For a long time, when people have apologized to me, I have asked them to prove they are sorry. Being sorry doesn't really do anything for me. It assuages your guilt. People who should make restitution frequently get away without doing it and people who didn't do anything wrong frequently get roasted for things.
Today, the Muslim world 'responded' to a pastor who burned a Quran. While I think the burning of any book for any reason is not worth the match, the pastor proved his point- the Quran incites violence. When Muslim terrorists flew planes into the World Trade Center, we were told we had to view them as isolated incidents. When a single man in America burned a Quran, the entire middle east erupted. Their leaders should be out on the radio asking their people to calm down, because if a crime has been commited that offended God, let God arrest and try the man. For that matter, who are the centralized leaders of the Muslim faith?
Rightly so, the pastor took no responsibility. They want him to apologize. They want him to regret it. Should he? While what he did is a part of a chain of events that now exists, until the ultimate act of retaliation is committed, people have a choice to do anything other than lash out. That was part of Christ's message- to turn the other cheek. Unless you directly do the thing that hurts you, like smashing your thumb with a hammer, you have no need to regret what you did, and unless you smashed someone else's thumb, you also have no need to apologize.
How can you apologize for something you didn't do? How can you regret something that another person chose? I have previously although perhaps elsewhere written that sometimes you will play all the cards right and still lose. Even if someone hasn’t changed the rules without telling you, there is still a chance, however remote, that a person can throw away their entire hand and be dealt a royal flush. Find people who play by the rules, but whether you win or not, be a man of honor. What the pastor did wasn't very honorable, but it was also not honorable to behead a Christian in retaliation.
Americans are frequently told we need to be the better people. By and large, we are. By and large also, the things Americans do to each other that hurt their fellows are done not from malicious intent but rather out of ignorance or lack of attention. We are very distracted. However, if the Quran really is the word of Allah, then I think it should be put to the test of Elijah- let Allah come down and defend himself. He does not need us if he really is omnipotent, and he certainly doesn't need them.
Part of restitution requires recognition and compassion. Jesus taught his followers that he who is without sin among us should first cast a stone at the accused. I know on any introspection that I am less than I ought to be, and I wager so are all the people involved in today's tragic trauma. I feel bad for the innocents dragged into this, not because of their ideology but because of their inappropriate proximity. I urge the pastor to desist, but I appreciate the proof of his point. Let us now be the bigger people and follow the Prince of Peace, even Jesus Christ.
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