Koran Burning and Cultural Hypocrisy

I do not support Florida pastor Terry Jones’ plan to burn copies of the Koran to commemorate 9/11. The whole concept violates the Matthew 10:14 admonition to ‘wipe the dust off your feet”--to let it go when people will not accept Christ and allow them to do their thing. Furthermore, I have a hunch Jones is trying to elbow I o some of the Westboro Baptist Church’s press but being just a provocative, ut by conducting a protest that is not likely to be universally denounced as protesting soldiers’ funerals.

All that said, I cannot help but notice the polar opposite reaction among many progressives to the Koran burning as a culturally insensitive act against Muslims regardless of whether the church has a free speech right to do so while the Constitutional right to build the Ground Zero mosque trumps any offense to the families of 9/11 victims. It would seem it is okay to offend some groups more than other.

Why not, I suppose? Gen. David Petraeus has warned the Koran burning will endanger our troops in Afghanistan as angered Muslims react violently to the blasphemy. I take him at his word over that eve though I condemn the Koran burning on a spiritual level far before I reach a foreign policy rationale. But Petreaus’ warning is also a subtle condemnation of Islam. Christian are to wipe the dust off their feet. Muslims are to kill the infidel. Which is truly the religion of peace?

Yesterday, when I was writing my post about Barack Obama’s complain the was being talked to like a do, I needed to quote Galatians 6:7 on reaping what has been sown. As a joke perhaps in poor taste, I thought about adding the Islamic equivalent since Obama ought to be more familiar with it. I could not fin one. Not to say it does not exist, but Islam appears remarkably unconcerned with how its adherents deal with one another in the sense of behavior coming back on you. Rather telling, no?

I point all this out to note there is a difference between tolerance and over tolerance. If we are going to (rightly) condemn Christians for burning the Koran, we ought to point out disrespecting those murdered in the name of Allah and violet responses to blasphemy are just as unacceptable.