So in a few days, on the anniversary of the September 11th attack on the World Trade Center, which was perpetrated by religious/political fanatics another group of religious/political fanatics plan to burn the holy book that they equate with the aforementioned terrorists.... perfectly logical of course.
The story behind this... stupidity, come from a pastor named Terry Jones who leads a small fringe group of Christians in the town of Gainesville, Florida. Mr. Jones decided that the Quran was the 'word of the devil' and decided that burning 200,000 copies of the book would "call attention to something that is wrong" - oh sweet irony.
In any event, there really are so many things wrong with this - it really is hard not to bash ones head against the wall at the amazing ignorance displayed by almost everyone involved in this.
So where to begin, well let's break it down:
First of all, the burning of any book is a crime against the intellect that God supposedly blessed these people with. To use a nifty quote "...but he who destroys a good book, kills Reason itself, kills the image of God..."
The basic premise being that instead of trying to understand or learn, these people are rejecting anything different from themselves and will violently protect the conformity they seek. This Church group shares common traits with other familiar historical groups such a very prominent 1930's German political movement, a Russian regime change and the clergy of Grande Cache, Alberta.
Second, the media - oh the fucking media, asking all the wrong questions and trying to provide all the wrong answers. A small fringe group of about 50 people plan to do something incredibly stupid (which is their right as Americans), this then garners international attention with various pundits ranging from Vatican scholars to Angelina Jolie to Sarah Palin weighing debates about freedom of speech, security and blah blah, blah. The main (publicly admitted) consensus is that the book burning is wrong (duh) and it may invite reprisals and endanger the troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Seriously all this media attention only shows how much misunderstanding and ignorance these people harbor and how far we have to go before there really can be open and honest discussions regarding religion. If a group of 50 people decided to go to a public park and light their flatus, they should be arrested for indecency but beyond their own idiotic behaviour there wouldn't be much of a story. We all would just conclude the people who conducted such an event were drunk, morons, inbred or some combination thereof and agree that the education system might need some overhauling.
The media thrives on controversy and will try to create it where none exists, and if a story has a moderate amount of 'the big C' then we get the fun media circus we enjoy during such events such as the Michael Jackson trial, or the Britney Spears meltdown, balloon boy and so on. These stories are covered with a lot of irrelevant information and opinions with very little factual information - oddly enough, events like the BP oil spill which actually required more facts was treated in much the same manner.
Lastly, the only thing that people are doing is reacting to this story, trying to bring their own viewpoint on what is almost a non-issue. Even the ever insightful Sarah Palin has quipped on twitter that the Quran burning is an "insensitive and an unnecessary provocation - much like the building of a mosque at Ground Zero" ...huh, it's no wonder that she doesn't like the r-word.
With everyone condemning the good Pastor and his congregation it would really be silly if Muslims of the world got angry over such an insignificant group. I honestly feel sorry for the people of Gainesville and the small minded frightened people that Terry Jones has gathered around himself. They are so terrified of anything foreign and unknown that they will not risk trying to understand what it is they are trying to destroy. Such people should be pitied, and anyone who would declare a call to arms over their actions is no better.
