Where do you begin hating a story like this? During a demonstration/riot two weeks ago in Kabul, Afghanistan seven United Nations staffers were killed when their compound was overrun. The protesters were enraged over the burning of a Koran in Florida by fundamentalist preacher and all-around asshat, Terry Jones. In that the burning of the Muslim holy book took place on March 20th, almost a month before the riot, one must assume that the "Stupid News of the World" gets to Afghanistan via mule train. Rev. Jones of the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, FL had threatened this bit of theater back in September but apparently lost his nerve...or the matches. Seriously, Terry Jones should be a Reverend the way Jack Sparrow should be a Captain.
Americans don't take book burning much to heart. Bibles purportedly contain the word of God but the book's destruction by fire does not send Christians into the streets with pitchforks and torches. (Burning a copy of Guns and Ammo might get a throatier response.) Trey Parker and Matt Stone have recently produced and staged The Book of Mormon; a vulgar, blistering send-up of organized religion in general and Mormonism in particular. No one is protesting. No one is threatening Mr's Stone and Parker with certain death. Satire is part of our culture. We blaspheme because we love. Most religions practiced in America can take it.Even the Jews who have a legitimate right to be thin-skinned, tolerate a certain amount of ribbing. (No holocaust jokes, please.)
We acknowledge that Muslims have zero sense of humor about, well, everything. To avoid unpleasant reactions like fatwas, we keep our religious satire amongst those whose response to abuse tends toward a nasty email. We are incensed, however, when innocent men and women in West Asia are killed for a pseudo-crime committed a month ago in Florida. Two things must be said:
Terry Jones may be a douchebag but his right to burn a book, any book, is inviolate. Every American has an obligation to defend bad behavior in the name of our freedom. Flag burning, book burning, cross burning, effigy burning are small fires producing some heat but little light. They are, however, as essential to who we aspire to be as the Pledge of Allegiance.
Also, this obscene behavior by Muslim zealots in Afghanistan is further proof that we, America, need to pack up our shit and get out of that part of the world. The death of one more American soldier over these crazy-assed people is a sin against common sense. They don't like us, they don't think like us, they don't want to live like us so what are we doing there? We need to leave...now...today. Should there ever be another 9/11-like incident, there can only be one response...drones.
In the meantime, if Terry Jones needs any more fuel for his barbecue please chose from the following list:
Going Rogue by S. Palin
Winning the Future by N. Gingrich
No Apology by M. Romney
The Art of the Deal by D. Trump
Life, Liberty, Pursuit of Happiness by M. Huckabee
Courage to Stand by T. Pawlenty
He can even use "False Witness, The Michele Bachmann Story" but for God's sake read it first. It's a stitch.
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