It went down this way. Rev. Terry Jones heard from the Lord that all those excellent reasons for burning a Koran should be waived if and only if Cordoba House (aka Park51, aka the Mosque of Doom) is moved a few blocks uptown, lest the practice of Islam (“from the Devil,” in the theology of Jones’ International House of Spiritual Dovebars) pollute the Holy of Holies at Ground Zero and bring down His Wrath. Something along those lines. Bring on Harrison Ford.

The key point here is that the proposed Islamic Center has become the all-purpose wedge for legitimating Islamophobia in America today. Everybody down to Sarah Palin disapproves of burning Korans, but gosh, you might trump Donald Trump himself if you drag Ground Zero into it.

Meanwhile, even the most benign expressions of religious inclusivity are becoming occasions for the digital outpouring of anti-Muslim bile. A couple of days ago, the Hartford City Council was inundated when it resolved to diversify its pre-meeting prayers with an Islamic invocation now and then. Given how little interest the Hartford City Council generates these days, I’ve got to believe that most of the angry emails came from non-Hartford residents. But these days, it’s hard to know.