:: in.a.mirror.dimly ::

Have you heard about the pastor down in Florida who wants to burn the Koran?

Yes, of course you have. It’s all over the news. General Petraus has asked him to stop. Blog posts and tweets are expressing concern and outrage. You can’t miss it.

Each day we read a story about this pastor’s dogged persistence, interviews on the news, and small protests that are erupting around the world.

It sounds terrible to us. The stakes are high. Our troops may be in danger. The reputation of America is on the line and the reputation of Christianity is REALLY on the line.

But is this really that big of a deal?

If you’re a Muslim, I understand that this pastor’s actions are offensive, but keep in mind that this man represents the tiniest fraction of American Christians. His church is not that large, and just about every Christian I know thinks he’s an offense to our country and our faith.

I’d like to think that most Muslims around the world can see that. I understand there have been some protests and some have thrown rocks at American soldiers in Afghanistan. However, does one extremist need to dominate the news cycle when his actions hardly come close to representing anything close to a majority or minority position?

In addition, must we view the protests over this event as a concerted reaction from the Muslim world?

I think it’s safe to say that the majority of Muslims don’t see American Christians as the kind of people who would burn the Koran, just as the majority of American Christians don’t see Muslims as the kinds of people who would blow up innocent civilians. Most people can see the nuances, the extreme elements, and the true course of those in the center.

However, our news cycles thrive on highlighting the controversial extremes. They just need a Christian who’s willing to do something stupid and some groups of people who are willing to protest it, and presto, we have a leading news story that pits civilizations and religions against each other.

The only people who won’t see the nuance in the story of this Koran-burning pastor are those hungry for a news story and those looking for an excuse to get angry. Otherwise, this is exactly the kind of story we should ignore.

This pastor has made terrible protests against Islam—calling it Satanic—before, but there were no consequences because no one reported the story.

Stopping this man is not the only way to defuse this situation. Reporters could stay away from him, bloggers could write about something else, and tweets could cover what we’re having for lunch. Because really, the average person should be able to grasp the nature of extremism and sort out the rest. If we’ve lost our grasp of nuance, then God help us.

And besides, we have much better things to do on September 11th, such as honoring those who sacrificed themselves in order to save lives. That represents the best of the Christian faith and the sentiments of the majority of believers.