THE PERIL OF TOO MUCH LIBERTY

There is no doubt about the fact that liberty is one of the pillars that carries the massive burden of democracy, which promotes the culture of good governance. To a very large extent, liberty has become synonymous with the United States mainly because of the amount of importance the North American country attaches to the rights and freedom of her citizens. This is one very strong reason why democracy has fared better in the United States than any other country on the face of the earth. But owing to the gross misunderstanding of the spirit of liberty, many have, and will continue to abuse its goodwill with reckless impunity. Ordinarily, liberty is supposed to stimulate human, economic, and societal growth. It therefore becomes abnormal if in exercising the spirit of liberty, the good of man and society is threatened.

In clear practical terms, liberty encourages people to hold their individual and collective views on wide range of issues. Nevertheless, every individual and organisation is under legitimate obligation to exercise liberty to the extent that it does not hurt another person, organisation or lead to the breaking down of law and order. The recent threat by the Florida based preacher, Terry Jones to publicly burn copies of the Holy Koran as part of efforts to symbolically mark the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 terror attack was an abuse of the spirit of liberty. It is however sad that despite the colossal danger posed by the threat, the Barrack Obama led administration failed to protect the sanctity of liberty by not charging Terry Jones to court for acts capable of breaching public peace. Washington’s intoxicating hollow silence has taken the place of strong wine. Without doubt, Terry Jones and his like-minds have been emboldened by Washington’s Silence Wine. This indifferent attitude has also helped to send out a wrong signal to religious extremists in the United States. The message would have definitely been positive if the authorities had done more than just condemning the expensive threats by Terry Jones. All of these are huge warnings that the United States has not learnt anything from the 9/11 attack. With no lesson learnt, there cannot be strong guarantees that the very roots that watered 9/11 have been pulled up.

It is not enough to blame Al Qaeda for the attack on the World Trade Centre and Pentagon. Even though nothing can justify reasons for the 9/11 attack, the truth has emerged: The likes of Terry Jones are the fuel that fires the engines of Islamic fundamentalism in the United States and all over the world. Though, I am not a Muslim, it is quite clear that Islam is not built on the principles of violence and intolerance of other religions as canvassed by many commentators. Religious extremism is not restricted to Islam alone. Nevertheless, it is quite true that Islam is conformist in nature. For this reason, the few conservative Muslim community is more likely to openly defend their religion than Christians or other sects would. The decision by Terry Jones to overtly burn copies of the Holy Koran was therefore a calculated attempt to plunge the whole world into the abyss of violence and hate. The entire world should stand up and condemn this infuriating act by Terry Jones.

It is pertinent to note that the burning of copies of the Holy Koran cannot compensate for the human, material, and economic loss that arose from the 9/11 attack. Why then should any right thinking person or organisation waste valuable time that could be used for productive efforts to contemplate about pricking the apple in the eyes of the Muslim world and expect peace? For the avoidance of doubt, peace is sold for the price of respect. As individuals and organisations, we must endeavour to respect the constitutional rights and privileges of others. This is one way the likes of Terry Jones will be kept away from decent people and save humanity lots of troubles. There are abundant facts that the 9/11 terror attack was not the idea of the Islamic community but the will of a group of deviants. It is for this reason that commentators should avoid painting the Muslim community as violent and intolerant of other religions. Each religion should do well to carry on within the context of law and order, but allow God to judge.

It should be equally noted that because of its conformist nature, the majority moderate Muslim community has found it a bit difficult to reform the common template for engaging the supposed enemies of their faith. This is dilemma confronting both the Muslim community and Washington. It would be recalled that the United States has been the major target of terrorists groups linked to some prominent Islamic militant organisations such as Al Qaeda and Hamas. Personally, I do not see violent confrontation as the best way to fight Islamic fundamentalism. Owing to the important place religion occupy in the lives of men, many are forced to go to the extreme to “please” God with the fertile hope of harvesting bountiful reward here on earth and in heaven. In the place of violent engagement of Islamic fundamentalists, enough of human and material resources should be invested to sensitise humanity about the importance and limits of liberty. In as much as freedom is good, men and organisations should know how far their individual and collective liberty should go. This is one of the surest ways through which peaceful coexistence among different faiths can be promoted. Each person’s freedom ends where that of the next person begins.

I am greatly worried about the covert activities of millions of other Terry Jones scattered all over the face of the earth. It is the duty of all well-meaning persons to be on the look out for them and dismiss their diversionary antics. Furthermore, international conventions and protocols should be put in place to discourage all forms of religious prejudice.

There are big lessons to be learnt from the Terry Jones’ shallow knowledge of God. In as much as liberty is a divine gift from God, it must not be allowed to destroy the foundation of peace. On the part of government, no citizen or organisation should be over-fed with the fruit of liberty as exemplified by Terry Jones. The threat by the Florida preacher to burn copies of the Holy Koran has indeed confirmed that liberty is more muscular than even the strongest wine. This is the reason why enough constitutional safeguards should be put in place to check any eventuality. I join millions of people around the globe to condemn the poisonous threat by Terry Jones. The United States constitution has over-fed him with liberty. He deserves a long stay in confinement. He should not be welcome in the comity of sane persons until he is certified to be mentally fit.