Quran Burning: Endangering Americans at Home and Abroad
SOURCE:
Pastor Terry Jones, of the incongruously named Dove World Outreach Center, has organized a Quran burning at the group’s Gainesville, Fla., church. The White House, NATO, the U.S. embassy in Kabul, and General David Petraeus have all either expressed concern about this event or condemned it outright.
“It could endanger troops and it could endanger the overall effort … not just in Kabul, but everywhere in the world…It is precisely the kind of action the Taliban uses and could cause significant problems,” Petraeus told the press yesterday.
Jones has indicated that he is "very concerned" about the warnings he has received from officials. However, the church has made up its mind to move forward with the event. A blog entry posted on the group’s website Tuesday is titled, “5 More Reasons to Burn the Koran,” a follow up to the original post, titled, "10 Reasons to Burn a Koran."
Limited but significant protests in Indonesia and Kabul today have led to cries of “Death to America” and the burning of American flags. There is no shortage of groups advancing the narrative that the United States is waging war on Islam. The Muslim majority world has witnessed many similar events that have led to flares in anti-Western sentiment — this is simply the most recent incarnation.
The more substantial consequences of the Quran burning will be witnessed in the United States itself. Continuing the Park 51 debate, the limits of American pluralism are again being tested.
The debate, once again, is mainly among non-Muslims. While most Americans probably agree that a mass burning of Qurans is neither a productive nor a respectful exercise, there is serious anxiety about the presence of Islam in American society. According to the Pew Research Center, Americans are split regarding their views of Islam: 39 percent report having a favorable impression of Islam while 37 percent say they have an unfavorable view. According to the report, “a plurality of Americans (46 percent) believes that Islam is more likely than other religions to encourage violence among its believers ... a substantial increase over the 25 percent who expressed this view in March 2002.” Unsurprisingly, American Muslims report feeling more isolated than any time since the terrorist attacks of 2001.
At an interfaith press conference organized by the Islamic Society of North America on Tuesday, Rabbi David Saperstein remarked, “As Jews ... we know what it is like when people have attacked us verbally, have attacked us physically, and others have remained silent. It cannot happen here in America in 2010, without the response of the religious community. Hate crimes and hate speech are not mere acts ... they are attacks on the pillars of our republic and the guarantors of our freedom.”
New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s August 3 address on Governors Island affirmed that the right of Muslims to practice their religion freely is first and foremost a Constitutional concern. He asserted that those who continue to advocate for the alienation of Muslim Americans erode the protections afforded by pluralist democracies. As Americans, perhaps it is time we realize that our actions and attitudes are affecting the character of our own communities above all, the repercussions of which will be felt more acutely in Alabama than in Afghanistan.
Kayvan Farchadi is a staff writer for Campus Progress.
JC Penney CEO Backs Ellen Degeneres After Conservative Group Calls for Boycott
Arizona Wants G-Rated Professors; Stanford Scores Six Billion with Fundraiser
Biden Echoes President’s Calls for Accessible, Affordable Education