Tatamount To War

Like birds who perch on telephones lines and crap all over your newly washed car, the adherents of Islam constantly leave droppings on our body politic reminding us that wherever they are, Ishmael and his mother Hagar are laughing their asses off. One such son of Ishmael residing within our shores has made it clear the reasons why. He has literally declared war on anyone who dares burn a copy of the Koran or Quran as it may be.

For those who may be ecumenically-minded, Islam does not and cannot play nice with other religions.

Negotiations between a local Muslim cleric and the leader of a tiny Florida church who had threatened to publicly burn copies of Islam's holy text left the heated debate in a state of confusion with the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks a day away.

The Rev. Terry Jones said Thursday he would call off the planned burning of Qurans based on a deal negotiated with the president of the Islamic Society of Central Florida that the location of a mosque planned near ground zero in New York would be changed.

[...] For U.S. political leaders and Muslims around the world who have been outraged by Jones' antics, the on-again, off-again threat bred even more angst and frustration.

Cleric Rusli Hasbi told 1,000 worshippers attending Friday morning prayers in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, that whether or not he burns the Quran, Jones had already "hurt the heart of the Muslim world."

"If he'd gone through with it, it would have been tantamount to war," the cleric said in the coastal town of Lhokseumawe. "A war that would have rallied Muslims all over the world."

Ordinarily this would not have been worth a printed sentence in the Lake Kissimmee Morning Bugle, but it is fairly representative of the reactions of millions of twitchy, impoverished people throughout the Muslim nations.

Muslims consider the book the sacred word of God and insist it be treated with the utmost respect.

In Afghanistan, where tens of thousands of U.S. troops are in harm's way, President Hamid Karzai said he heard Jones had perhaps abandoned his Quran-burning plan.

"The holy book is implanted in the hearts and minds of all the Muslims," Karzai said. "Humiliation of the holy book represents the humiliation of our people. I hope that this decision will be stopped and should never have been considered."

To be clear, it matters not a whit to me how many Korans are burned; the US Army burned many bibles in Afghanistan and no one cared.

The unsolicited Bibles sent by a church in the United States were confiscated about a year ago at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan because military rules forbid troops of any religion from proselytizing while deployed there, Lt. Col. Mark Wright said.

Such religious outreach can endanger American troops and civilians in the devoutly Muslim nation, Wright said.

"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.

But I think that the current public burning of the Koran is a bad idea fostered by a pastor who should know better. The solution to Islam is to present a clear and accurate representation of the Gospel of Christ. And then to live it. Muslims are not fools, like everyone else they can discern whether or not you truly believe in something.

I have a friend, our former pastor, who now heads an international missionary program throughout Africa. You must be very careful, but believe it or not there is a thriving Christian missionary outreach to Muslims within their own countries. Burning the Koran hardens the attitude of many Muslims and threatens such outreach efforts.

We are indeed involved in a war on terror, but it is also a war of ideologies. For victory, we must defeat their ideology as well as their warriors.

To defeat their warriors, you must provide our warriors with superior weapons and tactics.

To defeat their ideology, you must provide their warriors with a superior faith.