Solid except for the first sentence

Submitted by Kendra A (United States), Sep 21, 2010 at 10:25

I disagree that burning a book in protest is akin to the type of burning we would usually abhor. Terry Jones planned to burn privately purchased Korans as a tactic-- as provocative protest. This cannot be compared to historical book burnings where the material was confiscated from private citizens nor can it be compared to book burnings where the entire purpose is to ban and/or censor the material-- and to keep the information contained in the books from the public.

This distinction should be noted. Additionally, I found it sadly ironic that Merkel found the time to criticize Jones for needless provocation while simultaneously rewarding Kurt Westergaard for his bravery for doing something similar.

I also found it troubling that everyone who supports Geert Wilders (and I, too, support Wilders wholeheartedly) has no issue with Wilders' own stated desire to actually BAN the Koran, while Terry Jones had no such wish to do so. All he wanted to do was burn a few copies while pointing out the hateful content. The book would still be available online and in every bookstore.

We can expect this kind of hypocrisy from the administration, of course. But, I expected more support for Jones than he received. I think it's because Jones is a fundamentalist Christian and he's easy to marginalize; he's not an intellectual. He's not an elite. Wilders and Westergaard are desirable dinner party guests, for instance. Nobody wants to share a cocktail with Jones-- he's too odd for the rest of us.

I think "our" side was wrong not to vocally come out in support of the pastor. The intellectuals have been hoping to educate the masses about Islam for a decade now. We need allies, not friends. If we find support in smaller Christian communities-- even if they seem a bit foreign or strange to us-- we should welcome it rather than criticize. We should be welcoming to all who understand the threat of Islam, whether they be on the Right, the Left, gay or straight or transgendered, Christian, atheist, Jewish, Hindu, etc., black, white, arab, asian, short, tall, etc. Any non-violent protest should be supported at all times and those brave enough to take a stand should be admired.

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