Jerks for Jesus

What is it that leads some Christians to believe that acting like a jerk is something that Jesus would want them to do in his name, or in gatherings of his people, or…well, anytime, anywhere?
The latest hoopla over preachers threatening to burn the Quran is just one more example in a list that I think must upset God about as much as rereading a list of the kings of Israel and Judah. And if you have any doubt at all whether it was a good idea, even after everyone from the President to General Petraeus to a host of religious leaders was pleading with them not to, consider this one simple question:
Can you honestly picture Jesus daring to burn anyone's religious books unless they agreed to debate him?
Did you even have to stop and think about it?
How is it that people can claim to follow Jesus and then openly, blatantly, brazenly do something they know he would not do? I don't mean, how do followers of Jesus sin, or make mistakes in judgment, or arrive at wrong conclusions on a variety of topics? I mean, how do Christians in a premeditated manner, with malice aforethought, stand up in public and intentionally do something they must know he would never do?
How do they sit in a restaurant and humiliate a waitress for making a mistake and then stiff her on the tip? How do they walk up to an elder after church and chew his ear off because they don't like the song choice that Sunday? How do they pass on inflammatory emails that degrade and slander public officials whose political views they do not share? How do they refuse, on Easter morning, to shake hands with someone with whom they have a disagreement? How do they stage protests at a funeral? How do they go to a town hall meeting or campaign speech and shout and scream and refuse to give someone a chance to speak? How do they sit at a baptism and whistle, not because they are so excited they have to celebrate, but because they are upset that others are clapping? (And no, I did not make any of those up.)
There are all sorts of reasons why I would not want to do any of these things, but one of the best reasons is simply the Golden Rule (you remember that cute little saying of Jesus we all learned in Sunday School). I wouldn't burn a Quran because I wouldn't want someone else to burn a Bible. I wouldn't chew someone's ear off after church, because I wouldn't want someone to do it to me. I wouldn't spread slander about someone else because I wouldn't…well, you get the point. When Jesus said to treat others the way we want to be treated, I think he actually meant for us to live that way. I really don't think he had any desire to launch a movement of Jerks for Jesus.
But maybe an even better reason not to do such things is just plainly and simply because Jesus wouldn't do them.
Christians trying to be like Jesus—is that really such a radical idea?