# Burning books in the US...'Burn Quran Day' **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 20, 2010, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-books-in-the-us-burn-quran-day/550891 "2010-08-20T17:58:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 35
**Author:** ![Triskadecamus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2010, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-books-in-the-us-burn-quran-day/550891/681 "2010-09-09T02:46:15Z")
The thing is, way more folks than I would wish for think either “Yeah, man, burn the Koran, it’s a good thing to do”, or “No, the Government should stop them from doing that.” Sadly, very few of the folks who think either of those things see that they have already abandoned the whole point of our society. If I thought burning bibles in protest would enlighten any of them, I would do it, and I am a very comitted Christian. The book is just a book. It’s the willingness to live in your faith that matters, both your civil faith in our belief that free speech is fundamental to Democracy, and your faith that freedom of religion doesn’t mean Freedom of My Religion. So much easier to just hate someone when your turn comes. Tris ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2010, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-books-in-the-us-burn-quran-day/550891/682 "2010-09-09T02:53:03Z")
> [@Uzi](#): > > > [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > > > In places like Syria, Iran, Afghanistan and Libya, sure, but those are violent countries with a bunch of Muslim fundamentalists anyway > > I wasn’t under the impression that we were limiting our discussion to NA. If we did I’d agree with you. You have to, though, because otherwise, you’re not comparing Christians to Muslims. You’re comparing Christians in rich, post industrial, egalitarian, tolerant liberal democracies like the US and Europe to Muslims in postcolonial, socially stratified, intolerant, illiberal dictatorships like Libya or Iran. You need to compare like to like, so if you want to suggest that there’s something about Islam or the Quran that makes Muslims violent and intolerant, you need to compare American Muslims to American Christians, or Lebanese Muslims to Lebanese Christians, or whatever, because otherwise, you’re introducing all these other factors that have nothing to do with Islam or the Quran. ---
**Author:** ![Uzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/91b2a8/32.png) [@Uzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uzi)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2010, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-books-in-the-us-burn-quran-day/550891/683 "2010-09-09T03:04:31Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > You have to, though, because otherwise, you’re not comparing Christians to Muslims. You’re comparing Christians in rich, post industrial, egalitarian, tolerant liberal democracies like the US and Europe to Muslims in postcolonial, socially stratified, intolerant, illiberal dictatorships like Libya or Iran. But that is where most Muslims live. Coincidence? Best left for another thread I think. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2010, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-books-in-the-us-burn-quran-day/550891/684 "2010-09-09T03:53:32Z")
> [@Uzi](#): > > But that is where most Muslims live. Coincidence? Best left for another thread I think. That’s where most people live. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2010, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-books-in-the-us-burn-quran-day/550891/685 "2010-09-09T04:19:08Z")
> **[Islam by country](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_Muslim_population)** > > Adherents of Islam constitute the world's second largest and fastest growing major religious grouping, maintaining suggested 2017 projections in 2022. As of 2020, Pew Research Center (PEW) projections suggest there are a total of 2 billion adherents worldwide. Further studies indicate that the global spread and percentage growth of Islam is primarily due to relatively high birth rates and a youthful age structure. Conversion to Islam has no impact on the overall growth of the Musli Most Muslim... > [@](#): > > …Around 62% of the world’s Muslims live in Asia, with over 683 million adherents in such countries as Indonesia (the largest Muslim country by population, home to 15.6% of the world’s Muslims[8]), Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh (all three being successor states to the former British Raj).[2][9] About 20% of Muslims live in Arab countries.[10] In the Middle East, the non-Arab countries of Turkey and Iran are the largest Muslim-majority countries; in Africa, Egypt and Nigeria have the most populous Muslim communities… Offered without comment ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2010, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-books-in-the-us-burn-quran-day/550891/686 "2010-09-09T04:32:20Z")
> [@Raygun99](#): > > > [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > > > Maybe the church could compromise by burning some Torahs instead. > > Strike Torah for Talmud, and [they’re doing that.](http://www.examiner.com/civil-rights-in-miami/local-muslim-leaders-try-to-keep-tensions-down-despite-upcoming-international-burn-a-koran-day) Well good, because it’s common knowledge that Jews in New York all received phone calls warning them to stay away from the World Trade Center on that day, which is why no Jews were killed. Obviously they were behind it. (That statement makes about as much sense as blaming Islam, so the church in Florida could go for that and save face without having to back down.) ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2010, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-books-in-the-us-burn-quran-day/550891/687 "2010-09-09T05:11:29Z")
The article says that, but the website linked to says nothing of the sort. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2010, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-books-in-the-us-burn-quran-day/550891/688 "2010-09-09T05:20:07Z")
> [@Revenant\_Threshold](#): > > It is not my contention that they are the same statement; they have different words, obviously. The second part is right; it is my contention that they are, effectively, the same statement in terms of what meaning people may draw from them. To put it in those terms, a person who is convinced that god wishes them to hate x will, in general, be quite able to draw equal supportive meaning from each of those sentences. How do you think the follower of a prophet who willingly died in an act of total sacrifice is viewed in comparison to a warrior prophet who codifies strict adherence to laws he set down? Put another way, which one creates an atmosphere more conducive to violence given that all religions have followers of varying degrees of intensity. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2010, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-books-in-the-us-burn-quran-day/550891/689 "2010-09-09T05:49:39Z")
So, Muslims are a violent, irrational and unstable people. Which is why its a good idea to pee in their Cheerios. What could possibly go wrong? ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2010, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-books-in-the-us-burn-quran-day/550891/690 "2010-09-09T07:16:16Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > C’mon. Neither of you is seriously gonna argue the protests I’m referencing didn’t happen. I googled “muslim cartoon protests” and that was one of the hits. I do not know when or where the picture was taken. I do not know if the picture was for those protests, or other ones. I do know, and so do you, that muslims often protest in revoltingly large numbers whenever somebody gores one of their sacred cows. They march, they chant death to America, and they call for any that insult Islam to be put to death. Haven’t been able to wade through this entire thread but just wanted to point to the source of this photo - London, 2006, and [4 men were jailed for it](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/6904622.stm). So, I don’t think Oakminster needs to fret unduly about them taking over the west just yet. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2010, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-books-in-the-us-burn-quran-day/550891/691 "2010-09-09T11:13:00Z")
