A Global Fire Barely Put Out

Nine years ago, millions across the world mourned in despair for the thousands of people who lost their lives in the events of 9/11.   Today, millions sigh in relief as Reverend Terry Jones calls off his planned burning of the Quran. If nothing else, this terrible irony is reason enough to reconsider the policy taken by us and our government towards Islam and Islamic extremists.

First, let make the significance of a public Quran burning clear.  Burning the Quran is not just burning a stack of papers with a bindle.  The Quran is a symbol of Islam and by burning it, it is direct attack on the ideology associated with Islam.  A similar analogy would be burning the Canadian flag publicly.  The act will not be seen to Canadians as a simple act of burning a piece of fabric but rather a direct attack on Canadian pride.

Knowing that, the idea of publicly burning the Quran is just absolutely outrageous.  Of course, Reverend Jones has his right to free speech and therefore can burn his own copy of the Quran if he likes. That is a private affair and the government should not and will not interfere. However, the circumstances change greatly because Mr. Jones tried to express those views in public.  That type of intolerant and insulting behavior will not be allowed within our society. For all intents and purposes, burning the sacred books of an entire religion is practically a hate crime and the act should be seen as that: a crime.  Just as I cannot publicly denounce Jews, blacks or women, Terry Jones really has no right to publicly burn the sacred book of Muslims.

Checking through the news on the second day, there are some scattered reports of violence in the Muslim world. There were a couple of people killed in Afghan protests against the Quran burning because they were not informed about the actual cancellation and mass protests throughout the Muslim world about the planned Quran burning.  It is simply unthinkable how many lives the planned book burning would have cost.  The severity of the projected terrorist attacks can only be imagined in their scale.  Al Qaeda and other terrorist cells will have to party for nights to celebrate mass recruitment. The Western world would once again experience tragedies like 9/11 again. All for the sake of one man to express his stereotypical view of Muslims? All for one man to publicly insult a respected religion of brotherhood? All to alienate the friendly Muslim communities and boost the power of the hostile ones?  I say no. The Reverend had to be stopped. Even if he would not willingly, he should have been arrested and tried in the name of saving lives if nothing else.

Reading through some feedback on this news item, some people are angry about the fact that Bibles are being burnt in Muslim countries consistently and point out the numerous abuses imposed upon Christians living in Muslim countries. These allegations are regrettably true but make no mistake, it is no reason to justify the attacks. The possibly intolerant nature of other nations does not mean we should follow in their footsteps. As Western nations, we pride ourselves in our human rights and democratic ideals, but if we are to burn Qurans in simple retaliation, our ideals are clearly just blank statements.  Not only that, how would the systematic provoking of the Muslim population solve these problems?  It seems as if supporters are only trying to get revenge even at the cost of acerbating the problem.

At the end of the day as we commemorate those who lost their lives on 9/11, it is important that we learn a lesson.  That lesson should not be that Muslim or Islam is evil. The truth is simply the opposite and would show Islam to be a beautiful and compassionate language. Rather, the true lesson is that the stereotyping of enough groups of people is a dangerous task.  We must realize that most of the terrorists of 9/11 truly believe in the nobility of their cause and the evils of America.  Let us not confirm those misguided views and present ourselves as a truly tolerant and democratic state. Let us not characterize Islam as the culprit behind 9/11 but dangerous runway extremist. Let us realize that active confrontation with the wrong target will not solve problems but rather create more of them.