What’s Wrong with Burning the Koran?
NOTE: This isn't a "polished" blog post because I wrote it late at night after seeing this story. Please pardon the ramblings, but I think you'll get my point. 
If you haven't heard yet, check out this Nightline story about a small Christian church congregation in Florida whose pastor plans to have an International Burn a Koran Day on 9/11. I was moved to tears after seeing this.
I tend to remain neutral in my discussions about religion because I don't want to alienate anyone. This story really made me want to say something. I've been lucky, I guess you could say, to have been a part of mainstream religion most of my life. By mainstream, I, of course, mean Christian. I haven't faced the public persecution that others have, largely because I have kept my beliefs private. There were times in my life when I wasn't so mainstream. I participated in Wiccan practices. It wasn't something that I shared with too many people because their first response was, "You're a witch?!". This tends to conjure up Halloween-ish images of cauldrons and wands. Now, my beliefs are a combination of several things with Christian, Eastern, and pagan influences, although I wouldn't classify myself as a part of any particular religion.
I can remember having a conversation with someone about the whole "Happy Holidays" versus "Merry Christmas" thing. You know, when it's November or December and you go to the mall and an associate says "Happy Holidays" because they don't want to offend anyone that might not celebrate Christmas. Or, you get someone saying "Merry Christmas" because they assume everyone celebrates it. The person I was speaking with had the nerve to say that they were tired of hearing "Happy Holidays" and complained that it's time for Christians to have more rights.
Are you serious? If any religion has had all of the "rights", it has been Christianity. That tends to be the default religion and some Christians assume that everyone else has the same beliefs. This brings me back to the Burn a Koran day. It is pretty ballsy for a pastor to arrange something like this when I'm sure he would take issue if people from another religion started burning the Bible. He feels that he has the right to do this because he is part of the "right" religion (as in 'correct', not 'right wing'). After hearing this story, I found myself saying, "What the heck is wrong with some Christians?"
This reminds me of 9/11 when many people were fearful of anyone with Islamic heritage. There are so many times that we judge an entire race, religion, or other type of group based on the behavior of a minority from that group. I understand that 9/11 was a scary experience even for those that didn't know anyone who perished during the tragedy. However, it doesn't make sense to hate an entire group of people because of it. As an African-American, I have dealt with this on a much smaller scale. Yes, it's 2010, but I'm still cautious about the way I behave in stores for fear of someone thinking I'm trying to steal something. And again, we go back to the pastor in Florida. How many Christians would want others to think that they believe the same thing this pastor believes?
My husband and I love Persian food. I remember the week after 9/11, we noticed that a few of our favorite Persian restaurants in Denver had significantly fewer patrons than prior to that day. We decided to show a small gesture of support by dining out at some of those restaurants. I don't remember being scared or thinking that anything bad would happen. We're not heroes, by any means, but it was important for us to do that.
So, the title of this blog post, "What's wrong with burning the Koran?" is a philosophical one. I don't think anyone has the right to destroy someone else's holy book. As an author, I think about people that have burned others' non-holy books because they didn't believe what they said. I do think that we need to look deeper and discover what would drive us to participate in something like this. What are we afraid of? What are we trying to stop from happening? Or, what are we hoping to accomplish?
Although it sounds corny and is overused, I keep going back to Rodney King's statement of "...can we all get along?".
Your thoughts?
When You Achieve Your Mission, is Your Business on Earth Finished?
While putting the finishing touches on my book layout this weekend, I began to think about this question. I do explore destiny vs. free will, but don't specifically explore the afterlife as it relates to your Mission.
We all have some type of Mission to fulfill. This leaves me with a question that can be asked in two ways:
- Does everyone get to achieve their Mission?
- When you achieve your Mission, is your business on Earth finished?
If we think about people we know personally that have passed on, I'm sure you can answer those questions quickly. There are people that pass on much earlier than we think they should have. Those folks may have made a mark on the world, but may not have achieved their Mission. On the flip-side, there are folks that have lived long lives, but also may not have achieved their Mission for a variety of reasons.
So, if someone lives their life and doesn't figure out how to express their Mission, does that mean their life didn't have any meaning? I doubt that it is that cut-and-dried. Even in the process of figuring out what to do, you come across some life lessons that can make a difference (for yourself and the Universe).
I don't have any brilliant answers for this one, but am curious about what others think of these questions.
Countdown to E-Book Launch
E-book Launch on May 20, 2010
My book, Driving to Success: Let Your Spirit Take the Wheel will be published as an e-book on May 20, 2010 to coincide with Albuquerque's Car Care Month! To celebrate the launch, we have a lot of fun things going on.
- Every day from April 5, 2010 to May 20, 2010, I will be posting short quotes from my book or my other writings called SpiriTweets on both Twitter and Facebook. Feel free to Retweet or re-post.
- I am participating in the Next Top Spiritual Author Competition. You can read about and watch a video on me and my book. Of course you can also VOTE FOR ME!
- I want to hear from others who consider themselves Spirit Drivers. After reading about Driving to Success and watching my author video on the Next Top Spiritual Author site, come back to this post to declare yourself a Spirit Driver. All you have to do is post a comment below that answers the question: How did I let my Spirit drive today?
- I'll select 3 people that post the best responses to be interviewed for the e-book launch on May 20, 2010. (Psst, you'll even have the chance to promote yourself and your business, if you wish.)
- At 5:30p PDT / 8:30p EDT, we will be holding our monthly "Is Your Spirit Driving Your Business or Career?" Webinar and having a celebration of the book launch.
Sound like fun? Let's get started!
Driving to Success Book Cover
I'm excited to say that the front cover of my book is done! Many thanks to Anton Khodavasky at Book Covers for All. This was my first time working with someone so far away (Russia). I have to say that it has been a wonderful experience.
Next stop, editing.