The Flames of Madness

Another day, another example of religious-inspired madness and murder. A UN mission in Afghanistan was stormed by Islamic fascists, resulting in the murder of several of those working there. Some reports suggest two people were beheaded. (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/apr/01/afghanistan-united-nations-killings)

Now what provoked this bloodlust? Was it revenge for the deaths of fellow comrades in Afghanistan? Was it just the latest murderous rampage against perceived “Western imperialism?” Was it because somebody had drawn a picture of the Prophet Muhammad? It was none of these, although the last suggestion isn’t far off.

It turns out that our old friend Pastor Terry Jones has been at it again. You may remember this was the devout Christian who threatened to burn Korans at his non-denominational Christian Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida in 2010. This debacle turned into worldwide news as the ‘International Burn A Koran Day’ grew ever nearer. Seemingly every few hours, Mr. Jones would address the media outside, in front of a large sign promoting the event in large homely red letters. This was because he thought Islam was evil (or perhaps the wrong religion, in his view), and this act of book-burning would set them right. After various soap-opera shenanigans, sanity appeared to break out with Mr. Jones backing down.

However, on March 21^st, with the cameras and media attention focused on far more important events such as the earthquake in Japan, and the NATO intervention in Libya, Pastor Jones was in attendance at the burning of a Koran organised by a fellow pastor, a certain Wayne Sapp. Details seem to suggest there was a mock trial where the Koran was found guilty, something that Jones’s Monty Python namesake probably couldn’t make up. This is where the amusing nonsense ends though.

Already a fatwa has been placed on Pastor Jones’ head, although it is hard to have sympathy with such an idiot. More worryingly, we have seen the above-mentioned massacre by a bunch of fascists who can be triggered by nothing more than the burning of a book. Troublemakers everywhere now know you can kick-start massacres by simply burning a badly-written book. Talk about sparking things off!

For atheists this incident must be very depressing. The silliness of the U.S. Christian Right Wing and the barbarity of Islamofacism are rooted in books of myths, lies and hatred. However, while the act of Pastors Jones and Sapp may seem juvenile to us atheists, the reaction of certain Muslims is simply horrendous. Just how many more trivial things are they going to get upset about? How many more fatwas are going to be issued because of offence taken via a burnt book of mythology? How many more murders over a drawing of the Prophet Mohammad?

The problem for the civilised world is that this sort of barbarism can’t be contained (without resorting to full-scale war), can’t be negotiated with and can’t be reconciled with. At the moment, radicals of all religions can hide behind the myths, grievances and traditions upheld by so-called ‘moderate’ believers. As an atheist, one of the solutions could be the flourishing of secular, non-religious values. That would at least, leave the fundamentalists alone and isolated.

Sadly, and worryingly, it appears that these brutes have plenty of support. The enlightenment began in the 16^th and 17^th centuries in Europe. Crucially, it hasn’t even begun elsewhere, and that could be humanity’s downfall. I fear this is just the beginning of the flames of madness.