Violence over Koran suggests irreconcilable differences

I’ve often said those who follow a rigid Islamic doctrine will never accept the concept of freedom of expression Westerners cherish. For instance, if I saw someone burn a holy Bible, I would be furious. But I would not attack the person; nor would I expect my government to prosecute the person.

As a Christian, I’ve become accustomed to all manner of ridicule and hate speech leveled at my faith, not just from a sector of the political class in the U.S. but also from large sectors of the general public in countries around the world.

The recent alleged burning of copies of the Koran in Afghanistan and the violence that followed demonstrate irreconcilable differences between Muslims in theocratic regimes and the West.

Muslims believe the law of man is inferior to the law of their deity. It’s that simple.

Now some are calling for the prosecution of the alleged burners. President Barack Obama said the incident was a mistake.

Few in media are attacking Obama for the incident, although many attacked a Republican president over false reports about destruction of a Koran in 2005. Newsweek reported the alleged flushing of a copy and then quietly retracted the story. The magazine’s fabrication reportedly caused people to lose their lives.

Obama’s position towards repressive regimes is pacification. After all, his administration met with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in December; rest assured this group is no friend to freedom of expression or, for that matter, to sincere respect for other faiths. The United Nations has largely become a pawn for radicals, one more reason for the U.S. to align with other democracies and leave the blighted UN to its own inevitable, corrupt decline.

Meanwhile a Christian pastor in Iran faces execution for the ‘crime’ of being a Christian. Murders continue, for those convicted of blasphemy and apostasy. Violence continues, against young girls who simply want to go to school and for anyone suspected of defamation whether a crime was or was not actually committed.

Western female academics largely remain mum about the plight of women in Islamist dominated countries. Those same academics take to the soap box the minute the Catholic Church dares to explain its centuries old doctrines, however. You can leave the Catholic Church and not fear for your life. That is not true in Islamist regimes.

The U.S. should simply remove all our troops and interests from Afghanistan. These people eagerly kill each other; they’ve done so for a long time. Had the late Democrat congressman Charlie Wilson not intervened, they’d all be speaking Russian. One more American life is not worth sacrificing for people who do not want to be free in the sense we know it—that, by the way, is their right. If people want oppression, leave them to deal with it.

The anti-war movement so vitriolic under Bush is silent right now.

(Commentary by Kay B. Day/Feb. 23, 2012)

Comments

[Hank Heinold]

Good article, thanks.

[Kay B. Day, Editor]

Hank, thanks so much for reading. best, KBD