Occasionally someone comes out of the woodwork, or in this case the palmettos, and causes a stir heard around the world. And so some fringe preacher from Florida declares that he will burn a Koran, and the next thing we know, it’s the biggest news story of the day. Heads of state and generals had to stop what they were doing to ask that he please not do this.
This preacher’s congregation is so small they can all sit on one pew. And it just goes to show how fanatical and dangerous religion can be when the communion grape juice actually ferments.
So does this preacher have a right to burn a Koran.? Yes, he does. This is America and that would be considered freedom of speech. Is it a wise thing to burn a Koran? No it’s not. All it can do is provoke anger, cause confusion and possibly get some people killed. It’s just a hunch, augmented with some things I learned in Sunday School as a child, but I don’t think Jesus would approve of that.
I have never actually seen a Koran up close. I’ve seen them on television. Also, it doesn’t bother me if someone reads one or if someone believes what he reads in one. I’m not sure I can buy one in Moultrie, even if I wanted to read or burn one.
I’ve always been a bit skeptical of religious fanatics regardless of the faith they profess. Remember Jim Jones and his KoolAid party? Remember the Whacko in Waco? Remember the witch trials in our early history and remember the Great Crusades? Remember the Ayatollah?
I don’t go to church where they play with rattlesnakes and copperheads. If some folks want to do that, I will not seek to stop them unless I feel small, helpless children might be endangered. I will give them all the room they need to “uplift their serpents.”
I do think that civil law should intervene when people refuse medical care to their children on religious grounds. Children have died because of such ignorance. If adults want to deny themselves the advantages of modern medical science on religious grounds, then I don’t have a problem with that. We can use more parking spaces.
I haven’t read much about this preacher who wanted to burn the Koran. I saw him speak briefly on a television news report, and my first thought was that he was a few singers short of a choir. And I would not have been surprised if I had heard “Dueling Banjos” in the background.
It’s amazing how someone becomes famous or infamous overnight by exuding such ignorance while some intelligent people work all their lives to uplift good causes and make the world a better place and may never be known beyond the city limits.
It’s kind of like one man struggling hard to build a fire even with fat lighter wood and a box of matches while another man tosses a cigarette butt out of his truck window and burns up a thousand acres of woodlands. No life is not fair.
Now I fully realize that there will be a very small segment of our society who would support this preacher’s initial intentions of burning some Korans. They would probably bring marshmallows and wieners to the occasion. They would also argue that man hasn’t walked on the moon, the earth is flat and Bigfoot is real.
And it’s not all bad that these people expose themselves once in a while. If we can see them, then we can keep an eye on them. I know, I know. I’m struggling here for a silver lining.
Walden is editor/publisher of The Moultrie Observer, 985-4545. Email: dwain.walden@gaflnews.com.