It’s unfortunate that this Rev. Terry Jones is having this Quran burning party. Not a good idea. It’s hard to see how this helps anything.
But why is he doing it? I felt as soon as I heard about it that this is a violent backlash to the Ground Zero Mosque. I read comments to a story posted about the mosque, and there were some very strong anti-Muslim sentiments expressed by people. After that, I heard that Sarah Palin had offered that as an explanation. I think she’s spot on. There will be more of this as long as this mosque project is on the table.
It’s curious to me how everyone piles on this pastor because his provocative action will stir up Islamists, while very few are piling on Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf out of concern that his provocative action will stir up anti-Islamic sentiment.
I’m not aware of any argument being used in defense of the Imam that couldn’t be used in defense of Pastor Jones. He and his congregation have the right to express their opinions by burning Qurans, just as the imam has a right to construct his battle monument at Ground Zero to express his religious views.
