

Just the proposition of this Qur'an burning has caused Islamic protests around the world, and threats of violence and suicide bombings. Just the proposition of this Qur'an burning has unleashed the ire of the Obama administration who has warned that this burning will lead to violence and recruitment of additional members of al-Qaeda.

Really? Is that all it takes to set off the Muslim world? Imagine if a group of Muslims got together and destroyed a bunch of Bibles? Would Christians of the world protest and threaten suicide bombings? That would be no, seeing as how Muslim customs officials in Saudi Arabia and many other Muslim countries already destroy any Bible they intercept coming into their country.

What if Buddhist icons or statues were destroyed by Muslims? Would that lead to worldwide protests and threats of violence by Buddhists? Hmm, since the Muslim Taliban in Afghanistan carried out that very kind of destruction in 2001, I would say "no" to that as well, since I don't remember hearing about any violent reaction from Buddhists around the world after the Bamiyan Buddhist statues were blown up by the Taliban.

Face it, as misguided as the planned book-burning might be, it does offer a powerful illustration of the intolerance of much of the Muslim world. I am not saying that Muslims should be happy about copies of their holy book being burned, just as I as a Christian am not very happy when a Bible is burned. The difference is that the reaction from the Christian world to desecration of the Bible is a collective, "Meh," while the reaction from the Muslim world tends to be worldwide riots and death threats. Just look at the riots around the world that took place after Muhammad was parodied in a series of political cartoons a few years ago.

Aside from the Muslim world, I also have to snicker at the inconsistent position of the political left in America who call me "Un-American" for opposing the construction of a Mosque on the ashes of Ground Zero in New York City, but are themselves horrified at the thought of this church in Florida burning the Qur'an. I have argued with a leftist blogger on this matter. This blogger's position has been to gleefully tell me that the First Amendment says that I can't stop the mosque from being built. While I have argued that according to the First Amendment, the government can't stop the mosque from being built on religious grounds, it doesn't mean that the mosque should be built even if it is legal to do so.

Same thing with this Qur'an burning. It is indeed protected under the First Amendment, but just because you can legally do it, doesn't necessarily mean you should. The arguments regarding the GZ mosque and the Qur'an burning are exactly the same, yet the American Left believes that the mosque should be built, but the Qur'ans should not be burned, even though millions of people will be offended if both events take place.

Explain that one to me.

"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free... it expects what never was, and never will be." -Thomas Jefferson