Poll: International Burn a Koran Day

[Sun Flash]

I would just like to say I read the title as "International Burn a Korean Day". Bit harsh, I thought.

OT: Definately outrageous. Let's offend a whole (mainly innocent) culture, Yeah that'll show the terrorists.

 

[Tim_Buoy]

On one hand there's book burning, and on the other there's sensibility and reason.

Guess which won out in the end.

Burning other people's books is bad. The government burning books is bad. Burning books just because you disagree with what's inside is bad. Burning books to poke at crazy and dangerous barbarian rat bastards? Fucking awesome.

Burning a book is symbolic of the destruction of an idea - no matter the idea, book burning is barbaric, ignorant, and unacceptable in a modern society. Besides, if your enemy jumped off a cliff would you?

Burning qurans causes them to riot and kill other muslims. Whereas when they burn flags and bibles nothing happens over here. So it's more like I draw a cartoon and they jump off a cliff. Besides which, burning a book is only symbolic of the destruction of ideas if you give a damn about the book in the first place. When you're merely doing it to provoke a bunch of idiots, well, then it's awesome. As I said in the other thread, it's a good way to get revenge for the censoring of South Park.

i am surprisingly for burning books i prefer the thicker ones makes a better hotter fire for better roasted marshmallows seriously books make better smores than wood

 

[Snake Plissken]

I don't agree with the backlash he received, but on different grounds.

At the risk of sounding like an insensitive prick, I will go on record saying that I would love to see a Koran burned just as much as I would love to see the burning of the Holy Bible, the Torah, the Book of Mor(m)on, the Vedas, the Bhagavad Gita, etc. etc. etc.

When he decides to man up and burn a Koran, I'll be right next to him burning his holy book.

 

[Infernostrider]

imo, your naming of the muslims burning american signatures is invalid. Humans are hypocritical (sp?), and they always will be. Religion and nationalism are pretty different subjects aswell, but thats a debate best left for another thread.
The point is not so much that the koran burning day idea is bad, the point is more so that it is wrong to go against another persons beliefs. i mean, i'm very much against religion, but you dont see me whoring in the faces of all religious people telling them how stupid i think they are, that's sodding rediculous.

that being said, it was also wrong of bin laden to attack the US for our western beliefs (and i use "our" loosely, as i'm not american). one could, therefore, posit that it's just a justifiable act of revenge.

i wasn't planning on opening up a higher debate, here, if nobody else yet has (and this thread is 9 pages long right now, so i bet somebody has ) because i'm not coming back in here anyway..lazyness ftw...but one could also posit that violence of any sort is wrong and we should try to create and maintain a state similar to the ones found in, for instance, star trek. the few times they went to eart, it was a utopia, people never fought and didn't require money for labor etc...

i'm ending this post now, i'm so tired >< sorry if it feels like half a post, but it's long enough already

 

[KEM10]

I just want to say this is old news. Us cool people that frequent the Politics forum covered this and then some as it was breaking, not over a week after the fact.

 

[ckam]

See how a lot of people wouldn't like this Jones guy to represent you? He is a very small part of Christians and America as well. However, most other countries have now painted him as a major part of your culture, making people think that a lot of Americans and Christians are crazy.

The Muslims that burn symbols frequently are also a small minority in their religion and state. I know a few Muslim families and they would never burn the Bible for no good reason. But crazy Muslims and Arabs are all we think about when we hear of their culture. Well, now we know how it feels to be represented by crazy people.

Edit: I apologize for not explaining this correctly.

 

[Krafty_Krocodile]

when i first read the title "international burn a korean day? shit new malden is going to be a blood bath" then i read it was Koran. im pritty sure its spelt Que'ran or something like that.

In the point at hand, i think its rather pathetic this arguement happening because burning the Qua'ran isnt going to stop the mosque from being built and its just going to piss off some people who just want to live thier lives.

 

[The Amazing Tea Alligator]

No... because if my enemy jumped off a cliff, that would mean that he was dead, and therefore no longer my enemy.

But why is it that you don't want to jump off of the bridge. Why do you not approve of it?

 

[Tim_Buoy]

On one hand there's book burning, and on the other there's sensibility and reason.

Guess which won out in the end.

Burning other people's books is bad. The government burning books is bad. Burning books just because you disagree with what's inside is bad. Burning books to poke at crazy and dangerous barbarian rat bastards? Fucking awesome.

