{"id":2313,"date":"2010-08-21T10:11:03","date_gmt":"2010-08-21T14:11:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nicholsclan.com\/tinblog\/?p=2313"},"modified":"2010-08-21T12:02:06","modified_gmt":"2010-08-21T16:02:06","slug":"is-burn-quran-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timscogitorium.com\/tinblog\/2010\/08\/is-burn-quran-day.html","title":{"rendered":"Is “Burn a Quran Day” insensitive?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Quran_cover\"<\/a>
Photo by crystalina on Wikipedia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Pastor Terry Jones of the Dove World Outreach Center in Florida is planning “Burn a Quran” day to honor the ninth anniversary of the 9\/11 attacks.\u00a0 There is a concern this will spark more than a little outrage<\/a> from the Muslim community both here and abroad.<\/p>\n

Recently I wrote about<\/a> there seeming to be a general consensus that building the so-called ground zero mosque was legal, but many felt that even so, it was still insensitive of the Muslim community to not take into account the feelings of the 9\/11 survivors.\u00a0 Further, I asserted that the only way for the proposed mosque to be an insult was if someone was prejudiced against all Muslims and holding them accountable for the WTC attacks\u2014a point reinforced by the planned book burning which clearly is blaming all of Islam for 9\/11.\u00a0 Further, are all Christians prepared to take responsibility for the Quran burnings?\u00a0 If not, then why are all Muslims responsible for 9\/11?\u00a0 Still, several people wrote in response to that article that even if the emotional reaction to the planned construction was irrationally prejudiced, it was still appropriate to consider people’s feelings.<\/p>\n

There are a couple of problems with that line of reasoning.\u00a0 First and foremost is that if hurting the feelings of groups of Americans really mattered, then events like “Burn a Quran Day” would be generating outrage at the level similar to the Manhattan mosque.\u00a0 But there is barely a peep in the media.\u00a0 Is this simply too small an event to get noticed?\u00a0 Gen. David Petraeus doesn’t think so, and has expressed concern that should this go forward it will place his troops in the Middle East at significant risk of reprisal.\u00a0 Further, can you imagine the outrage from politicians and the media if an imam were planning a “Burn the Bible Day” in Kuwait?<\/p>\n

Clearly the issue here is not about respecting the feelings of others in general.\u00a0 But perhaps it’s not everyone’s feelings who count.\u00a0 Perhaps the issue is that 9\/11 was such a significant physical, emotional, and psychological scar that we owe special deference to the site and to the families and friends of those who died or were injured there.\u00a0 How then do you reconcile that House Republicans overwhelmingly drove the defeat of the\u00a0 9\/11 health bill<\/a>.\u00a0 This fully paid for bill provided medical assistance to 9\/11 survivors and their families now suffering aftereffects from the disaster.\u00a0 Yet the same group that killed this bill is now crowing the loudest about the proposed Muslim Park51 Community Center.<\/p>\n

It seems 9\/11 is only sacred when it’s politically opportune.\u00a0 And that perhaps is the key lesson in all this.\u00a0 “9\/11” is politically powerful.\u00a0 George Bush was reelected on it in 2004.\u00a0 Rudy Giuliani’s entire 2008 Presidential bid was based on it.\u00a0 It has been used as a basis for justifying the Patriot Act, rendition, torture, and other policies and programs that should make freedom loving Americans cringe.<\/p>\n

9\/11 was the most significant American tragedy of our time.\u00a0 We should never forget that.\u00a0 We should honor it, and the men and women who suffered because of it, and continue to suffer.\u00a0 But there is no honor in using it as a political lever as is being done with the mosque controversy.\u00a0 And there is no honor in Terry Jones’ plans to burn Qurans.\u00a0 We’re better than that\u2014at least we profess to be.\u00a0 It’s time to start acting that way.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pastor Terry Jones of the Dove World Outreach Center in Florida is planning “Burn a Quran” day to honor the<\/p>\n

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