Afghanistan: 3 days of violent protests over Florida Qur’an burning
April 04, 2011
Violent protests have broken out across Afghanistan in response to a Florida Protestant pastor’s decision to burn the Qur’an on March 20. At least 25 people died in unrest between April 1 and April 3; seven United Nations staff members were killed in Mazar-i-Sharif, while university students in Jalalabad burned President Barack Obama in effigy.
President Hamid Karzai called upon US authorities to punish Terry Jones, the pastor who gained notoriety in 2010 when he first threatened to burn the Qur’an.
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Further information:
- Muslims burn effigy of Obama in Afghanistan; President Karzai demands pastor Terry Jones be punished (New York Daily News)
- Florida pastor is focus of Muslim outrage - again (Reuters)
- Pakistan: more Muslim reprisals for burning of Qur'an in Florida (CWN, 3/28)
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Posted by: JimKcda -
Apr. 04, 2011 10:00 PM ET USA
Are these the people we are there to protect? Here is an idea; load up our men and equipment and bring them home!
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Posted by: AgnesDay -
Apr. 04, 2011 8:30 PM ET USA
Folks--Do we not realize that we cannot hold Muslims to Judaeo-Christian standards? They are acting entirely within their cultural and religious expectations. When are we going to do the same with regard to ours?
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Posted by: bkmajer3729 -
Apr. 04, 2011 6:57 PM ET USA
How easy it is to think they must be wrong and then tend to convert wrong into evil. Judgement from outside a culture with no regard for what that life must be like seems - well, hypocritical. A fundamentalist religious outlook, when judged to be the only way, is problematic no matter what the belief system.
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Posted by: voxfem -
Apr. 04, 2011 6:11 PM ET USA
Where is the justice in killing people half a world away for the actions of one man? How can mobs execute justice in any case? Where is the outrage of the moderate Muslim community for the atrocities being committed in the name of Islam?
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Posted by: -
Apr. 04, 2011 3:42 PM ET USA
On one hand, the actions in response to desecration of sacred objects make me wish that Christians could be as passionate in their response. But the Lord warned us that we too would be persecuted, and that we need to turn the other cheek. What a challenging faith we embrace. It is hard to imagine Christians coming out on top of this struggle, except for one thing. "the gates of hell will not prevail against it."
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Posted by: DrJazz -
Apr. 04, 2011 9:30 AM ET USA
These people need to get a grip! If Christians rioted and murdered every time our holy objects were desecrated, or every time one of our Christian brothers was assaulted or murdered at the hands of Muslims, there would be few Muslims left on earth! President Karzai obviously doesn't understand how things work in the US: We know the Florida pastor is a knucklehead, but we don't punish people for being knuckleheads.
