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September 8, 2010

BENCH SITTIN' - Freedom comes with responsibility

Randy Cowling Managing Editor

CLAREMORE — There some acts of defiance that bring attention to the act rather than the reason for being defiant.

A pastor of a small Florida congregation has proposed such an event. Pastor Terry Jones wants to wrap himself in the American flag as he stands in front of a large pile of holy books, which he plans to set a blaze on Sept. 11.

Jones has called for the burning of the Koran at his Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Fla.

While technically, Jones’ demonstration is not illegal, it does show the limited intelligence of his leadership. The United States has weathered through the burning of German books in the 1930s and 40s. When John Lennon proclaim God as dead, parents smashed and burned Beatles records in protest of his remarks. There have been many attempts to ban books from school libraries. Holden Caufield may have felt like a character with out a library to call his own as many times a angry parents and school board members want to keep students from reading J. D. Salinger’s “The Catcher in the Rye.”

This latest demonstration of burning the Koran comes from a small congregation wanting to paint with a giant brush condemning all who are Muslim. It doesn’t matter what country they are from, they could be American-born citizens for all Jones cares.

The misguided pastor wants his flock to take a stand for what? A Christian nation? Jones believes Islam promotes violence and that Muslims want to impose sharia law in the United States.  The pastor has written a book “Islam is of the Devil”. Is this demonstration going to changing anything? Will it inflame the Taliban in Afghanistan to the point American troops will be place in harms way? Are there better ways to protesting the influence of Islam in America?

The United States was founded on its citizens being free from tyranny and persecution.  When our country begins to become like the country from which we fought for our freedom what type of country are we?

Freedom to express our opinion comes with responsibility. Jones and his demonstration pushes the envelope of that freedom. It is offensive and while our laws may not prohibit this outrageous display, Jones should find a more reverent method in making his point.

Randy Cowling is editor of the Claremore Daily Progress.

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