Enough is Enough

America is said to be the home of the free, the land of the brave, a place where all people are accepted regardless of their sex, race, or religion. Oh, I’m sorry I think I am wrong on that last part. That’s the message that you receive if you listen to the maniacal and downright disgusting teachings of one Reverend Terry Jones of Gainesville, Florida. If you’re not caught up on what this idiot is trying to accomplish, he has planned a burning of the Quran on the ninth anniversary of September 11th. His reasoning? An idiotic cry of “Islam is of the Devil.” No backing up his claims other than the attacks of the September 11th.

First of all people of all races, religions and genders died when the cowardly attacks were launched. So to proclaim it as a crime against Christianity is just plain stupid. This was an act of aggression against America. To proclaim something like that disrespects the memory of the diverse array of people who unfairly lost their life the day the towers fell, the pentagon was hit, and flight which fell in Pennsylvania. People like “good” reverend don’t understand is everything wrong with the world is not the fault of Muslims. We Christians do more than our fair share of messed and frankly downright sadistic things. But he does not lump us all together, nor should he. Don’t our Islam following brothers and sisters deserve the same respect? I think Stanley Fish of the New York Times said it best.

“The formula is simple and foolproof: If the bad act is committed by a member of a group you wish to demonize, attribute it to a community or a religion and not to the individual. if the bad act is committed by someone whose profile, interests and agendas are uncomfortably close to your own, detach the malefactor from everything that is going and characterize him as a one-off, non-generalizable phenomenon.”

I think what upsets me most is that this is just the latest in long line of examples of an anti Islamic sentiment in this country. From mosques being criticized and labeled as terrorist training camps to stabbing of cab drivers it has reached a boiling point. The sad part is these are the people who proclaim themselves to be most American, choosing to forget that this country was founded as a refuge from religious persecution. That whether you agree or not, man has the right to choose what brings him peace. Muslims could judge us for the actions of Adolf Hitler or Timothy McVeigh, but we aren’t.

Every group, no matter who you are has an insane person in it. Usually it leads to a lot of talk, but every so often a tragedy occurs because of that person’s insanity. You can’t blame an entire culture for the actions of one disturbed person.

Truth.