Holy Book Burning and Institutionalized Discrimination

CHRONWATCH, April 2011 By Sylvia Thompson



Again, we are inundated with talking heads berating and demonizing Pastor Terry Jones of Florida. He is the Christian pastor who is among the small number of people in this country, Christian and otherwise, who has the guts to stand up to Islam.
Again, I am nauseated at the vitriol spewed toward Pastor Jones because he shows that he has a spine. This is a comment from Rich Galen, writing for the Townhall.com blog:

“That preacher in Florida who burned a Koran is a _____ (Fill in the Blank). On that, I think we can all agree. [Wrong, we do not all agree.]

''The notion that a guy with a 30-person congregation can hold himself up as – literally – a judge, and some of his massive congregation as jury, to decide on the legitimacy of Islam as a religion would be laughable except we don’t laugh about those things anymore.” (From Townhall.com, April 5, 2011 article, “Terry Jones Is Not the Problem”)

If I ever hear similar vitriol spewed at the military for the destruction of Bibles, then I will be willing to view these Jones haters as worthy of consideration.

I don’t recall any mention from Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly, or any others in the so-called conservative contingent at Fox News, or any conservative venues, of that travesty.

This is a report from Reuters (Kabul) regarding the incident (May 5, 2009):

“Bibles in Afghan languages sent to a U.S. soldier at a base in Afghanistan were confiscated and destroyed to ensure that troops did not breach regulations which forbid proselytizing…. The U.S. military has denied its soldiers tried to convert Afghans to Christianity….

'' ‘I can now confirm that the Bibles shown on Al Jazeera’s clip were, in fact, collected by the chaplains and later destroyed.’ ” (Quote from spokeswoman Major Jennifer Willis at Bagram air base, north of Kabul)

And this from CNN.com/Asia, “Military burns unsolicited Bibles sent to Afghanistan” May 22, 2009:

“The decision was made that it was a ‘force protection’ measure to throw them away, because, if they did get out, it could be perceived by Afghans that the U.S. government or the U.S. military was trying to convert Muslims,” Wright told CNN on Tuesday.

''Troops at posts in war zones are required to burn their trash, Wright said.'' (Quote from Lt. Col. Mark Wright)

I emphasize “trash.” The Holy Bible is considered trash and the Holy Koran merits protection. The military, of course, gave an excuse for why the Bibles were destroyed and not returned to America. The primary reason that those Bibles were destroyed is that Muslims are feared and Christians are not. As an American and a Christian, this scenario makes my blood boil.

I heard a comment recently from a Muslim on a radio talk show explaining why the Koran deserves reverence and the Bible doesn’t. His words: the Koran is “holy”; the Bible is not. Interestingly, every Bible in my house is titled “Holy Bible.” Further, the Koran was “written by Allah, himself.” The Bible was “written by men.” He also offered that even Christians say the Bible was written by men.

I expect such ignorance of Christianity from a Muslim, but I bristle that I haven’t heard any counter to this ignorance in the national media from Christian leaders. The Bible was indeed written by men, but it was inspired by God. What men would have been inclined to write the story of human existence the way the Bible does? Think about it, what human would pen such a candid, condemning epic, showing mankind to be the bumbling idiots that we are? In their infinite hubris, men would be more inclined to whitewash all of mankind’s inherent flaws.

Whether or not anybody believes the Bible as I and the many unsung, silent Christians out there do is irrelevant. My point is that Muslims, thanks to the savagery of many of Islam’s adherents, have gripped the people of this nation by the proverbial balls and they are squeezing. I can hear the high, painful, effeminate wail of frightened leaders.

I will not listen to any crap coming from General Petraeus or any other military big-wig about the hateful behavior of Pastor Jones. Nor will I listen to Sean Hannity or other so-called Christian conservatives until I hear an equal outcry about the despicable behavior of the military’s destruction of Holy Bibles and deeming them “trash.”

Wake up Christians! Wake up Americans!