Staff Editorial: International consequences for Quran burning threat

By now you’ve probably heard of Terry Jones, the evangelical pastor who has become the “international villain” with a radical mission to burn Quran. Whether or not this idea is to honor the fallen of 9/11 or a protest of the Muslim community center being built at Ground Zero, the national consensus is that Mr. Jones is out of his mind.

But what about the rest of the world?

Sadly, a handful of self-righteous people even suggesting this blatant act of ignorance and disrespect to another’s culture will leave a scar across international news, tainting how others around the world see the U.S.

INDONESIA
“This threatens peace and international security. This is something that endangers harmony among religious people.”
- President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, during a nationally televised address marking the end of Ramadan

VATICAN CITY
Proposed Koran burning “outrageous and grave.” The terrorist attacks “cannot be counteracted by an outrageous and grave gesture against a book considered sacred by a religious community.”

IRAN
“Burning the Quran will accelerate Israel’s fall (and its) annihilation.”
- President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

IRAQ
“This will cause damage in the relations between religions, human and cultural communication between the nations, if it happens ... It might be taken by the fundamentalists as a pretext to do more killings and counter-killing.”
- Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki

“We want to tell this cleric that his behavior is wrong and we are preachers of peace. Churches still exist in Iraq and they are respected, along with other religious books.”
- Iraqiya member Fattah al-Sheikh

“The crusader and zionist trumpets in America and Europe are disclosing their real identity and their hostile position to Islam and Muslims by conducting this disgraceful action.”
- Shi’ite militia Kata’ib Hizballah

PAKISTAN
“Anyone who even thought of such a despicable act must be suffering from a diseased mind and a sickly soul.”
- President Asif Ali Zardari

“We have heard that they have postponed the plans to burn the holy Koran, but it is not enough. We will continue to raise our voice, so that it never happens again.”
- Cleric Mufti Hidayatullah Pasroori

FINLAND
“If you have freedom of speech, you also have freedom to use your brain, and unfortunately in this particular case this was somehow lacking.”  
- Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb

GERMANY
“...loathsome and extremely dangerous for peace in the world.”
- Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle

“Abhorrent ... simply wrong.”
- Chancellor Angela Merkel

EUROPEAN UNION
“I did express my wish that we shouldn’t see anything of that nature taking place. I hope today will be very calm.”
- Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton

CANADA
“I unequivocally condemn it ... I don’t speak very often about my own religion, but let me be very clear: My God and my Christ is a tolerant God, and that’s what we want to see in this world.”
- Prime Minister Stephen Harper

“An insult to all believers.”
- Defense Minister Peter MacKay

SAUDI ARABIA
“This is an attack on Islam, an attack against Muslims.”
- Editorial in the English-language Saudi newspaper Arab News