Short Term Thinking and Long Term Consequences

Okay. You never know where you are going to find new examples of stupidity. Take this for example.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100907/ap_on_re_as/as_afghanistan

I mean come on folks. What do these good "patriotic" Christians think is going to happen when they get their kicks burning up the Koran. I think that a lot of the claims that what we do fuels Muslim rage is overblown. But this time the General is right. Do they remember the number of deaths that occurred after the Muhammad cartoons. Yes it is their legal right to destroy the Koran but it is just wrong for them to do it (kind of like the 9/11 Mosque situation but I digress).

But when you think about it, this is a good move for this church. They are a church of fifty people. Joel Osteen the pastor is not. This stunt has given them all sorts of national and even international news. I would be surprised if they remain at fifty people. There are plenty of others who hate Muslims who will cheer them on and support them. Some of these people may even join the church. So what is bad for the troops and certain to lead to death is actually a good move if this church wants to gain notoriety. What is it they say. There is no such thing as bad publicity.

This brings out a larger societal issue. Often what aids us, or our group, in the short run hurt a lot more people in the long run. The welfare cheat benefits his/herself in the short run. But in doing so make it harder for us to get the aid people really need in the long run. The factory gains in the short run from exploiting labor. But in the long run this exploitation sets up unions and government regulation that stifles the economy and eventually cuts into the factory's bottom line. We do not always do well with long range thinking.

We have lost some of the will to overlook short-term gain for the higher good of serving our society. There are a lot of reasons for this. But our notion of individualism and entitlement can lead to some horrible consequences if we are not careful. I hope this church reconsiders and does something that expresses their opposition to Islam in a more responsible and less flamboyant way. I also hope that more of us consider the good for the community and society to be at least as important as the good for us and our particular group.

Sincerely,

Trouble-Maker