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So some goober wants to conduct a public Koran-burning, partly because that book of scripture is bad while this book of scripture is good, and partly as a brilliant plan to protest Islamic extremists by equally enraging Muslim extremists and moderates alike. ("It's so crazy it just might..." Nah. I don't think so.)

As of this writing, the torching is on hold while the pastor milks all the publicity possible out of the uproar. He's got the full attention and commentary of Muslims, Christians, and atheists around the world – even pleas to desist from US President Obama, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, and military commander Gen. David Petraeus! Not bad for a nobody from an unknown "ministry" in Florida.

Those high-level voices are calling for a halt to the stunt in the interest of avoiding riots and worse. It's a damn shame that anyone – even a goober burning silly books to get attention – has to refrain from goofy but perfectly legal activity because some offended persons will react with psychotic violence. But that's the reality of the world, and I have to agree with Obama and the rest: The burning will needlessly place real lives at risk, whether US soldiers in the Middle East, US citizens around the world, or just anyone who gets in the way of the offended lunatics.

I can't agree today with PZ Myers:

Shall we surrender a few more liberties because religious zealots are threatening us? Obama can do nothing and should do nothing; he accomplishes nothing by complaining about it, other than being part of the mob confirming the madness of the defenders of faith.

And to suggest that some guy burning a book in a remote land will incite more anti-American sentiment is absurd. We've got drones buzzing over Iraq and Afghanistan killing people with a push of a button; we've got an armed force occupying those countries; we have bombed their infrastructure into rubble. We've killed hundreds of thousands of Muslims. And now we're to believe that their love of the West will be suddenly devastated by a video of paper burning on youtube? Get a grip, man. 

Yes, there are people in the Middle East with real reasons to hate the US, and plenty of smart people there who won't see a wacko burning books as adding anything meaningful to the list of grievances. The majority of normal Muslims will shrug it off. But why would PZ or any of us assume that the minority psycho gallery won't fly off the handle and start de-pinning the grenades? They've shown themselves more than willing to do so in the past! 

Literally dozens of deaths came with the hubbub 20 years ago over the alleged blasphemy of Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses. Protests and clashes over cartoons of Mohammed – cartoons! – just five years ago are said to be responsible for over 100 deaths. The US military representatives in the Middle East, including Petraeus, are very clear on their concerns that the Koran burning, no matter how unrepresentative of the US or "the West" at large, can similarly spark violence. With all respect to the normally clear and smart thinking of PZ, I dare say that Petraeus and his colleagues are better versed in the real-world workings of the Middle East. PZ argues that it's a kerfuffle over nothing and that we should all yawn and forget it. That's a perfectly logical argument. But religious extremist loons aren't logical.

The US Department of State would seem to agree. Here's the warning that appeared in my mail box today, in an email from the US Embassy here in Tokyo to US citizens:

Worldwide - Qur'an Burning

The U.S. Embassy in Tokyo is transmitting the following information through the Embassy's warden system as a public service to all U.S. citizens in Japan. Please disseminate this message to U.S. citizens in your organizations or to other Americans you know.

The Department of State is issuing this Travel Alert to caution U.S. citizens of the potential for anti-U.S. demonstrations in many countries in response to stated plans by a church in Florida to burn Qur'ans on the anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Demonstrations, some violent, have already taken place in several countries, including Afghanistan and Indonesia, in response to media reports of the church's plans. The potential for further protests and demonstrations, some of which may turn violent, remains high.  We urge you to pay attention to local reaction to the situation, and to avoid areas where demonstrations may take place.  This Travel Alert expires on September 30, 2010. 

Sound extreme? No, I say; just recall Salman Rushdie and the later Danish cartoons. And while those of us staying in Japan are very unlikely to personally experience any trouble over the matter, anything's possible where offended Godbots are involved. The Japanese translator of The Satanic Verses? Stabbed to death in his own university building in 1991, by a yet-unknown assailant who is suspected to be an Iranian carrying out the anti-Rushdie fatwa. (The fact that translator Hitoshi Igarashi was a Muslim convert who had lived in Iran and himself sympathized with the fatwa didn't help the doomed man.)

I sure hope that PZ's expectations prove correct, and that the Koran burning, should it occur after all, doesn't spark any more violence than we already have in the world. That'd be a relief! I just wouldn't bet on that result, and thus agree with the voices asking Pastor Pyro to stand down. Not that he should be forced to, not that anyone should pretend that we must all "respect" the Koran; rather, we just need to acknowledge the real danger to real people from fanatical believers in fantasy.

Bleah. What an ugly mess. The smartest commentary I've seen so far on the inane brouhaha comes from Martin at The Atheist Experience:

In the end, I think what we as atheists should take away from all this insanity is a sobering realization that this is the kind of world you get when religion runs the show.

Amen.