Media hype surrounds the burning of copies of the #Quran by a Florida pastor and his church. @BarackObama has responded on Twitter with “Burning a Quran is contrary to our values—this country was built on the notions of religious freedom and tolerance.”

As a student of history and strong believer in religious liberty, I am torn.

On the one hand, I believe that church has the right to do what it is doing. On the other hand, I see the distaste many have for its actions. But, let’s face reality - these people are burning books, not kidnapping people, cutting off heads, sending out suicide bombers, or putting IEDs on the roadside.

I believe this activity is an excuse for extreme Muslims to do harm in any way possible. Unfortunately, the media are feeding the frenzy by paying overmuch attention to the church in Florida, and providing ammunition to extremists on both sides.

The truth is, we still live in a free country, and this behavior, while not representative of Christ, IS still protected. This burning is more representative of oppressive Catholic and Reformed activities of the past during times such as the Inquisition and times of little or no religious liberty. Their time would be better spent having coffee with some of the people who read the Quran and trying to genuinely demonstrate the love of Jesus.

What’s sad is the amount of angst generated over this one event, when hundreds are persecuted and killed every day around the world for their Christian faith, and we say nothing.