Burn Baby Burn

If there's no such thing as bad publicity, proof lies in the actions of a small town Florida pastor who decided to burn a Koran, the Islamic holy book. If you recall, this same 'man of the cloth' threatened to burn a Koran last September on the anniversary of 9-11. He withdrew his threat when practically the entire world pleaded with him not to do it, adding that he would never again consider burning the Koran.


"Never" lasted about six months. We don't know for certain why he did it, but when word of the action reached Afghanistan, it set off rioting and killing (primarily of western aid workers) that is still continuing today, three weeks after the incident. 


He apparently did not do it in retaliation for Afghanis burning the Holy Bible, because Muslims consider the Bible holy to them as well. I don't think he read the Koran and was so shaken by what he read that he decided it must be burned, like when the Nazis burned books in 1930s Germany. Chances are he never opened a Koran and if he did, I doubt he actually read it. 


So we are left with the most obvious reason for burning the holy book of one billion people -- publicity. The first time he threatened to burn it, he became world infamous. Possibly he gained some new church members. So, if it worked before it would probably work again. 


I want to believe that this small town pastor (I refuse to dignify him by repeating his name) suffered through a moral dilemma before deciding to go ahead and burn the Koran. Clearly, this action would hurt and inflame the people who consider it holy, in an area of the world where many US soldiers are currently risking their lives to befriend the locals. That would have to be balanced against the benefit to his congregation and Christian principles. 


On second thought, I do not believe a moral dilemma was involved. It was more likely a case of old-fashioned bigotry with the side benefit of free publicity.