Sagepaper

There are both peaceful and violent demonstrations against the US in the Islamic world. In a sense, that is not surprising, they seem perpetually perturbed at us. This time, though, they have good cause. That is why we are seeing violent demonstrations even in our newly allied countries.

The problem began with a magazine report that the Quran had been desecrated at the Guantanamo detention camp. Reportedly, Qurans were placed on toilets to unnerve inmates. It is said that at least one Quran was flushed down a toilet. The US military has promised a full investigation, and has said that it is against our policy to disrespect the holy scriptures of any religion.

If this happened, how can we right the wrong? A slap on the wrist won't do. Even a stiff prison sentence would fall short of the mark, although it would send a clearer message of contrition. The death penalty is, of course, out of the question. We must respect our own values as well as theirs.

I think I know of an appropriate sentence for anyone found guilty of these acts. I think they should be required to copy by hand one Quran each. Since copying holy scriptures is a serious undertaking, I think they should have each page approved by the highest level cleric at Guantanamo. Lest the cleric try to be unpleasable, I think there should be a mechanism to appeal to a Muslim Army Chaplain.

This is both a specific, and an open-ended sentence. Each soldier so sentenced would have control over their own diligence. They could balance for themselves going fast with copying perfectly. If it would be preferable to Muslims, the soldiers could, I suppose, use a word processor setup in Arabic. I think the handwriting exercise would be better, however.

I only raise the issue of using a computer because I have dysgraphia. I would probably go eight times slower than would an average person. It is possible that other factors besides diligence could affect the duration of the sentence.

This is somewhat like writing, "I will not throw spitballs in class," a hundred times on the blackboard. Americans are familiar with the concept of a lot of writing being a punishment. This would be different, though. Instead of mind numbing repetition, copying the holy scriptures of another language would require constant attention to detail.

The only thing that might be a real problem with this is whether Muslims would take it as a further desecration to have infidels copying the Quran. If that weren't a problem, though, I would think the approved complete copies could be sent to the appropriate countries of origin to display in their libraries or museums. The problem is symbolic, so should be the solution.