Some Things are Just Stupid

A few months ago, a crazy preacher with 50 followers announced a plan to have a bonfire in which they will burn copies of the Koran. Now, a crazy Tennessee preacher has announced his plan to burn "a Koran," both on the anniversary of 9/11. I certainly appreciate the free speech rights they (and we all) have that enable them to burn a rival religion's holy book, but I have the same right to give my opinion on the matter. Just because you CAN do something, that doesn't mean you SHOULD (I think my mother told me that when I was about 8 years old). And some things, frankly, are just stupid.

General Petraeus made a statement asking the Florida crazy preacher to call off his "protest," saying that such an action will endanger American troops. The preacher basically said, "Screw the troops! American needs to be America again and stand up!"

How is it standing up for America, and being America again, to incite a bunch of crazy Muslims to blow up more of our buildings and kill more of our people, which is exactly what they'll do? After this moron has his little show and his special on FOX News, Al Qaida will retaliate in the most vicious manner imaginable. Protests mean nothing to terrorists; desecration of their holy relics does. America is about freedom and success, not about your fifteen minutes of fame and another 3,000 people dead in the street. America has never been a tolerant nation; we have done some horrible things to people who didn't believe and espouse what we do. Most of that is by individuals who, being insane like these preachers, really think God is going to deliver them for doing some very un-Christian things.

This same Florida preacher has in the past burned copies of versions of the Bible he didn't believe reflected his own view of the world. Where was the outrage about those Bibles? Why didn't Christians renounce one of their own for desecrating their own holy book?

The sad thing is, conservatives from all over the country have sent this idiot a lot of money and a bought and sent a lot of Korans for him to burn. They see this as a monumental gesture to show how tough we are; it's going to get people killed, and they deserve all the blame. Muslim extremists are just waiting for an opportunity to instill more fear and hatred in Americans by violating us again; Christian extremists are giving them that opportunity.

Some things are just stupid. And stupid things are done by stupid people.

Until this country makes another shift, to support reason and understanding and just plain old literacy, we are doomed. We are turning ourselves into mirror images of the countries that produce ignorant, hateful, religiously-charged psychos who will do anything in the name of their religion. But until we stop buying the oil they produce, we will give them a pass and let nutcases get nuttier and nuttier. We need to purge ourselves of the ignorant, the intolerant, and the hateful. This preacher from Florida said we should send all the Muslims in America to an island so we don't have to live with their influence on our vast, diverse culture that used to accept anybody who was willing to get along. I say we take those people too blinded by "faith" to understand the real world doesn't work the way their insulated, childish worlds do and put THEM on an island. Soon they will grow to hate each other due to tiny differences in doctrine, and they'll kill each other off. That's exactly what Darwin was talking about, but these people think the world is 6,000 years old and cavemen rode dinosaurs.

Ignorance can be changed; people can be taught. But stupidity is engrained. And it must not be tolerated in a civilized society.