Burning the Koran is a step too far for Sarah Palin

Sarah Palin, the former US vice presidential nominee, has joined the increasing criticism of a Florida church’s planned Koran burning ceremony, calling it “insensitive and an unnecessary provocation.”

Her comments came as Terry Jones, the pastor behind the event, said he still planned to go ahead with the ceremony, but indicated he was praying for guidance.

Mrs Palin, the former governor of Alaska, said: “Book burning is antithetical to American ideals. People have a constitutional right to burn a Koran if they want to, but doing so is insensitive and an unnecessary provocation – much like building a mosque at Ground Zero.”

Mrs Palin urged Pastor Jones to reconsider the possible effects of their planned gesture, which has drawn expressions of outrage from around the globe.

“It will feed the fire of caustic rhetoric and appear as nothing more than mean-spirited religious intolerance. Don’t feed that fire,” she said.

“If your ultimate point is to prove that the Christian teachings of mercy, justice, freedom, and equality provide the foundation on which our country stands, then your tactic to prove this point is totally counter-productive.”

Read the full story in the Telegraph.