Poll: International Burn a Koran Day

[Greyhald]

Is burning a Koran such a wonderful idea? How about this:

How about we burn some Bibles for Paedophilia? Lets burn some bibles because the KKK extremists claims it's a christian movement. Lets burn some bibles because Nazi extremists want the master race to be protestants. Hell, lets go one better and burn some churches. While we are at it, why not a priest or two? That sounds like a troll but it's not. It's how these things get started and grow until a whole lot of innocent people get hurt.

A Priest who's bible tells him to turn the other cheek, feed your enemy and that Vengeance belongs to the Lord has no business burning a Koran if he believes in the tennets of his faith.

It's that simple.

 

[open trap]

I dont really care, im neutral, Muslims burn Bibles Christians can burn Koran, dont matter to me but there will be some bad things to come from this but mostly propaganda, i dont fear backlash from radicals, they can go and die in a ditch.

 

[Yureina]

I thought this story was amusing to read about. That's about it.

Also... isnt this more something that should be in the Politics and Religion section?

 

[Talshere]

Ironically, if some radical Imam were to be seen on national TV burning Bibles and threatening to to wipe out the western world I doubt anyone would care....Wait... -.^

 

[captainwillies]

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.

Today, we have another cowardly zealot trying to incite hatred in the name of God. Pastor Terry Jones of the State of Florida in America has boasted that he will burn the Koran. He claims that he will be performing this insensitive act in protest of terrorism in the wake of September 11th. He says that he will not call off his ?protest? unless God tells him to cease. This implies that he has a direct line to God.

Muslims around the world have already been persecuted over September 11th. This hatred and retaliation has got to stop, or chaos and darkness will totally engulf the planet. As could be expected, Jones' arrogance and ignorance have stirred Muslim zealots to call for the killing of Americans everywhere. This dangerous eye-for-an-eye mentality has terrorised the world for too long.

The Koran is the backbone for Islam, not to mention what it means to Muslim culture. A pastor, of all people, should know better than to incite hatred and attack the very essence of the ethics behind all Islamic people. It offends even moderate Muslims and compassionate non-Muslims. Burning the Koran, or any other religious Bible, is senseless, hurtful and uncivilised. Regardless of race, belief or politics, people should not excuse Jones' despicable behaviour. Christianity speaks of love; Jones promotes hatred.

 

[Dorian6]

The way you describe it, you make it sound like every Muslim is burning 3 American flags before breakfast and reading their children "Goodnight Moon (and Death to America)" every night before bed.

Every Muslim is not a terrorist, just like how not every christian is a semi-retarded hick who equates the actions of a violent minority for the creed of an entire people.

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?

Right, why should we (a country founded on the principles of equality and freedom of worship) hold ourselves to a higher moral standard than places where stoning and honor killings are still practiced?

 

[Plurralbles]

People burn the bible and the US flag. They also burn everything else anyone in the world could possibly respect so... Yeah. Why sink to childish behavior like people you don't like?

 

[Megacherv]

*snip*

Do not report this person, this person is talking absolute sense and clearly knows what he's on about.

Woah. i totally read the title as "burn a Korean day" and then again in the initial post...

Don't worry, you're not the only one.


Can a mod please move this to the Religion and Politics section? It should realy have been there in the first place.

 

[findelhe]

So it's okay to be prejudice against someone because they were born in a country and care for their country. Seems a bit off to me.

 

[Agayek]

The Muslims that burn American flags are extremists.... you can't possibly consider Muslim extremists and Muslims even in the same category. I'm a Christian and I know a few Muslims, they're very nice people who are let down by the extremists of their religion. (We are peaceful with each other, don't really talk about religion). Did you know the KKK are a Christian group? But no one considers them as Christians because they are that extreme and un-Christian. The same thing needs to happen with Muslim extremism - you would have to be crazy or ignorant to think that all Muslims want the same thing as the extremists. So actually, burning the book that the whole Muslim religion loves, is like saying all Muslims are terrorists that burn flags and blow up people. ITS ONLY THE EXTREMISTS THAT DO THAT. I bring it up again, its like burning the Bible because you disagree with the KKK. Daaaaym, ranting. Anyway, you get my point.

