There’s a lot of talk right now about Newsweek retracting its story about the military in Guantanamo Bay flushing the Koran down the toilet. Yes Newsweek completely messed up, but what about the overreactions by the Muslim world. If people were to flush a book that I consider holy, or otherwise desecrate things I consider to be holy, is that justification for me to engage in wanton destruction? I don’t think so. I would be upset that someone would desecrate something I hold sacred, but my God is resilient enough that he doesn’t need me to go nuts because of someone’s idiotic actions.

Considers this from a Reuters story:

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Pakistan dismissed on Tuesday as inadequate an apology and retraction by the Newsweek magazine of a report that U.S. interrogators at Guantanamo Bay had desecrated the Koran.

The report in the magazine’s May 9 issue sparked protests across the Muslim world, from Afghanistan, where 16 people were killed and more than 100 injured, to Pakistan, India, Indonesia and Gaza.

“The apology and retraction are not enough,” Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed told Reuters.

“They should understand the sentiments of Muslims and think 101 times before publishing news which hurt feelings of Muslims.”

The magazine retracted the story on Monday.

Newsweek shouldn’t have to consider if its story would “hurt the feelings of Muslims.” There a lot of stories that are newsworthy and true and as a direct result they “hurt the feelings of” many groups. Newsweek should be concerned about reporting the truth and reporting newsworthy material–not about hurting people’s feelings. I hope these riots and Pakistan’s Information Minister’s comments aren’t mainstream, because these Muslims need thicker skin.