America's Middle East

With the burning of a Qu'ran by a Florida church, America is now faced with its own outrage at the hands of the Afghans.

Last year, the church in Gainesville, Florida, was set to host the "International Burn a Quran Day" on 9/11. Instead, Terry Jones, who is the church's pastor (cult leader), decided to postpone the hateful act after much domestic and international pressure. The event was resurrected (I can't help myself), in the form of the "International Judge the Koran Day." This event took place recently.

Sufficed-to-say, Muslims did not take kindly to the video burning of a single Qu'ran on the church's website. Now, I am not a religious fanatic. Actually, I am not religious at all. But you know what you get when you pit two groups of ignorant people against each other. That's right, people get hurt, and some even die, which is the case in Afghanistan.

Even though the act showed poor taste and utter ignorance, I am a firm believer in First Amendment rights. I believe every American has the right to protest and support his/her beliefs in a non-violent way. Although, I believe you may burn any book you wish, the fact remains that the people who participated in this act of protest understood the ramifications of their act. It wasn't simply speaking out against a governmental policy, but a slap-in-the-face of over a billion people, who are easily pissed off when it comes to their faith.

Now, the American government and military must bear the burden of the burning of a single Qu'ran. Americans and Afghans have died in what has become a cauldron of hate and retaliation in Afghanistan. As someone who teaches American National Government, I am puzzled by what should be the outcome of what has happened. I teach my students that their rights end where another individual's rights begin. (I often cite Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes' opinion, in re: Schenck v. United States, of the figurative man shouting "fire" in a crowded theater, as a caveat.) As such, I believe the people who knowingly participated in this act should be expatriated to Afghanistan. Sometimes you must freely sacrifice a lamb to the wolf in order to save your flock. How's that for atonement?