I wholeheartedly agree with the sentiment, but it's hard to actually care about the difference when I see things like the following:

Spoiler: To save space

Sorry man, a flag is different. I know in America you guys love it, you're forced to salute it every morning and shit, but it's just a piece of cloth. A holy books sets morals and a way of life.

And a holy book is just a few pieces of paper and ink. Just like a flag is a symbol, so too is whatever holy scripture you care to name. Destroying both is a grave offense, and not something anyone should do, but if the symbol was legitimately purchased, the owner can do whatever they want with it. That includes burning it.

As for all of you Americans who bang on about "freedom" and "free speech", you are deluded. You have no freedom of speech. You can't walk up to the president and threaten to kill him, or anyone for that matter. Unless freedom is absolute (which it isn't) than it's just another word designed to calm and con the masses

All of that is true, but it really needs to be changed. Anyone and everyone should be allowed to say whatever they want, whenever they want, with the only stipulation that they are not causing direct physical harm to anyone's person or property.

What is a Koran? From a quick search it seems to be the equivalent of a Jew's Torah or Christian's Bible, if that's the case than yes he should be condemned. 'Muslims' do not often burn his religious symbols, nor american flags, Extremists on the other hand do. If you wanna grab those extremists, take 'em out back and shoot him that'd be fine by me, but this guy's disrespecting the religion of a greater group of people just because the ones he wants to insult lie within that group.

The guy's either racist, doesn't quite understand what he's doing, or is being purposefully ignorant because he's angry. Assuming he's not the foremost I don't think he should be condemned.

Just a random question: Why does it matter if he insulted a religion? Or anything for that matter. Disrespect is the price of freedom. Everyone dislikes something, and this guy simply dislikes Islam. Why is it so offensive for someone to say as much?

He has just as much right to express his opinion as you do. That means if he wants to burn a Quran that he owns, he is perfectly free to do so. And you are free to call him an idiot for it.

The only thing you're not allowed to do is stop him from doing it.

 

[findelhe]

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?

First things first. Not Muslims. Extremists and unhappy, manipulated people that happen to be Muslims along the way. Catholics burned US flags too. Plenty of people dislike your nation and States aren't without a blame.

Back in the times of Cold War it was America and Soviet Russia that pumped millions into Afghanistan, supporting local crime lords. Both those nations armed the today's suicide bombers and terrorists, but back then it was 'right thing to do'. Cold War ended, and everyone left the middle east to it's own problems, leaving only tons of weapons behind. Neither of those 'super powers' spent money on eduction, infrastructure or humanitarian help along the way, creating a perfect environment of poverty for an extremist uprising.

Also.
Books are not to be burned. Never, ever. We've seen it already. Inquisition burned the 'forbidden' books, Nazi's burned books, do we want to uphold those 'noble' traditions? Furthermore, Koran is a religious book. Destroying it wouldn't show your disdain for the extremists, it would show your ignorance and lack of tolerance for different beliefs. Majority of Muslims doesn't go around blowing themselves up, why do you wan't to act against them? Further more, there is enough of catholic extremists that do similar things.

And finally, flag of USA is not a religious symbol. No matter how much brainwashing you wish to take. It's a symbol of government and national pride. Nothing more. So yeah, the backlash was deserved and thank god it happened. Last thing the world needs is escalation based on idiotic religious prejudice.

So, according to you, it's okay to be prejudice against someone for being born in a certain country...that seems like a slippy slope to me.

 

[lokun489]

watch the extra credit quote about burning a book seriously.

 

[Westaway]

Maybe its more of a case of "being the bigger man". Stooping to their level tarnishes Americas reputation.

