The top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan warned Tuesday a Florida church’s threat to burn copies of the Muslim holy book could endanger U.S. troops in the country and Americans worldwide.

“Images of the burning of a Koran would undoubtedly be used by extremists in Afghanistan — and around the world — to inflame public opinion and incite violence ,” Gen. David Petraeus said. “Were the actual burning to take place, the safety of our soldiers and civilians would be put in jeopardy and accomplishment of the mission would be made more difficult.”

His comments followed a protest Monday by hundreds of Afghans over the plans by Gainesville, Florida-based Dove World Outreach Center — a small, evangelical Christian church that espouses anti-Islam philosophy — to burn copies of the Koran on church grounds to mark the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Petraeus warned images of burning Korans could be used to incite anti-American sentiment similar to the pictures of prisoner abuse at Iraq’s Abu Graib prison.

“I am very concerned by the potential repercussions of the possible (Koran) burning. Even the rumor that it might take place has sparked demonstrations such as the one that took place in Kabul yesterday,” Petraeus said.

… “It could endanger troops and it could endanger the overall effort in Afghanistan. It is precisely the kind of action the Taliban uses and could cause significant problems. Not just here, but everywhere in the world we are engaged with the Islamic community,” he said in a statement provided to Fox News.

To the idiots at this retarded church: whose side are you on, exactly?? I can understand the desire to burn the Qurans and piss the perpetually-offended Muslims off. I really do. But wouldn’t the Christian thing to do be to, I don’t know, not be hateful? It doesn’t sound like they are trying to be very Christ-like.

That aside, what Petraeus is saying makes perfect sense. Part of what we are doing in Afghanistan is trying to convince Afghans that we are the good guys. We are trying to earn their respect, and show them that we are better than the Taliban. But, as Petraeus pointed out, burning these Qurans plays right into the hands of the Taliban. The Taliban will use images of Americans burning Qurans against us. They will use the images to convince Muslims that Americans can’t be trusted and that we don’t respect them. It’s an easy way to push Afghans off of the bench and into the game. It’s easy propaganda for extremists to use to convince other Muslims to join in the jihad.

All of this is really not that difficult to figure out. So, again, exactly whose side is this church on? They’re not on the side of America. They’re certainly not doing the Christian thing.

Frankly, they sound more like Muslim extremists than Christians to me.

“We are using this act to warn about the teaching and ideology of Islam, which we do hate as it is hateful. We do not hate any people, however. We love, as God loves, all the people in the world and we want them to come to a knowledge of the truth,” the blog reads.

If they don’t hate anyone, then why are they going out of their way to piss a bunch of people off? They aren’t going to get any Muslims to convert to Christianity by offending them. If anything, they’ll just make them more entrenched in Islam and more anti-Christian than they were before. This is quite possibly the stupidest idea I have ever heard.

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The internet has been buzzing about the story of Jennifer Keeton. She was a student at Augusta State University, trying to get a degree in counseling. An outspoken Christian, Keeton is not supportive of so-called “gay rights”. She was not shy about expressing her biblical perspective on homosexuality both in and out of class, and the university responded by expelling her. They claim that a bias against homosexuality disqualifies her from a certification in counseling, and gave her the option of undergoing a remediation program, complete with gay sensitivity training (read: brainwashing), or expulsion. And so, Keeton sued the school.

According to Keeton’s civil complaint, school officials met with her a number of times this spring to express concern over her open disagreement with gay and lesbian lifestyles in her classes and her writing assignments.

“You couldn’t be a teacher, let alone a counselor, with those views,” a faculty member told her during one meeting, according to the complaint.

The officials outlined a remediation plan for Keeton that would include such things as participating in diversity sensitivity workshops, completing reading and writing assignments on the topic and possibly attending the Augusta Gay Pride Parade, the complaint said.

She refused, writing in an e-mail to Augusta State officials, “[Y]ou are requiring me to alter my objective beliefs and also to commit now that if I ever may have a client who wants me to affirm their decision to have an abortion or engage in gay, lesbian, or transgender behavior, I will do that.

“I can’t alter my biblical beliefs, and I will not affirm the morality of those behaviors in a counseling situation.”

You know, one might think that if Keeton’s religious views on homosexuality made her a bad counselor, that it would be her problem. One might think that if a client had a problem with her views of homosexuality, they could find another counselor. It’s frankly outrageous that a university would force a student to undergo a homosexual brainwashing program because they disagreed with her religious beliefs. There is freedom of religion in this country, after all. Oh, and freedom of speech, too. The university is basically forcing a student to undergo a thought reform program, because they don’t like what her point of view or her beliefs. They’re trying to spin it otherwise, like they don’t mind her beliefs — as long as she keeps her mouth shut and never, ever mentions them. So basically, this university believes that Christians should only be Christian behind closed doors. Thousands of Christians across the country believe exactly the same thing that Keeton believes, so are they not welcome at Augusta State, either? We’re back to Christianity being targeted and attacked, where Christians aren’t allowed to be Christians in the public square. God forbid those poor helpless fragile victims, the gays, be offended!!

Unfortunately, a federal judge has ruled in favor of another university who did something similar. So, guess what? Christianity is apparently no longer allowed on public universities. Freedom of religion?! Please! The delicate sensibilities of the gays and the politically correct crowd are so much more important than silly things like freedom of speech and religion.

A federal judge has ruled in favor of a public university that removed a Christian student from its graduate program in school counseling over her belief that homosexuality is morally wrong

… U.S. District Judge George Caram Steeh dismissed [Julea] Ward’s lawsuit against Eastern Michigan University. She was removed from the school’s counseling program last year because she refused to counsel homosexual clients.

The university contended she violated school policy and the American Counseling Association code of ethics.

… The case is similar to a lawsuit the [Alliance Defense Fund] filed against Augusta State University in Georgia. Counseling student Jennifer Keeton was allegedly told to stop sharing her Christian beliefs in order to graduate.

Keeton’s lawsuit alleged that she was told to undergo a reeducation program and attend “diversity sensitivity training.”

The American Counseling Association’s code of ethics does not trump the First Amendment. And this judge has now ruled that approval of homosexuality is now mandatory in public universities. The country founded on Judeo-Christian beliefs is now requiring Christians not to express those Judeo-Christian beliefs. This is what “embracing diversity” is all about, after all. Only acceptable kinds of diverse backgrounds and beliefs are allowed. Public universities are, in two separate cases, imposing ideological beliefs onto their students and the kicking them out if they don’t comply.

Christian or not, approve of homosexuality or not, if you value freedom, that should scare you.

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