Pastor Terry Jones got smart. Rather than announce his big plans to burn a Koran, get his 15 minutes of fame, and back off at the last second like he did last year, this time, he just went ahead and did it. On March 20th, Jones held a mock trial and presumably, the Koran was found guilty, so it was burned. The media, for the most part, just ignored it. Another religious kook who had his fame can easily be dismissed as just another bumbling idiot.
Apparently that wasn't good enough. Even the Afghan media even ignored it. But, Hamid Kharzai decided he would just announce it in a speech and denounce the action. Guess what happened then? Dozens of innocent victims murdered by a crazed Muslim mob with their usual shouts of spewed religious hatred. The religion of peace is going to have a more difficult time of it if Islamic leaders in the United States don't step up and take resounding stances against their fundamentalist brethren. Even, then, as a society, we are passed the point of believing anything from any leader of Islam, whether abroad or locally.
Kharzai needs to bear some responsibility for lighting the fuse. He had to know this was going to inflame people. He is no ally to the U.S. if he can't keep his mouth shut.
Unfortunately, you don't hear a resounding condemnation of Jones from his Christian brethren either. They aren't coming out in droves praising him, but the silence is deafening.
So, what is the lesson learned here? Religion is intolerant, and apparently mute as well. The silence says a lot about even moderate Christianity. If they keep sitting on the fence, they are going to be pulling splinters out of their asses.
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