\
Right, we should be looking down on them when they do racist things, not do them back.

 

[Megacherv]

Look guys, seriously, can we all just sit down and watch Four Lions on DVD together?

 

[Pielikey]

Maybe its more of a case of "being the bigger man". Stooping to their level tarnishes Americas reputation.

Couldn't of said it better myself. Two wrongs don't make a right.

"Two wrongs don't make a right" is NOT the correct phrase. That insinuates that Muslims are doing something wrong. Terrorists are a tiny fraction of the more than a billion Muslims in the world.

Yeah, you're right

 

[MrSalamandra]

I think it's incorrect insofar as that you can't just declare that a day is "International Day of *insert thing here*" out of nowhere, with no one else recognizing it. Just doesn't make sense.

I don't think it's a good idea, given the reaction that it would have, from a practical standpoint. I don't think it's morally wrong though, given that it's just a book. You haven't burnt Islam's book, you've burnt a book that you presumably bought. You've burnt your own book.

I don't personally care about it at all, though. All religions are equally nonsense and as such I have no intention to defend belief in any.

 

[findelhe]

Sorry man, a flag is different. I know in America you guys love it, you're forced to salute it every morning and shit, but it's just a piece of cloth. A holy books sets morals and a way of life.

As for all of you Americans who bang on about "freedom" and "free speech", you are deluded. You have no freedom of speech. You can't walk up to the president and threaten to kill him, or anyone for that matter. Unless freedom is absolute (which it isn't) than it's just another word designed to calm and con the masses

So...how is a piece of cloth different from a few pieces of paper. If you are going to make that argument please leave your bias at home. Part of your comments show that you are bias towards Americans and you are trying to make rational arguments from that point. It doesn't work that way.

Just because the book has a set of morals in it does not make it greater than any other object. It's not like burning it will cause the religion to lose itself. It is not the way to go about things but if you get right down to it the book is just the same thing as a flag...it's a symbol. The book is not required to teach the views of the religion.

And, also please look up theories on nationality as a religion...believe it or not some people love their nation as much as they do their religion. Now, if that is so then you could argue that the flag of that nation is a religious symbol to that sect of people. Now, how is that any different if you take time to think about it instead of just hating americans.

 

[Agayek]

The Koran is the backbone for Islam, not to mention what it means to Muslim culture. A pastor, of all people, should know better than to incite hatred and attack the very essence of the ethics behind all Islamic people. It offends even moderate Muslims and compassionate non-Muslims. Burning the Koran, or any other religious Bible, is senseless, hurtful and uncivilised. Regardless of race, belief or politics, people should not excuse Jones' despicable behaviour. Christianity speaks of love; Jones promotes hatred.

And all those people who are insulted should get over themselves. The fact of the matter is, there are going to be events or decisions or people that you will violently dislike. It doesn't matter who you are or what you've done, at some point you will be in a situation where you are exposed to something you hate.

Being offended by it is probably the single worst response you can possibly have. It gives power to the person or persons responsible and reduces your own ability to reason. The only appropriate response is to realize that no matter what you do, you will be exposed to something you find objectionable, accept that fact, and move on with your life. The only time an actual response is valid is when said offense is causing, or will cause, direct physical harm to you or yours.

 

[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.

 

[Kurokami]

Just a random question: Why does it matter if he insulted a religion? Or anything for that matter. Disrespect is the price of freedom. Everyone dislikes something, and this guy simply dislikes Islam. Why is it so offensive for someone to say as much?

He has just as much right to express his opinion as you do. That means if he wants to burn a Quran that he owns, he is perfectly free to do so. And you are free to call him an idiot for it.

The only thing you're not allowed to do is stop him from doing it.

Assuming burning Quran = Burning flag, then he's giving extremists AND those Islamics who aren't involved the go ahead to join in.

And yes, he's free to be ignorant, I'm free to complain and that's what I've been doing, what was your point?