By Jake Wieseneck ’14

In early September, the world watched as Pastor Terry Jones of Florida found his way into the headlines by threatening to burn copies of the Koran, the Islamic holy scripture.  Pastor Jones threatened that he would burn the Koran on September 11^th at his church in order to remind the world of the World Trade Center attacks 9/11 and to protest plans to build an Islamic Center near Ground Zero.  There was widespread concern about Pastor Jones’ threats and the reactions it might generate in parts of the Muslim world.  The leader of the American Armed Forces in Afghanistan commented that Pastor Jones’ actions could create more recruits for jihad against the United States.   After speaking to senior U.S. government officials who urged him not execute his threats, Pastor Jones agreed not to perform the Koran burning.

It may never be clear what exactly Pastor Jones was attempting to communicate.   However, his threats to destroy elements of Islam at a Christian Church caused a significant debate around the world.   Here in the United States, where freedom of religion is one of our basic rights, the concept of any religious leader purposely burning the holy books of another religion conflicts with our core values.  You do not have to be Muslim to be offended by the threat of a Koran burning.  You just have to believe in respecting other religions and in respecting fellow American and world citizens.

Unfortunately, this is not the first time, and unfortunately will not be the last time, that book burning and violence have been used to make a political statement.  In Nazi Germany, long before the Germans built concentration camps in which to murder the Jews of Europe, they burned holy books and other books found in Jewish stores and homes in a night many refer to as Kristallnacht.  It is my belief that Pastor Jones and his followers should have anticipated that people would connect his threats with the ugly memories of Kristallnacht or to the cross burnings by the Klu Klux Klan.

Pastor Jones has claimed that his threats were meant to highlight the hatred of the West and the non-Muslim world, which he believes is condoned by many Muslim countries.  However, religious intolerance cannot be overcome or tamed by even more intolerance.   According to the proverb we learned as young children, two wrongs just do not make a right.