“An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.” -Mahatma Ghandi

Some people are so ignorant and intolerant of things that are outside of their system of beliefs and outside the scope of their understanding that it amazes me. The church in Florida that is threatening to burn Qur’ans on September 11th to mark the anniversary of what happened in 2001 in New York is a perfect example of a group of extremists who call themselves a part of a specific religious group, but are merely misguided maniacs on the fringe of that society. They don’t follow the basic principles of the religion, but find specific outrageous, and often outdated, ideas and fixate on them. Another example would be the people who flew planes into the World Trade Center nine years ago and killed so many innocent people in the name of a religion that promotes peace.

After living in Indonesia for about 6 months now, I have seen tolerance, respect, openness, and kindess from the citizens of the largest muslim population in the world. Even though I do not follow their system of worship, I have gotten nothing but the highest regard for my beliefs. Nothing to suggest or provoke narrow-mindedness like this.

Terrorism is not just the act of bombing crowded markets and flying planes into busy office buildings, it is any act of violence or retaliation against a viewpoint that you do not share. It is the reluctance and unwillingness to accept another person’s view or freedom to choose their own beliefs. It is wanting to do something inflammatory because someone did something that you do not agree with—like burning the holy book of a religion you do not follow because some fanatics did something crazy in the name of that religion!

I wonder what these so-called christians in this so-called church in Florida teach their children. Do they teach only outdated beliefs from the Old Testament? An eye for an eye? If someone does something to hurt you, you must do something to hurt them? If so, someone please call Child Protective Services because in my opinion that has to be a form of neglect and abuse.

Last night I received a message from our Security and Safety Coordinator informing me that due to this church’s actions, there have been protests at the offices of the Embassy in Jakarta and the Consulate in Surabaya. I am nowhere near those places, and I live in a small village where people are pretty protective of me, so I’m not worried, but I am embarrassed. I’m embarrassed that my coworkers, friends, and neighbors may see that on the news and get a different impression of Americans and christians than what I hope I am portraying to them. I hope that my actions and behavior in the last 6 months will reassure them that these people are not the norm, they are radicals that do not share the views of the majority of christians. If anything I hope it can help promote tolerance and acceptance for all religions and beliefs, regardless of your own personal views.