We need to educate ourselves about issues that separate and harm. Allowing fear and ignorance is a defeatist attitude. We should harness the same energy and educate ourselves about the things we might not comprehend.

This is an opportunity to learn about the religion, the culture and the people of Islam before another ill-judged action is made.

Tolerance is not enough, we have to do more than say, “I can’t get rid of you, so I’ll tolerate you being here.” Embracing the differences and educating oneself about them with an open mind is a remedy to the blind hate permeating our world. Through education, one can understand what it is they might like or dislike about another race or culture instead of agreeing with stereotypes, hate tactics and stone-cold ignorance.

Whoever burned the Quran hoped for the instantaneous reaction that is fed by prejudice and bias. They shouldn’t receive the satisfaction.

The perpetrator or perpetrators want our attention and need our anger. Instead, we should reward their cowardice by focusing on other, more positive things. A clown can only be a clown if they have an audience.

What they have done is tarnish all of us. Even though the actors were few, the residents of East Lansing will be part of a place where blatant disrespect of beliefs is possible. By extension, MSU might feel a little of the heat as well. Will it be deserved? No. But negativity tends to have collateral damage.

Perhaps we can’t control what the world sees, but we can do our best to highlight the good instead of the bad.

For example, across town from where the destroyed Quran was found, an Episcopal church held a Quran reading as a show of community unity.

Positivity still finds a way to prevail.

Even with all the anger surrounding this incident, there can be a silver lining. The community has already offered more support, more outreach toward the Islamic community.

There is good and bad, but learning to not always reach for the negative feedback and to look toward a positive initiative might help heal the wounds of cultural intolerance.

The fallout of this incident shows how powerful a small action can be. It underscores how contagious and destructive rumors can be. This was just a small link in a chain of malicious acts from Tennessee to New York to Washington, D.C., and in the end, halfway across the world in India, 15 people are dead.

Hate is a contagious virus. Let’s not become carriers.