Unlike the completely alleged, never-substantiated, and since-retracted Newsweek story, much religiously motivated desecration takes place in the world. Not surprisingly, the vast majority is perpetrated by extremist Muslims. (Referenced in the articles linked: desecration of Joseph's tomb and the murder of a young rabbi who tried to save a Torah, a Jewish cemetary on the Mount of Olives, the Jewish religious school at the Shalom al Yisrael synagogue in Jericho, the Christian Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, photographer Andres Serrano's ''Piss Christ" -- a photograph of a crucifix submerged in urine, Sinead O'Connor ripping up a photograph of Pope John Paul II during a Saturday Night Live appearance, and the destruction of two priceless, 1,500-year-old statues of Buddha by the Taliban government in Afghanistan.) How do Jews, Christians, and people of other faiths respond?
CNSNews reports that the usual response is not outraged violence, but grief:
"No one has ever been killed [over a desecration]," Rosenblum said. "There have been desecrations here in shuls [synagogues]," he said. "It provoked rending of garments."
And what of the Christian response?
Christian places have also been desecrated. The most prominent example was the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, seized and held by Palestinian militants for more than a month. The church is built over the grotto where many Christians believe Jesus was born.
During the 39-day siege, in which the militants held clergy captive, militants reportedly urinated on the floor, used pages of the Bible as toilet paper and stole all the gold and other religious ornaments they could find.
When the militants left, the Christian response was to clean the place in time for Sunday Mass.
Columnist Jeff Jacoby explains why Islam is disrespected in a Boston Herald column today. While Muslim nations rage, civilized society reacts to similar (and much worse) treatment without resorting to violence:
Of course, there was a good reason all these bloody protests went unremembered in the coverage of the Newsweek affair: They never occurred.
Christians, Jews, and Buddhists don't lash out in homicidal rage when their religion is insulted. They don't call for holy war and riot in the streets. It would be unthinkable for a mainstream priest, rabbi, or lama to demand that a blasphemer be slain.
Of course, I find it completely hypocritical that a society that encourages "honor" killings of rape victims - not to mention all the other myriad human-rights violations of Muslim women - claims to value a mere book so highly.
And let us not forget: the one documented incident of Qa'ran desecration at Gitmo was perpetrated by... a Muslim prisoner:
Other Pentagon officials said the only person who had desecrated the Koran at Guantanamo Bay was a detainee who ripped pages from the Muslim holy book and used them to plug a toilet as a way to protest his detention.
