my take on the whole koran burning episode

For what it is worth, here is my take on this whole Koran burning episode.

Three points:
1. We have the right to burn a Koran or build a mosque. This is in the Constitution whether we like it or not.
2. Both the mosque and the book-burning were stupid ideas and insensitive.
3. This was blown totally out of proportion by a news media and internet always searching for the next big thing.

First of all, we have the right to burn a Koran or build a mosque. This is America and it was founded on the privilege of self-expression.

In the past few years, we have seen a lot of self-expression that we did not like. I suppose that one of the most offensive to me is the flag-burning that was big a couple of years ago. But whether I like them or not doesn’t really matter. The fact remains that this is America and I have the right to self-expression, no matter how stupid or insensitive it may be.

The courts have recently ruled that you can swear in public and to police officers. Also at the mall you see people with patently offensive t-shirts, bumper stickers abound, both good and bad, you hear everything and see everything no matter what you may think of it.

The second amendment to the Constitution says clearly:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

That means that we can say and do whatever we want to do, as long as it is not injurious to others. That part would be implied in the other laws.

Pastor Jones has the right to burn Korans and the Ground Zero Mosque people have the right to build a mosque on Ground Zero in New York. That is in the constitution, no matter what other countries may say or feel. It is that fact that sets us apart from the rest of the world and it is that part that makes the flourishing of religious freedom possible only in America.

Second, both the mosque and the book-burning were stupid ideas and insensitive. Whether it is or not, many people feel the Koran is holy. To trample on other people’s sincerely held beliefs is not the mark of a sensitive adult.

The same goes for the Ground Zero Mosque. The proponents of this were wanting only one thing: a victory lap. We knocked down your towers so we are going to remind you of it every day of every year in the future. Like the guy who said he climbed Mount Everest because he could, they are building it because they can.

The only problem is, they never anticipated that there was life left in the American people that would enable them to rebel. They were relying on something they had no love for – the Constitution of a free nation – to do what they wanted. But that same Constitution came back to bite them. The pastor of a small church in Florida had the same rights as they did.

Any time you pursue your Constitutional right to do anything at the expense of hurting someone else, you have missed the point of that freedom. That freedom was given to keep others from hurting your rights, not to enable you to hurt others feelings.

True, there are times when that is unavoidable. I believe homosexuality is wrong and preach such. I believe that because the Bible says so (Romans 1). I also believe that one has to go to God through Jesus Christ and not other ways. That may hurt your feelings because you have been told otherwise or believe otherwise, but I cannot change basic beliefs in order to not hurt your feelings.

But, on the other hand, I also have the obligation to be Christian about it all. In Matthew 23, Jesus came down hard on some people who had been abusing the power of God and his word for their own ends. There were other times when Jesus showed his mettle at such things. But in general, he was gentle about things people did wrong.

In light of his character shown in Matthew 23, Jesus would never have stepped aside and been quiet when wrong things were preached and taught. After all, he was from God and had come to bring people back to God. He couldn’t do that while being “sensitive” to other people’s belief structures. But I also do not believe he would have condoned in-your-face attitudes.

For what it is worth, in Acts 19, people who had become Christians got together and publicly burned their books on sorcery, and it gave the value as being considerable. However, they burned their own books and not someone else’s.

Third, this was blown totally out of proportion by a news media and internet always searching for the next big thing. That is the problem with our instant age. A man in south Florida who is pastor of a tiny church can make millions of people mad in a country 6000 miles away. Ten years ago, he would have done this and a few newspapers might have reported it and that would be all. Now he is given a world stage from which to preach.

And within the past few years, the Muslims have shown themselves to be increasingly intolerant of anything other than what they want. And the more we give in to their push, the more they push. The whole culture has become psychopathic insisting on its own way. And the world is suffering because of it.

They can burn Bibles, they can persecute Christians, raping and killing, as has been on many news reports lately. But if a 30 member church in south Florida burns some Korans, they go ballistic.

Everybody goes ballistic. Even the pope comes in on this. I really believe the pastor of that church had no idea he would ever generate this kind of firestorm. And he will probably suffer in the long run for it.

All because a 24 hour news media needed something to feed the fire of their news reports.

The whole thing was stupid on all sides.