Qur'an Burning Madness!

I do not understand the madness around either the "ground zero mosque" or the Qur'an burning. First, Park 51 is an Islamic community center being built several blocks from ground zero. Do I agree with them? Of course not, I'm a Christian. I believe in the Bible. I do not AGREE with them. But I'm proud to live in America where we all have the right to freedom of religion and freedom of expression. I pray for them. I pray that they would see the love of Christ and the truth of His divinity and the good news of His death on the cross for our sins.

I also do not AGREE with Pastor Jones. Book burnings have always struck me as the silliest form of protest. You're BUYING a product (thus, supporting it) to express your dislike for it. It's like Penn Jillette (of Penn & Teller) said regarding a "boycott" of their show they once saw. Penn & Teller did a show about chiropractors and called chiropractic "bullsh*t." Which, even if they're totally wrong, is their free speech right. Penn found the reaction of the chiropractors funny. A large group of chiropractors went to their show to tell them that they were boycotting them. Penn said "that's not a boycott, that's supporting us!" He pointed out that they could've gone to talk to them afterwards without buying tickets (which are $50-$100 apiece) to the show.

I also think that in a country with freedom of religion it's quite disrespectful to burn another religion's holy book. However, one radical pastor burning some Qur'ans is not newsworthy. We're all offended all the time and everyone is giving pastor Jones what he wants - national media attention and shock value. Burn a Bible, and no one will care. Why? Because, while offensive, that's what free speech is about - and Christians have (in general) long respected the free speech rights of others. Until now, when many Christians are opposing the free speech rights of Park 51, and many Muslims are opposing the free speech rights of pastor Jones.

So, to Park 51 and to pastor Jones - welcome to America. You both have the right to offend each other, and neither of you has any right not to be offended.

P.S. All this hype is about a man who certainly appears more than a little out of it... watch this video: