As Americans, it’s important that we value freedom of speech and are tolerant of the opinions of others. That being said, there’s a line. It’s hard to see where that line begins and ends, but when it’s crossed, it’s difficult to go back. Florida pastor, Terry Jones, crossed this line when he burned the Koran to honor troops fighting the war in Afghanistan.
There’s a difference between being patriotic and being a bigot. Jones is in category bigot. I suppose it wasn’t a hate crime doing what he did, but it certainly bordered it. The author of the editorial to the New York Times responding to Jones’ act is right in saying that the outright intolerance displayed by this isn’t helping matters overseas. All its doing is making us, Americans, look like, well, narrow-minded jerks to put it mildly.
It is important that we exercise our right to free speech responsibly. The media makes nearly everything that goes on a permanent record of our history. While it’s imperative to report on something like Jones’ case, media needs to cover it objectively. Free speech goes both ways, and it’s great others speak out to say Jones was wrong in burning the Koran and that he far from embodies Americans who support the war.
Our system as a democracy allows for more than one view in our media. The issue of Jones’ actions tends to blur things regarding free speech under the First Amendment. However, it’s hard to argue that he had no right to publicly express his feelings about the Koran and what his reasoning is behind what he believes it represents, be they based on hate, intolerance and ignorance.
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