Burn a Quran Day

Do I have to point out that this is a parody? Heh, heh. I hope not!

Yeah, this is all crazy talk from a few lunatics, but TPM makes a good point about taking responsibility:

Speaking just now on MSNBC James Zogby made a very good point -- and pressed Andrea Mitchell on it. His point was that sure, this Pastor Jones fool is one guy, who's managed to get worldwide attention for his stunt. But you cannot separate him, as I noted below, from the whole climate of hate speech and anti-Muslim agitation from the Newt Gingriches and the Sarah Palins and the rest of them.

At that point, Mitchell jumped in and said, wait, Palin said she disagrees with the Koran burning. To which Zogby replied, something to the effect of 'C'mon'. And that's just the right reply. This is the standard approach of race haters and demagogues. They keep stirring the pot, churning out demonizing rhetoric and hate speech. Then some marginal figure does something nuts and suddenly ... oh, wait, I didn't mean burn Korans. Where'd you get that idea from? We were just saying that Islam is a violent, anti-American religion and that American Muslims should stop building their mosques and focus on apologizing for 9/11 and maybe get out of America. But burn the Koran? No way.

That's a bit much.

Actions have consequences. This isn't about one guy.

Note that this isn't about criticizing Islam, either. You don't have the right not to get your feelings hurt. No matter what you believe yourself, other people have the right to criticize and, yes, ridicule it. And this Jones guy does have the right to burn his own property, no matter what any other religious group might think about it. There's absolutely no question about that.

No, this is about anti-Muslim hate speech which encourages not just this sort of thing, but actual violence to innocent Muslims (which has indeed increased in America recently). After all, it's also a fact that you have the right to practice your own religion in this country - no matter what I think about it, no matter what anyone thinks about it. We also have a culture that considers your religious beliefs to be your own business, by and large. That's a good thing.

Again, it doesn't mean that your beliefs are immune to criticism. It doesn't mean that people won't laugh at them. It doesn't mean that you won't get your feelings hurt by comments, jokes, or... cartoons. What it means is that, bottom line, no matter what, you have the right to believe what you want. It also means that you should be treated as an individual, not as a stereotype. Whatever your race, whatever your religion, whatever your national origin - none of that matters. You are still an equal citizen of the United States of America.

There may be a fine line between criticism/ridicule and whipping up anger and hysteria towards an entire class of people, but there is a line, a very definite line that is normally quite easy to discern. You don't step over that line by accident. And unfortunately, the recent climate of "hate speech and anti-Muslim agitation" from the right-wing has very definitely crossed the line. In particular, note that, in this case, the only reason for Koran-burning it to try to provoke a violent response from Muslims. (Do I really need to point out that this response would be even more wrong than provoking it? C'mon!)

I have no liking for any religion, and I dislike Islam more than most. I will continue to criticize it, and even ridicule it, as I see fit. At the same time, you have the right to disagree with me. If you're a Muslim, that's your own business. It doesn't mean that you're a terrorist. It doesn't mean that you're not a real American citizen, that you're not a "patriot." (Honestly, I'm heartily sick of the assumption by Republicans that you have to be a Christian to be a patriotic American.) It does mean that I'll treat you just like everyone else.

The fact is, I disagree with most people I know, including friends and relatives. So what? We're a diverse country, and we can agree to disagree. This isn't difficult. We do it all the time in America. Your neighbor is a Republican (or a Democrat). Your neighbor is a Catholic (or a Protestant or a Jew or any number of other religions). Your neighbor is Hispanic (or black or white or Asian). Your neighbor is a gay, atheist, libertarian mime. You can think whatever you like about any of this, and you can express your opinions (although common politeness might mean that you won't bring up the subject unnecessarily), but fundamentally, it's their business, not yours.

We all know this. It's how we live in civilized countries. This is what it means to be an American. Whipping up hysteria about any group is fundamentally un-American (although, yes, it's happened time and time again in our country). It's not a matter of limiting debate, not at all. It's just the recognition that we all have to live together, whatever our differences. Even if you're not an American, we're all human beings. We still have to live together, and we still have the right to our differences. This is not rocket-science, it really isn't. So why are we still having problems with this kind of thing?