Burning a book is symbolic of the destruction of an idea - no matter the idea, book burning is barbaric, ignorant, and unacceptable in a modern society. Besides, if your enemy jumped off a cliff would you?

Burning qurans causes them to riot and kill other muslims. Whereas when they burn flags and bibles nothing happens over here. So it's more like I draw a cartoon and they jump off a cliff. Besides which, burning a book is only symbolic of the destruction of ideas if you give a damn about the book in the first place. When you're merely doing it to provoke a bunch of idiots, well, then it's awesome. As I said in the other thread, it's a good way to get revenge for the censoring of South Park.

i am surprisingly for burning books i prefer the thicker ones makes a better hotter fire for better roasted marshmallows seriously books make better smores than wood

Where do you get your books? I've always wanted to own books printed on parchment and papyrus.

i normally go to used book stores like half price books and a local one around me called dusty covers oh and barnes and nobles released a few series bound to gether in one volume like the complete hitch hitchkers guide

 

[Marowit]

Hmmm, why does book burning sound so familiar...hmmm, where else were people encouraged to burn books that were not considered O.K. by mainstream ideology...hmmm...Ah!

Indiana Jones!

In all seriousness, people need to grow up. It was a loony that should have never been given the attention he was given doing something abominable that is contrary to the beliefs he's suppose to be espousing (Yes, Christianity is among other things, about tolerance).

 

[blankedboy]

Huh, I thought you were a troll talking about 'Burn a Korean Day'.

 

[Midnight Crossroads]

to start with, no flaming. this a thread which screams "FLAME WAR!!", and im just not interested in that.

so lets keep it simple; a probably slightly slow american priest in the deep south declared september 11th "International Burn a Koran Day" for a reason he changed as media attention grew and grew. chances are you heard about it, as it made the front page on nearly every news outlet of import, exploding a minor issue that noone would have ever cared about it into a international incident that subsequently caused deaths in afghanistan, and riots over the muslim world.

since then the event has been cancelled and the priest has recieved death threats and western politicians every where have condemned it. muslim priests have declared "such a action must not even be considered".

however, muslims frequently burn american flags, american effigies (it was almost ironic to see arabs burning effigies of Obama to protest the burning of a symbol of import) and all sorts of things, is it that much of a outrage for a christian to want to do the same?

now its a simple question, is it wrong to ostracise a christian for burning a important symbol of a religion who routinely burn important symbols of his?

even simpler: did this priest deserve such a backlash? he was doing what muslims have been doing to his flag for the past 20 years.

Yes. It is right to condemn the pastor.

It's ludicrous to equate a religion of ONE POINT SIX BILLION people with a few nutjobs. Say there are 10 million Muslim terrorists who foam at the mouth when the word America is mentioned. That's less than 1% of all ONE POINT SIX BILLION Muslims.

You don't reward a man for committing revenge in this nation. To use an old cliche, two wrongs don't make a right.

But most of all, this is the United States. That should mean that certain acts shouldn't be acceptable. It's not okay just because everyone else is doing it. They also stone adulterers in some of those nations and kill their daughters in honor killings for the crime of being raped. We should have higher standards than that.

 

[Lonan]

"They," as you put it, have not burned a Bible. "They" have burned American flags. If you consider your religion to be American, the book of your religion to be the American flag, then it is surely no greater than tit for tat to burn the Qu'ran.

Oh they've burned Bibles. They've burned Bibles, churches, and Christians.

I haven't heard of any such incidents. If this is true, burning the Qu'ran would simply be a tit for tat action that would in no way advance the cause of humanity and peace. Many of the protests against burning it were peaceful disagreements. Some were violent and with fire, and those of course get media attention because it's more exciting and sells more of the media's product: stories. Is it "so wrong" to do it back? I think it's an irrelevant question. Two wrongs don't make a right. They are both wrong, neither more so than the other, but retaliation is done simply to try to even the scales.

 

[lacktheknack]

"They," as you put it, have not burned a Bible. "They" have burned American flags. If you consider your religion to be American, the book of your religion to be the American flag, then it is surely no greater than tit for tat to burn the Qu'ran.

Oh they've burned Bibles. They've burned Bibles, churches, and Christians.

I haven't heard of any such incidents. If this is true, burning the Qu'ran would simply be a tit for tat action that would in no way advance the cause of humanity and peace. Many of the protests against burning it were peaceful disagreements. Some were violent and with fire, and those of course get media attention because it's more exciting and sells more of the media's product: stories. Is it "so wrong" to do it back? I think it's an irrelevant question. Two wrongs don't make a right. They are both wrong, neither more so than the other, but retaliation is done simply to try to even the scales.

