ANDERSON, Ind. —
Fundamentalist preacher Terry Jones wants to burn copies of the Quran outside his Gainesville, Fla., church on the ninth anniversary of 9/11.
Radical Islamists, in response, are burning copies of the Bible.
Both groups are sending an irrational message to one another that they truly despise the other guy’s religious extremism. Though both groups are misguided, they have — in our country — a constitutional right to speak against the other guy, no matter how absurd the rhetoric becomes. They also have a guarantee that the U.S. government will not impose a state religion on its citizens.
Protesters living in Iraq and Afghanistan don’t have such guarantees. They may believe they have freedom of thought, including religious worship, but Islam is the official state religion. In our land, we invite healthy religious debate with the freedom to choose one’s faith.
In Gainesville, though, Terry Jones and his non-denominational Dove World Outreach Center have chosen to fight the fire of Islamic extremism by igniting a warning flare and tossing it at a holy book respected by all Muslims.
Jones may feel he is a small man trying to mark 9/11 in the only way that appeals to the media, the only way that draws the attention of radicals. Instead, it has drawn the ire of White House and military leaders who fear reprisals on American service men and women.
And in this country, Muslims, Buddhists, Christians and other faiths have a right to worship. Our country’s forefathers wanted future generations to not fall victim to religious persecution. American Muslims can mold their lives around the Quran without fear of reprisal. Christians can design their lives around the Bible.
Among the Christians, Terry Jones can cite the Bible as the core of his belief system. He is demanding that America respect his freedoms, yet he is also offending moderate Muslims living in America.
As an American citizen who is expressing his rights, he is stomping on the beliefs of moderate Muslim Americans. If he continues with his fiery attack on the Quran, he might as well set a match to the U.S. Constitution.
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