Burning Korans? I’m Agin It, Too (Plus Additional Thoughts)

posted at 4:46 pm on September 6, 2010 by Howard Portnoy
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Following up on a post by my learned colleague and friend, J.E. Dyer on the announced plans of a church in Florida to burn a copy of the Koran on the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, I would like to comment on the reaction of Afghans to the annoucement.

This morning, several hundred of them, mostly students, rallied outside a mosque in Kabul. The protesters were well within their rights and morally justified to boot. The desecration planned by Dove World Outreach Center, of Gainesville, Florida, is hateful and unwarranted and has correctly been condemned by religious and political leaders in this country.

Now it is the turn of religious and political leaders in Afghanistan to do the same regarding the demonstrators, who chanted “Death to America” – an action that is equally over-the-top and uncalled for. For a religion that is purportedly one of peace, Islam’s practitioners seem a little trigger happy with the death threats any time they perceive even the hint of a threat.

One of the more level-headed protesters was a student by the name of Wahidullah Nori, who is quoted by Reuters as saying, “We call on America to stop desecrating our Holy Koran.” To him I would say, “Not America, friend, but a handful of people among the 308 million who make their home within the country’s borders.” Singling out the entire nation for the actions of a tiny segment of its population is like – well, singling out an entire religion for the actions of a tiny segment of its adherents that express their “piety” by commandeering jet planes and flying them into buildings.

If Afghanistan’s leaders need help with their statement condemning the ugly remarks by the protesters, here’s a model they can use. It is part of the statement issued this morning by the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, and it reads “Americans from all religious and ethnic backgrounds reject this offensive initiative by this small group in Florida.” It should be fairly easy to plug in the right references.

Since the death threats against America became a reality for 3,000 of our civilians on September, 2001, I would in general expect a little more tolerance from Muslims when these exchanges occur.

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