A church was set on fire in Mardan in response to the anti-Islam film that has so far engulfed the entire Muslim world in a fit of rage. Pakistan went a step ahead among all the protesting countries and celebrated a day in reverence of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) last Friday. The government had aimed to show solidarity with Muslims the world over and to register a strong condemnation of the west on the propagation of such an offensive film. However, putting aside the teachings of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), the protestors in Pakistan went berserk and staged the worst form of protest, going as far as burning the worship place of Christians. What could be worse than this barbaric act, especially when as Muslims we are strongly prohibited from even bad mouthing against a religion leave alone destroy its place of worship? Since when have Christians become alien to us? They are people of the Book. As far as the Quran is concerned, Muslims are to treat Christians with respect and are allowed to even marry them. How then did the protestors set the church on fire in Mardan? Not only did the so-called devotees of the Prophet (PBUH) burn the Saint Paul Sarhadi Church, they also destroyed the library, the school, and the houses of the clergy and roughed up the son of Pastor Chand Masih. The attackers had brought kerosene oil, guns and sculls to destroy the church and its surroundings. All this happened in the name of Islam, for love of the Prophet (PBUH) and in a spirit of ‘holy’ revenge. President Zardari has condemned this act of violence on the Christians of Pakistan who have nothing to do with the film made in the US. In fact they have been protesting against the film along with Muslims and have openly condemned Pastor Terry Jones as well on many occasions. Obviously the burning of the church is directly related to the anti-Islam film. However, our religious intolerance towards minorities is not something new and has been manifested on a number of occasions in a heinous and criminal way, the recent incident being the Rimsha Masih case. The entire episode of Friday should serve as an eye-opener to our religious leaders regarding the religious bigotry that has turned some human beings into beasts in Pakistan. It shows how literate we are about our own religion. Hate begets hate and violence begets violence. Muslims must hang their heads in shame at such un-Islamic acts. *