"The
U.N. workers were murdered by real live Muslims, and they are obviously the guiltiest
ones. Unfortunately, no one is hearing a resounding condemnation from the
Islamic world for the killing of innocent people to avenge someone else's burning
of their holy book."
On March 20, a single copy of
the Quran was burned in Florida, and on April 1st in Afghanistan, the killing
of foreign United Nations workers began.
This makes us acutely aware
that we live in a world where the irresponsible act of a backcountry American pastor
can incite murderous rage in a crowd 7,500 miles away, on another continent
and in another civilization. A representative of a minuscule U.S. community can
imperil hundreds of people who Muslims identify more-or-less (rather less) with
the civilization represented by that pastor.
The pastor's sole aim was to
provoke. He knew perfectly well what the reaction of far away Muslims would be.
He knew people might die. He declared that he was acting in defense of persecuted Christians in the Islamic countries, but in fact, he exposed them to even greater
persecution.
The interest with which the media
treated this local preacher's previous provocation, i.e., his unfulfilled
promise to burn a Quran on the anniversary of the September 11 attacks, was also
likely a factor. There is perhaps no other pastor in America whom the most
important politicians, including President Obama, would implore to refrain from
some act. This has resulted in a spiral of madness.
Posted by WORLDMEETS.US
The pastor not only provoked
a wave of murders in Afghanistan, but also considerably damaged the debate
about Islam. He has provided arguments to frightened Westerners who prefer to say
nothing and know nothing about Muslims, so as not to be exposed to the anger of
Islam's radical representatives. By criticizing certain phenomena taking
place within Muslim communities, both in the Islamic world and the West, the
pastor put the weight of his own responsibility on every politician, journalist
or writer who is against burning the Quran. Now everyone will think many times
over before speaking out for fear of endangering people on humanitarian missions
in Afghanistan or Pakistan.
The U.N. workers were
murdered by real live Muslims, and they are obviously the guiltiest ones.
Unfortunately, no one is hearing a resounding condemnation from the Islamic
world for the killing of innocent people to avenge someone else's burning of
their holy book. This, too, will make the debate with Muslims far more difficult.