Concern is growing in the Muslim world over the proliferation of “fatwas,” according to a recent National Public Radio story.

Unqualified clerics are popping up on Islamic TV and popping off on all sorts of subjects.

The latest involved a “much-ridiculed” breastfeeding fatwa which, according to NPR, “proposed that a woman could work alongside an unrelated man if she had breast-fed him five times.”

Hmmm. That’s as a child, right?

“You cannot do fatwa on TV,” one Egyptian lawmaker told NPR. Saudi King Abdullah has also issued new guidelines to rein in the “chaos of fatwas.”

Oh, how we wish the king could.

Actually, when you think about it, TV is fatwa city — meaning it is full of people making half-baked pronouncements about everything under the sun.

And the more outrageous the proposition, the more media attention it attracts.

Yes, we’re looking at Gainesville, Fla., where Pastor Terry Jones has parked a trailer full of firewood on the lawn of his church and mounted a sign: “International Burn a Koran Day.”

It’s strategically set for Sept. 11.

Jones, a former hotel manager, missionary and seller of used furniture on eBay, often packs a pistol on his hip and preaches to fewer than 30 parishioners. He told ABC News that he has lost half his congregation over his Quran edict.

Everyone from local ministers to Gen. David Petraeus has implored Jones to knock it off. Wednesday, Petraeus warned that if Jones persists, it could “endanger troops and it could endanger the overall effort.”

Unfortunately, Jones must feel he has received his marching orders from an authority with more stars on his shoulder: God.

God, of course, has been speaking to people for centuries. And for centuries it was difficult for those people to relay what they had been told to the rest of the world.

God was probably relieved by that.

What’s new is the way TV can inflate the ramblings of a marginal religious figure — some would say fruitcake — into an international incident.

Muslims in Middle Eastern countries have already taken to the streets to protest the burning of their holy book.

We are sure counter-marches will be organized in the U.S., some supporting pastor Jones and others, no doubt, condemning him.

All of which illustrates why sanity and reason have such a difficult time getting traction in our media-rich world.

If a pastor parks a sign on the church lawn proclaiming something reasonable, say “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” TV camera crews and reporters are unlikely to beat a path to his door.

Proclaim something wild, like let’s make a bonfire out of another religion’s holy book, and you become an international sensation, your stern visage beamed to millions of people around the world.

The good news, if there is any to be had, is that Pastor Jones has only managed to collect 30 Qurans so far for the burning.

And, of course, he has a couple of days to relent and lift his Quran-burning fatwa.

He’s made his point. Everyone’s riled up. His book is sold out on Amazon.com. His 15 minutes of fame is up.

It’s time to move on before people get hurt.

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