What is popular is not always right, and what is right is not always popular.
Samantha Torrence - That saying, which was plastered on the wall of one of my many classes in high school has had a significant impact on my life. I have remembered it for over 10 years and have taught it to my own children. I find a use for that saying every day and today is no exception. Today I am reminded that morality and fairness are not always on the mind of those who profess to practice both virtues. I am of course referring to Reverend Terry Jones.
For the past week the media and the populous have been in an uproar over the Reverend’s intention to burn the Quran on September 11th, the anniversary of the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers in New York. His protest was meant to call attention to his disapproval of not only Islam but the building of a mosque and community center two blocks away from ground zero. However, he unintentionally called into question the beliefs and tolerance of Americans.
Freedom of speech and religion and freedom of peaceable assembly are three of the most basic and liberating rights Americans possess and now those freedoms are being pitted against one another. The freedom of religion rests in the center with the Christians and the Islamists contending for the supremacy of the Abrahamic religions. The freedom of Muslims to peaceably assemble and practice their religion is currently being challenged in many communities in America, not just two blocks from ground zero. Lastly the freedom of speech which allows for the Rev. Jones to burn the Quran in protest is being scrutinized.
Much like the arguments used against the mosque, people are coming out from all walks of life to say that while it is the right of the reverend to burn the Quran in protest it is not the right thing to do. Despite the overwhelming lack of support for the action there are many in America who were behind the burning 100%. It would seem the Reverend was receiving popular support from the people who surrounded him. But what is popular is not always right. The outcry from the country in protest to the planned burning did not fall on deaf ears so it seems. Rev. Jones has decided to postpone the burning of the book to meet in private with a local Imam to discuss his greatest matter of contention, the mosque at ground zero.
To the coalition of faiths that came together from different belief systems including Christians and Jews, this must be a victory of tolerance, communication, and mutual respect. The victory however is short lived. The ever opportunistic Westboro Baptist Church has announced that if the Rev. Jones does not burn the Quran on September 11th they will. It is only hope that will make Muslims worldwide realize that the Westboro gang is not religious but rather a group dedicated to spreading hate and causing mayhem. Yes, hopefully nobody will take their actions seriously nor to infer that they represent the United States.
What is right, religious tolerance, is not always popular, and what is popular, trendy hate speech, is not always right.
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