Palin Facebook note: 'Koran burning is insensitive, unnecessary'

In the recent history of rhetoric, few things are as baffling as the following note posted Tuesday on former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's Facebook page. The note condemns Pastor Terry Jones's plan to hold a mass burning of The Qur'an. So far so good, right? Palin deserves recognition for joining the chorus against that outrage. But using the same justification -- religious tolerance and respect for others -- the note also reiterates her opposition to the founding of Park51, an Islamic Center in New York City. Read more from Facebook below. (Especially if you've been given a school assignment to find a contemporary example of rhetorical fallacy. Perhaps this is a new type of that esoteric equivocation, the 'if-by-whiskey', in this case, the 'if-by-tolerance'.)

"Koran Burning Is Insensitive, Unnecessary; Pastor Jones, Please Stand Down"

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.

I would hope that Pastor Terry Jones and his supporters will consider the ramifications of their planned book-burning event. It will feed the fire of caustic rhetoric and appear as nothing more than mean-spirited religious intolerance. Don't feed that fire. 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.

Our nation was founded in part by those fleeing religious persecution. Freedom of religion is integral to our charters of liberty. We don't need to agree with each other on theological matters, but tolerating each other without unnecessarily provoking strife is how we ensure a civil society. In this as in all things, we should remember the Golden Rule. Isn't that what the Ground Zero mosque debate has been about?

- Sarah Palin