To the world's 1 billion Muslims:
I understand that many of you hold an image of America that is represented by the photos of Abu Ghraib, the stories from Guantanamo, the deaths and mutilations of so many innocent civilians in Afghanistan and Iraq, and now small-time Florida preacher Terry Jones, who plans to host a Koran-burning event on Saturday, the 9th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Please know that those actions represent the twisted psyches of a few extremists, not all Americans.
Most thinking Americans know that the 9/11 attacks were not waged by Islam itself but rather by a few extremists who hijacked your religion along with those planes. Likewise, "Reverend" Jones, in his Koran-burning plans, has hijacked Christianity in a most perverted way.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has called Jones's plan "disgraceful", and even former President George W. Bush is on record saying "Islam is peace."
Many Americans have personal relationships with Muslim friends and coworkers and understand that we're all human beings, and most of us just want to get along.
If Jones and his followers go through with his extremist plan, I suppose that some extremists in the Muslim world will react in a counterproductive way. Every belief system has its extremists. And so violence begets violence, and hate begets hate.
I just hope that reasonable people on both sides can counter the destruction.
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