"The
Catholic religion in the West has withstood vexing attacks more or less
gracefully. Islam could move forward if it would learn to be indifferent or even
tolerant of its critics and enemies, including the most stupid, like the
sinister Reverend Jones."
Protesters outside the U.S. Embassy in London set a U.S. flag and a picture of Pastor Terry Jones on fire, Sept. 11. Is it time Muslims endured criticism a little more gracefully?
Reverend Jones'
project to burn Qurans in his town in Florida should be condemned. In the name
of religion, his bonfire amounts to hatred and racism of Muslims. The reverend
himself is just one of many luminaries who secretly hold such beliefs,
particularly in the United States. But in the age of the Internet, the daft and
dangerous ideas of this pastor without a flock became an affair of state.
This gives him an importance he
doesn't deserve. This man, a huckster of God and not much of a huckster -
represents only himself. The Arab-Muslim world would be wrong to see him an
indicator of a new war of religion. Quite the contrary, the entire world has
condemned his actions - perhaps more out of fear of reprisal from more
extremist Muslims than out of a sudden respect for the religion. Nevertheless,
this remains an isolated bonfire and has passed.
More fundamentally, Muslims,
whether they live in the West or in Islamic countries, must accept that their
religion can be criticized and called into question. Some will do so in good
faith; and others ineptly and obnoxiously. Muslims cannot demand something for
Islam that it has scarcely shown Christians struggling to survive, from Egypt
to Pakistan.
Historically, the Catholic
religion in the West has withstood vexing attacks more or less gracefully.
Islam could move forward if it would learn to be indifferent or tolerant of its
critics and enemies, including the most stupid, like the sinister Reverend
Jones.
