Evangelical Christians in Florida have threatened to burn the Koran, the holy book of Islam, on Sunday, September 11 - which will be the ninth anniversary of the attack on the World Trade Center and Pentagon.
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| Doveworld.com proudly sends a message. |
The Dove World Outreach center in Gainsville, Florida calls this "International Burn a Koran Day." The group writes on the web site, "We will burn the Koran in remembrance of the fallen victims of 9/11 and to stand against the evil of Islam. Islam is of the devil."
Also on the web site includes a page called: Ten Reasons to Burn a Koran.
General David Petraeus, US military commander in Afghanistan, says that the burning of Islam's holy book would not be a good idea in regards to consequences that it may have on the troops overseas.
"It is precisely the kind of action the Taliban uses and could cause significant problems. Not just here but everywhere in the world we are engaged with the Islamic community," Petraeus says as reported by the Telegraph.
The First Amendment protects the right for the group to come together and do so - but is this event worth the damage that it could further cause? Is acting out in such a hateful way the right way to "remember" those who died? America is already not perceived very well abroad, and the action of publicly announcing and holding a Koran burning event is not going to go very well.
"The First Amendment protects the right for the group to come together and do so."
ReplyDeleteActually, that surprises me. I would assume burning someone's religious symbol could actually be construed hate speech and incitement to violence and therefore fall outside the realm of protected speech.
Unlike burning a flag, a symbol of secular purpose, this burning targets religious communities, using their sacred TEXT as a proxy for the PEOPLE who adhere to it. [Notice the messaging: it's not the KORAN (i.e. the word), but ISLAM (i.e. the community) that is maligned in the group's statement as being "of the Devil." ]
Recognizing in advance the shortcomings of this comparison, it is tempting to compare this symbolism to that of burning crosses... and all THAT conveys. Clearly hate speech targeting people, not beliefs.
I believe that the religion I follow is right, but it makes me saaaad when people claiming the same religion do these things. Jesus called us to love one another..So many folks who call themselves Christians do so many things I consider evil...wtz going on..?!?
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