I’ve never understood this whole idea of demanding “respect” between religions. I agree that this guy is a world-class douche, but where does the outrage come from because of the burning of the Koran? These people, and many other Christians, believe that Muslims will die, go to hell, and be tortured for ALL OF ETERNITY. That belief gets a meh, but burning a holy book sparks outrage. I guess it’s early and I’m not articulating well, but how can the Pope speak out against this when he is in favor of eternal torture for all Muslims? Eternal torture for Protestants, for that matter. Which is worse, burning a copy of the Koran, or eternally burning all of its followers in Hell? ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2010, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-books-in-the-us-burn-quran-day/550891/692 "2010-09-09T11:33:08Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > I guess it’s early and I’m not articulating well, but how can the Pope speak out against this when he is in favor of eternal torture for all Muslims? Eternal torture for Protestants, for that matter. Well, since the RCC does not teach anything resembling the idea that Muslims or Protestants are damned just by not being Catholic, your straw man argument is a bit irrelevant. ---
**Author:** ![Baboonanza](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f475e1/32.png) [@Baboonanza](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baboonanza)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2010, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-books-in-the-us-burn-quran-day/550891/693 "2010-09-09T12:01:55Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > I’ve never understood this whole idea of demanding “respect” between religions. > > I agree that this guy is a world-class douche, but where does the outrage come from because of the burning of the Koran? These people, and many other Christians, believe that Muslims will die, go to hell, and be tortured for ALL OF ETERNITY. > > That belief gets a meh, but burning a holy book sparks outrage. > > I guess it’s early and I’m not articulating well, but how can the Pope speak out against this when he is in favor of eternal torture for all Muslims? Eternal torture for Protestants, for that matter. > > Which is worse, burning a copy of the Koran, or eternally burning all of its followers in Hell? To me this suggests that deep-down they _don’t really believe that_, because if they did they would be less concerned abou the here-and-now. It’s the same thing with Heaven, it makes absolutley no sense if you think about it. If heaven was so great wouldn’t you want to get there as quickly as possible? Wouldn’t the best way be to risk your life going in to dangerous war-torn areas to help people? Instead they wait around on their asses in SUVs doing nothing particularly great for 70+ years until they die. That suggests a certain lack of faith in the outcome to me. But in the end there is no use in trying to make any sense out of mad people beliving crazy shit. ---
**Author:** ![Sablicious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@Sablicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sablicious)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2010, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-books-in-the-us-burn-quran-day/550891/694 "2010-09-09T13:10:01Z")
You simply arrest the guy and give the Islamites the small victory they’ll in fact get in lieu of the enormous incentive to further propogate violence that a Qu-ran burning would surely give rise to. Why give them even more excuses to kill those more enlightened than what they already afford themselves? [Potentially] lives in exchange for such trifle is an idiot’s barter, irrespective of how valid a moral assertion may or may not be made. Just look at the level of [ape-shittery](http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=+Lars+Vilks+lecture&aq=f) elicited at the mere association of homosexuality and Islam… in an academic setting no less! Imagine the insanity barbecuing their precious fary tail would ferment! :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2010, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-books-in-the-us-burn-quran-day/550891/695 "2010-09-09T14:02:08Z")
Interesting development: [Jones says he might call it off if the White House asks nicely](http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100909/ts_alt_afp/usattacksreligionislampastor_20100909134139). So it really is just a publicity stunt. ---
**Author:** ![Uzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/91b2a8/32.png) [@Uzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uzi)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2010, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-books-in-the-us-burn-quran-day/550891/696 "2010-09-09T14:52:28Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > So it really is just a publicity stunt. Really?! I’m shocked. Shocked, I say! Uh, what did you think it was about if not a publicity stunt? ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2010, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-books-in-the-us-burn-quran-day/550891/697 "2010-09-09T14:54:47Z")
Some kind of sick moustache exhibitionism? ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2010, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-books-in-the-us-burn-quran-day/550891/698 "2010-09-09T14:57:28Z")
I live on the other side of town from Reverend Asshole’s church. I know one lady who lives out that way who’s making plans to be away for the weekend, for safety’s sake. The Sheriff’s Office is planning to send Dove World a bill for the added security needed this weekend, but I’m sure they’ll never pay it. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2010, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-books-in-the-us-burn-quran-day/550891/699 "2010-09-09T15:00:55Z")
> [@Uzi](#): > > Uh, what did you think it was about if not a publicity stunt? Sorry. I should have said it’s really about Jones’ self-aggrandization, not some big principled stand against Islam. > [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > The Sheriff’s Office is planning to send Dove World a bill for the added security needed this weekend, but I’m sure they’ll never pay it. Somebody linked to an article earlier in the thread that said the church building was being foreclosed on, so that’s probably a safe bet. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2010, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-books-in-the-us-burn-quran-day/550891/700 "2010-09-09T16:06:13Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > So, Muslims are a violent, irrational and unstable people. Which is why its a good idea to pee in their Cheerios. What could possibly go wrong? Other than it’s going to leave a bad taste in there mouth. The Reverend has no support for this venture at all and will reap what he sows. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-books-in-the-us-burn-quran-day/550891.md?page=34) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-books-in-the-us-burn-quran-day/550891.md?page=36)