FIRE!

The big talk on the morning Talk Shows today was should the government somehow stop Pastor Jones from burning the Quran (Koran)? There were a lot of very heated opinions on both sides of the issue.

Americans do have the right, guaranteed by the Constitution, to Freedom of Speech, which this would seem to fall under. But, with any “right” there comes “responsibility”, and, in this case, that old principle or saying that “you can’t yell fire in a crowded theater”. The “rights” of the individual to Free Speech are thus surplanted by the rights of the group to Health and Safety.

I’m not a lawyer or expert on the constitution, and I am never one in favor of violence or force, but it seems to me that there are enough level-headed, reasonable people who feel that this action by this, until now, unknown minister, would cause harm to the country as a whole and to members of the armed forces in particular, that a legitimate case could be made for the government stepping in and legally or forcibly stopping this guy. There must be some local ordinance against fires on church property, or just send in the troops, for the good of the nation, to stop the guy. This is, after all, turning in to more than just a simple book burning or protest march!

Another solution, of course, would be just to ignore the guy. He’s already had more than his 15 minutes of fame. He’s been on the front page of just about every newspaper in the country and the lead story on every news program. The President has even called him personally. How many good acts and good people go unnoticed and unreported every day? How many good and even heroic citizens never get a phone call or email from the President? All this guy wants is publicity, which he has already gotten.

My suggestion is that the media should pack up their video cameras, microphones, still cameras, pens, pencils and notebooks and go away. Then, nobody will know what he does or doesn’t do, and nobody will care. After all, nobody knew or cared what he did or said before this, probably not even many of the 50 members of his church!