Dissenting Voices

At the beginning of the Fall 2010 semester, talk about a Florida pastor wanting to burn the Islamic holy book, the Quran, was all the buzz among many news broadcasters. Articles on this topic are abundant and to many, very offensive. While the texts are numerous, one blog post called “Pastor Terry Jones. No Guts. No Glory.,” an article present on Vanity Fair’s website, comes off as ridiculous and unsubstantial. The author, Henry Rollins, starts off with saying “The only thing worse than Pastor Terry Jones scheduled Koran burning is the fact that he canceled the proposed event (Rollins).” Readers would think, after this statement, that the author agreed with Pastor Jones’s preposition to burn the books, yet we soon realize that the author doesn’t really seem to have a solid opinion on the topic. With each paragraph, he flips back and forth, at some points saying that the pastor was a coward for backing out and at other points saying he shouldn’t have gone through with it because “I’m in Islamic countries all the time. It’s not a stretch to say that Jones is endangering my life (Rollins).” He even goes on to say that he hopes that every Christian in America is against the pastor’s proposition. But wait. Didn’t you just say it was a mistake for him to not go through with it? The way Rollins fails to commit to a side of the argument instantly depletes his credibility in my eyes.

            Another aspect of the article that seemed senseless and unprofessional was the language that Rollins used. Rollin’s repeatedly calls Terry Jones an “idiot.” While many will quickly agree with this statement, a more intelligent sounding word choice may have been more appropriate for a post on a popular magazine’s website. When arguing on a touchy subject like this, I always feel that it’s more effective to stay professional and resist sinking down to the level of whom you are accusing. Rollins was more concerned with the fact that Jones was threatening his right to free speech than the content of the act Jones was committing. Rollins said, “this small-time hick has taken my First Amendment and trashed it in this manner is infuriating (Rollins).”           

            Most articles to be found on this subject simply argue against the preposition rather then try to sit the fence on the subject. Why would anyone agree with the pastor anyways? In an interview with CBS, Terry Jones admitted that he knew this act would offend all Muslim people around the world but he wanted it to serve as a warning to the Islamic radicals. Isn’t it very radical of him to burn the Muslim’s holy book? I’m sure he would raise trouble if anyone planned to burn the bible. He also admitted that he didn’t personally know a single Muslim person. I’m not really sure how he considers himself to be a good pastor or good representative of the Christian faith.

Rollins, Henry. "Pastor Terry Jones. No guts. No glory.." Vanity Fair 13 Sep. 2010: Web. 4 Nov 2010. <http://www.vanityfair.com/online/daily/2010/09/pastor-terry-jones-no-guts-no-glory.html>.