Madam, – The hysterical response, by internationally respected leaders, to Pastor Terry Jones’s threat to stage a “burn-a-Koran day” is deeply worrying (World News, September 8th).
Even US General David Petraeus responded with a dire warning that it would undoubtedly be used by extremists in Afghanistan – and around the world – to inflame public opinion and incite violence.
So now it seems, the mad-cap actions of the leader of a tiny Florida church, with just 50 followers, is a threat to world peace. Before that, it was a Danish cartoonist – and before that – the author of a book, Salman Rushdie, was the recipient of a fatwa for an unacceptable critique of the Koran.
I’m sorry to hear that the freedom for an individual to express an opinion, however distasteful, so upsets the sensitivities of so many Islamists that we must all buckle under and perhaps adopt Sharia law in place of our own liberal laws, but this cannot be allowed happen.
Appeasement is a short term measure that is usually seen for what it is – backing down on a principled stand. We in the West, particularly Europe, have been bending over backwards to accommodate the expansionist plans of global extremists for many years, and we are now paying the price.
Even the world’s only superpower has, lately, become an appeaser of extremism.
Most of us can clearly recall the no-nonsense stance taken by President Kennedy in the Cuban missile crisis, when the world trembled in the face of communist aggression.
Whatever about his private life, Kennedy stood his ground on behalf of the free world – and won the day.
The United States was always looked upon as the global policeman and guarantor of Western values, but that old certainty has been greatly eroded since 9/11.
Yes! Officialdom must condemn, out of hand, the inflammatory conduct of people like Pastor Terry Jones, but we must never apologise to extremists, of any hue, for our hard won right to freedom of expression and our liberal laws that make life worth living.
Real freedom needs constant vigilance and it must also be backed by firm action, when and where necessary. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – If that fanatical “so-called Christian” fundamentalist does go ahead with his – to any religion – deeply offensive plan, which the fanatical “so-called Muslim” fundamentalist terrorist groups must be really hoping he will, then I would suggest that for each edition of the Koran burnt, the international Christian community should print and distribute a hundred new editions. This, as a gesture to the Muslim world that this bigot and this deed do not represent true Christians in any manner or form. – Yours, etc,