A good old fashion book buring

"There must be something in books, things we can't imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there. You don't stay for nothing."

-Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451

I have been keeping up with the news story about how a small church in Florida plans to have a "burn a Quran" day on September 11th. Not much scares me like a good old book burning. Yee haw! Burning a book is the strongest symbol of defying a different way of thinking that I can imagine. According to NPR the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainsville, Fl will hold an open event in which church and community members can burn a Quran to promote anti-Islamic philosophy, despite pleas from General David Petraeus not to do this because it will put our military and Afgan civilians at risk of retaliation from extremist.

A patient of mine today told me the government needs to step in and intervene. I was not in a debatable mood today so I did not say anything, but this is what I think. No government interaction should take place. These nuts are protected by their first amendment right of free speech. I'm sure an attorney could tell me otherwise, but legally their is nothing that can be done. To allow a government to stop something like this would be like drawing a line in the sand and them telling us, "we will allow this, but you can't do this." After they set precedent that they can tell the public what is allowable, what is to stop them from gradually sliding that line to the right and slowly taking away our liberties.

What I wish would happen is that all the logical, good people of the region, Muslim and not, would show up at that church and protest the event. If enough people showed up, they could maybe clog up the roads or stand in their way, or at least show the people of the world that their are enough people left in the United States that aren't crazy radicals and dilute the response. Sadly I do not think this will happen because these type of people tend to be busy with their lives.

On a side point, and determining myself to be somewhat of an expert, Muslims in the city don't seem to care one way or another. Being a white middle class male I never really came into contact with Muslims until I started working in the city. My impression of them... they are half assed like most other people, myself included. Some of them eat when they are supposed to be fasting, some wear the headgear sometimes and not othertimes. They struggle through life just like the Christians I know and seem to have the exact same level of happiness.

"What traitors books can be! You think they're backing you up, and they turn on you. Others can use them, too, and there you are, lost in the middle of the moor, in a great welter of nouns and verbs and adjectives."

-Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451