Formspring Question #126--Burning Questions of Multiculturalism Edition

You don't believe Terry Jones has blood on his hands for burning the Koran?

You know what I find most amusing about this question? It implies Terry Jones should have know better than to burn the Koran, because Muslims were going to most certainly kill someone in response. There is an inherent notion it is okay for Muslims to kill when they are offended, so offending them is not only a worse offense, but makes the offender culpable, not the murders themselves. How warped is that?

What I think is that burning the Koran is no excuse for murdering a dozen people, and if your culture says it is, then your culture is perverse. I am also including that if your culture says Jones deserves more condemnation for burning the Koran than the Muslims do for murdering a dozen innocent people, then your culture is perverse as well. Jones is a jackass for what he does, but being a jackass is no excuse for mass murder.

Is this apologizing for the murderous behavior of radical Muslims a byproduct of multiculturalism? I am not an advocate of multiculturalism. I Am a natural law theorist who believes there are universal moral principles everyone has an ingrained sense to follow. A big one ought to be that you should not murder other people, particularly for stupid reasons. But when universal principles like that are ignored because some decides murdering innocents for an infidel’s actions is okay, you cannot treat that culture as a moral equal. But unfortunately, that is what many are trying to do.

A little perspective here: The Koran is a book which is thrown around publishing houses, stacked haphazardly in boxes, shipped carelessly, plopped in storerooms with loads of other boxes of books, slapped with a price tag, placed on shelves with other books, and probably destroyed as remainders if left unsold for too long every single day in every literate country on Earth. Just how reverent is that? Should the whole publishing industry way of doing business be considered responsible for a potential genocide of infidels in response? I would you would have the sense to say no.

I said the first time around when jones was going to make a big spectacle out of burning the Koran that I thought it was the wrong thing to do, but I supported his right to go through with it. That is what our freedom means--the freedom to be offensive and stupid. I would much prefer he had the sense in his head to expose the evils of Islam much more constructively. Missionary work in Muslim countries comes readily to mind as an alternative. But jones’ actions are no excuse for the cultural rot that allows Muslims to kill over their hurt feelings, or for anyone else to affirm their reaction.

If anyone does not agree that Jones does not have blood on his hands, tell what you want to have happen to him in response? Prosecuted for manslaughter? Handed over to a sharia court? You tell me, and justify your answer logically.