Where I eventually address a city...

Ah, it's fall. The air is getting crisper, the leaves are starting to twitch in the cool breeze; Halloween candy is being pushed to the early buyers and eaters; Christmas decorations are starting to find their way onto shelves; the crazies start to come out...

Wait, what was that last bit? Yeah, about the crazies? Are you talking about this guy?

Yes, Terry Jones...no,
not that Terry Jones, the other, crazier one...yeah, the pastor.

You with me? Good.

Before I continue, you may want to visit my disclosure page once again. I'll wait...

Pastor Terry Jones decided (then undecided when the rest of the world was against him) that on September 11th, he, along with his church, were going to burn the Koran, the holy book of the Muslim people. Think about that for a second.

Now, with September 11th behind us and banned books week in front of us, let us think about this situation.

On one hand, we live in a country where, yes, you can burn the Koran, the Bible, the Torah, the J. Crew catalog if you so wish. Will people be your best friends for it? Probably not. Will you be arrested...well, it really depends on what's going on at the time. Do you have the right as a red blooded American to do and say what you please and worship however you please? Yes.

However, you see, there is this thing called common sense. I don't know if everyone has heard about it, but common sense is this little thing in your brain that when presented with a situation like burning the Koran on September 11th, it tells you not to. It's basically the little voice in your head that tells you to not be a jerk.
There is that pesky other hand. We have the freedom to read. We also have the freedom to not read. We bibliophiles will not force you to read anything you don't want to. There is no "reading agenda". If you don't want to read it, then don't. Along the same line, if you don't want to believe in it, don't. I know September 11th is a horrible, horrible wound that will probably never heal in America. However, let's not let the wound fester. Let's keep it clean and let it remind us how strong we are. How we will not let fear rule over us and how we will continue to do what we want and say what we want and believe what we want because it is the right thing to do. Stephen Abrams had a wonderful blog post about this situation. He said: "So, in my burgeoning discomfort and anger at the foolishness of those who disrespect and endanger all of our freedoms, (and those who serve to protect them), by perverting them to their own interests for publicity, false catharthis, or whatever twisted motivation, I am fearful that we risk losing our freedoms. The forces for book burning do have a right to their views and actions and good and decent people have a right to object to their views and actions.

I have a simple suggestion for those who want to take personal action.

Sometime on Saturday September 11th, 2010 please try this simple task:

Read a passage of the Qur’an/Koran to yourself – quietly. Reading is more than an activity. It builds insight and understanding. Read other holy passages of your choice of other faiths – quietly. Light a candle. Let the light of that candle defeat the darkness of some souls. Besides, I love irony and the misguided actions of the few can be overwhelmed by the quiet and respectful actions of the many."

I have a feeling that pastor Jones came out nine years later with this demonstration in light of the mosque controversy in the vicinity of ground zero. You know what? I don't see any problem with that mosque. Hell, even Salmon Rushdie, who has a fatwah on him, says the mosque should be built.

It's also funny, New York, (yes, I am now addressing a city) that you would have a problem with the mosque when, as a country, a radical Islamic group called Revolution Muslim, is allowed to celebrate 9/11 and call out threats to the creators of South Park and Comedy Central if a certain South Park Episode was not censored. Guess who won that fight? Us? Think again. The South Park episode was censored, so much that the mere mention of Muhammad was bleeped out. You can watch the full story of that here. USA! USA! USA!
So, America, you need to get your sh*t straight, because I, too, am afraid for our rights. Need I remind you of China?
So go forth, America. Read the Koran, the Torah, the J. Crew catalog. You don't have to just do it on the anniversary of September 11th. Just read and know that you have the freedom to read and think freely.