Quran Burning: What Can Be Done is Not What Should Be Done

On September 11th, 2010, a Florida church is planning on holding a Quran burning. This article explains all the different people who are against the plan - the local mayor, Sarah Palin and Hilary Clinton, and even Obama have all weighed in.

Let me start by saying that I don't remember everything from September 11th. I remember being at school, on that day or soon after, and everyone was talking about... something. I could feel, in second grade, that everyone was afraid... of something. But no one wanted to tell me. Who wants to explain the horrors of the terrorist attack to a seven year old? So while no, I don't remember everything, I remember the fear. I remember that no one knew what would happen next. I get that, and any other reaction would be unnatural. So when I say that what this Florida Church is doing is wrong in a bunch of different ways, I can understand the feelings that caused this plan to come about. I, and everyone else in America, were surrounded by those feelings when the September 11th attacks happened. But this response to those feelings doesn't make any sense.

The terrorists responsible for these attacks were Islamic extremists. Their belief in Islam was used to fuel their hatred for the United States. But blaming all of Islam for these attacks is like blaming all of Christianity for the KKK. I'm not saying that this church doesn't have the right to burn the Quran books, because this is the kind of expression the First Amendment protects- the US government might not like what the Florida Church is doing, but they can't stop them. And they have good reason not to want this burning to take place. This stunt could incite violence half a world away, in Afghanistan and Iraq. This pastor has every right to commit a protest that could kill US soldiers and civilians far, far away. But just because he can, doesn't mean he should.

After I was upset, that day by the school busses, the school principal saw that I was upset. I don't know what she said, but I know it made me feel better. Now, it's been almost exactly 9 years since the attacks, and everyone is less emotional. Tomorrow will re-awaken those emotions, and that's not a bad thing. But that doesn't mean we should do stupid, meaningless things like attack a religion because of the worst people who call themselves Muslim. We could, but that doesn't mean we should.