You're incredibly naive if you don't think people are persecuted for being a different religion.

And for the fourth time, I DON'T support Koran burning. I was just stating that angry Muslims have, in fact, burned Bibles and beyond.

 

[maninahat]

I'm not concerned about the extremists; they will always find some reason to hate regardless of what Americans actually do. I'm more concerned about the opinions of moderate muslims who would have been otherwise blameless and unsupporting of terrorists. When you start doing things that normal, rational people will get upset over (like burning their holy books or obstructing perfectly legitimate building plans), that is when things will get more serious. By antagonising the moderates, you're encouraging them to get into the same boat as the terrorists. It suggests "we won't distinguish you from the bad guys, so you might as well side with them".

If they're normal, rational people then they'll look at it and say "Well that one nutjob burning our holy scripture doesn't represent their entire society as a whole, it's only the few extremists", ya know, THE EXACT SAME THING WE DO whenever some nutjob detonates in a public street. Welcome to reverse prejudice.

Except it isn't about just one nutjob burning Qu'rans, or just a "few extremists". A huge proportion of Americans oppose the Park 51 construction. 20% of Americans are convinced Obama is a muslim. One article writer on this very site had his local mosque burnt down on two seperate occasions. Another was firebombed in Florida. These stark facts taken from recent events encourage folks to assume America is seriously anti-Islam.

In a weak defence of the US, things aren't much better in Europe. France recently joined several other European countries in banning face veils. Switzerland has outright banned Minaret constructions. Confrontational internet folks are pushing for a "Draw Muhammad Day". Major mosque construction projects have been denied planning permission in France and England. This kind of action is making life harder for the ordinary muslims, rather than the fanatical few.

 

[Lonan]

"They," as you put it, have not burned a Bible. "They" have burned American flags. If you consider your religion to be American, the book of your religion to be the American flag, then it is surely no greater than tit for tat to burn the Qu'ran.

Oh they've burned Bibles. They've burned Bibles, churches, and Christians.

I haven't heard of any such incidents. If this is true, burning the Qu'ran would simply be a tit for tat action that would in no way advance the cause of humanity and peace. Many of the protests against burning it were peaceful disagreements. Some were violent and with fire, and those of course get media attention because it's more exciting and sells more of the media's product: stories. Is it "so wrong" to do it back? I think it's an irrelevant question. Two wrongs don't make a right. They are both wrong, neither more so than the other, but retaliation is done simply to try to even the scales.

You're incredibly naive if you don't think people are persecuted for being a different religion.

And for the fourth time, I DON'T support Koran burning. I was just stating that angry Muslims have, in fact, burned Bibles and beyond.

I never said people aren't persecuted for being of a different religion. I don't know where that came from.

 

[lacktheknack]

"They," as you put it, have not burned a Bible. "They" have burned American flags. If you consider your religion to be American, the book of your religion to be the American flag, then it is surely no greater than tit for tat to burn the Qu'ran.

Oh they've burned Bibles. They've burned Bibles, churches, and Christians.

I haven't heard of any such incidents. If this is true, burning the Qu'ran would simply be a tit for tat action that would in no way advance the cause of humanity and peace. Many of the protests against burning it were peaceful disagreements. Some were violent and with fire, and those of course get media attention because it's more exciting and sells more of the media's product: stories. Is it "so wrong" to do it back? I think it's an irrelevant question. Two wrongs don't make a right. They are both wrong, neither more so than the other, but retaliation is done simply to try to even the scales.

You're incredibly naive if you don't think people are persecuted for being a different religion.

And for the fourth time, I DON'T support Koran burning. I was just stating that angry Muslims have, in fact, burned Bibles and beyond.

I never said people aren't persecuted for being of a different religion. I don't know where that came from.

In context, "I haven't heard of any such incidents" can only be taken as "I'm not sure that I believe churches have been burned by angry Muslims".

 

[DustyDrB]

I'm a Christian, with a BA in theology. This is the kind of thing that makes it totally understandable that people hate us so much. And stuff like this happens too often and too loudly. Of course, the crazy Christians are always given the spotlight.

 

[katsumoto03]

Oh shit! I totally thought it said 'Burn a Korean Day.'

Change my vote to the last option.