There are a lot of crazy people in America. I don’t think that anyone would deny that. If left alone, they are generally harmless, but when the media starts giving them attention, things can get out of hand.
A great example of this is the “Burn a Quran day” that was planned by Pastor Terry Jones. In order to send a message to terrorists, Jones and his congregation wanted to burn copies of the Quran on the anniversary of 9/11.
When I first heard about what Jones wanted to do, I was outraged. I couldn’t believe that he wanted to do such a stupid thing. Then, after I calmed down and read more about it, I wasn’t mad, just disappointed in myself for allowing Jones to get me so riled up.
Jones thinks that burning books sends a message to Islam. It doesn’t, all it does is piss people off.
See, that’s just what Jones wants: to evoke controversy and get his name in the spotlight. However, as college students, we have an obligation to dig deep and find the truth.
The truth is that there isn’t anything important happening, just a crazy pastor and his 50 followers.
Sometimes, we get so inflamed and self-righteous, that we forget that there are some things that we should just let go.
Is burning of the Quran offensive? Of course it is, but that doesn’t mean the Muslim Student Association, or anyone else for that matter, should get up in arms about it.
If the media had never reported on this issue, I would have never knew about it, and I would have been no worse for that lack of knowledge.
As students, we should actively question the media, and sometimes we need to ask the question, why should I care? I know a guy who thinks that Christianity is a corrupt religion. Should CNN go interview him?
There are certain people who simply do not deserve our attention. Why do I care about the ranting of a man who isn’t important in any way?
If Barack Obama was the one who wanted to burn the Quran, then that would be something the media should report on, but I honestly could not care less about Jones and his lunacy.
So what can we do?
Simple. We can voice our opinions and get all the facts about an issue. People love to read a headline and go off half-cocked, without knowing the truth about the issue.
To make matters worse, Jones is not an isolated incident. There have been people who have stated that even if Jones doesn’t go through with the burning of the holy books, they will.
Our country is filled with lunatics like these, and even if others don’t realize that they should be ignored, we here at Mason should know far better than to let religious fanatics and other generally crazy people bother us.
Remember Brother Micah from last semester? The guy who stood outside of Robinson A and told everyone they were going to hell?
I was proud of the response that Mason gave him: some people just ignored him, but the rest stood and laughed.
That’s the same thing that we need to do with people like Pastor Jones. Lunatics like him aren’t worth our time. They should not be on the news, and all we should do when we hear them is point and laugh.
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