By Caitlin Walsh, Contributing Writer

Imagine, for a moment if Pastor Terry Jones did not threaten to burn the Qur’an. Imagine it was the Bible, or the Torah, or another religion’s holy book. Would the reaction in our country have been the same? What about worldwide?

America is a country of freedoms. So many freedoms that we have to prioritize them. Take the First Amendment as an example: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”James Madison placed the clauses about religion before the speech clause- does that mean that the freedom of religion is valued more than the freedom of speech? Or is freedom of religion valued the least and is the most easily infringed upon than the other freedoms?

The one caveat to our right to practice religion freely is that it must be safe. If I believe in a god that is appeased by human sacrifices, I cannot kill my family members, offer them up as sacrifices to my god and then claim my right to exercise my religion as an excuse. What Pastor Jones was planning to do was covered under his freedom of speech, but it was not covered under his freedom of religion. It would have put service men and women serving abroad in religiously tense hotspots in further danger. Both General Petraeus and President Obama were right in asking Jones to not go through with his planned event. There were riots in Kabul just because Jones had announced his intention to burn the Qur’an. Imagine the reaction if he had actually gone through with it.

            Although Pastor Jones did come to senses and call of the burning, this case is a stark example of how supposedly tolerant Americans are of other religions. We tend to forget that Islam is of the same tree that our Judeo-Christian background came from. The three religions are all Abrahamic faiths and their followers are all supposed to be “People of the Book.” Understandably, America’s mindset is framed by the events of the last decade. We were attacked by terrorists who follow a twisted version of Islam and wage war on all infidels. I’m sure some Muslims – both moderates and extremists – view Pastor Jones’ threats much the same way: as one man, so twisted by his faith and righteousness, waging war against their way of life. He never listened to President Bush, who said right after 9/11 that we would not wage war against Islam.