On the Proposed Qur’an Burnings

CNN:

In protest of what it calls a religion “of the devil,” a nondenominational church in Gainesville, Florida, plans to host an “International Burn a Quran Day” on the ninth anniversary of the September 11, 2001, attacks.

The Dove World Outreach Center says it is hosting the event to remember 9/11 victims and take a stand against Islam. With promotions on its website and Facebook page, it invites Christians to burn the Muslim holy book at the church from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Has anyone ever read a book before? Throughout literature, there have been stories written about the horrors of burning books. It’s just a despicable thing to do. The story is different; the message is the same: burning books is not only ignorant; it’s bad for society.

A few practitioners of biblioclasm:

• The Catholic Church (Pre-Reformation)
• Adolf Hitler and the Nazis
• Joseph Stalin and the Soviets
• Muslim extremists

Why some people believe that they should be actively fighting Islam is beyond me. Don’t children’s TV shows teach us anything? Sinking down to a bully’s level makes you no better than the bully.

And also, not only are you not in any way fighting against Muslim extremists, you are also endangering fellow Americans in the Middle East:

CNN:

The U.S. commander in Afghanistan on Monday criticized a Florida church’s plan to burn copies of the Quran on September 11, warning the demonstration “could cause significant problems” for American troops overseas.

“It could endanger troops and it could endanger the overall effort in Afghanistan,” Gen. David Petraeus said in a statement issued Monday.