In July this year, an evangelical pastor named Terry Jones proposed to start a bonfire of Korans on September 11th to protest Islam. Believing that the Koran “is full of lies,” Jones claimed that he had the right to burn the Koran (“Far From Ground Zero”). This statement could not be ignored and sparked widespread controversy, especially in the United States and the Middle East. Many argued against the pastor, bringing up two issues in particular. First, President Obama declared, “This stunt he is talking about pulling could greatly endanger our young men and women in uniform who are in Iraq, who are in Afghanistan” (Mackey). Secondly, the matter of the world’s growing view of America’s supposed anti-Islamic sentiment was mentioned (“Far From Ground Zero”). If the government allowed this holy book burning to occur, it would certainly alienate American Muslims as well as cause potential aggression and hatred from foreign Muslims.
At first, these potential problems did not seem to sway Jones from his decision to burn the Koran. Even after worldwide protest, death threats, hate mail, and his own community rejecting him, Jones was still adamant about “International Burn a Koran Day” (“Far From Ground Zero”). Protests of the bonfire grew violent in Afghanistan and Pakistan, leading to the deaths of seventeen people (Erlanger and Healy). These aggressive protests continued even when Jones began to rethink the Koran burning because the Muslims “were informed enough to see that he had not definitively backed down” (Nordland).
On September 9th, Terry Jones finally stated that his church would not burn the book. He claimed that “God is telling us to stop” (“Pastor Cancels Burning”). Jones did not take responsibility nor feel any remorse for the riots and deaths that stemmed from his proposed plan. Instead, he actually said that he was grateful that these events transpired because they helped to prove his point. His point was that Islam is radical and dangerous and should be rejected by the world. He believes that the reaction to the potential Koran burning helped to show the world that his claim is indeed true (“Pastor Cancels Burning”).
While the majority of people agreed that burning a holy book, even if it is not their religion’s holy book, is wrong, there were still many who sided with Terry Jones. Those who did want to go through with the bonfire argued that Islam is dangerous and should not be practiced. However, those who disagreed stated that most Muslims are not radical and rather passive. Freedom of religion was also taken into account by those against the burning (Erlanger and Healy). Destroying a religion’s holy relic is a form of religious persecution. Even though it may seem like everyone should be against the burning of the Koran, or any holy book, there are still those who would argue otherwise. Issues like this could very well rise again in the future; will they all be resolved as this one was?
Works Cited
Cave, Damien. “Far From Ground Zero, Obscure Pastor Is Ignored No Longer.” The
New York Times. The New York Times, 25 Aug. 2010. Web. 5 Oct. 2010.
Cave, Damien. “Pastor Cancels Burning of Koran.” The New York Times. The New
York Times, 11 Sept. 2010. Web. 5 Oct. 2010.
Erlanger, Steven and Jack Healy. “Planned Koran Burning Drew International Scorn.”
The New York Times. The New York Times, 9 Sept. 2010. Web. 5 Oct.
2010.
Mackey, Robert. “Video of Obama’s Comments on Koran Burning.” The New York
Times. The New York Times, 9 Sept. 2010. Web. 5 Oct. 2010.
Nordland, Rod. “Afghan Protests Against Koran Burning Turn Violent.” The New
York Times. The New York Times, 10 Sept. 2010. Web. 5 Oct. 2010.
Bibliography
Barnard, Anne and Manny Fernandez. “On Sept. 11 Anniversary, Rifts Amid
Mourning.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 11 Sept. 2010.
Web. 5 Oct. 2010.
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