# 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:** 47
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-books-in-the-us-burn-quran-day/550891/921 "2010-09-21T14:40:20Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > But he only did it because God told him to, so really it’s God’s fault. > > As much fun as this “Both religions have a long history of violent conquest but Islam is somehow worse because Mohammed himself did it” argument is, it’s getting a bit tired and remains totally irrelevant. Followers of any religion or cause have never had any problem using it as an excuse to do bad things (or indeed good things). Saying that “Yeah, but Mohammed did it and therefore his followers are more likely to do it too” has no basis in any form of reality. How can you say that? A religion’s adherents will to admire, look up to, _and emulate_ the man on whom the religion is founded. How can you possibly say that if Founder A did X and Founder B did not do X, that the followers of Religion A would not be **more** inclined to do X? That makes no sense. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-books-in-the-us-burn-quran-day/550891/922 "2010-09-21T14:46:05Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > > [@magellan01](#): > > > > You mean like nazism? > > We didn’t declare war on Nazism. We didn’t even declare war on Nazis, _per se_. We declared war on Germany. > > But you knew that. Oh, please. Your talking about a formal declaration of war, what would appear on a document. That’s not what I meant. But you knew that. But if it makes you feel better, yes, formal declarations of war are drafted against countries, not ideologies. ---
**Author:** ![Uzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/91b2a8/32.png) [@Uzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uzi)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-books-in-the-us-burn-quran-day/550891/923 "2010-09-21T15:50:18Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > My point was that people of all persuasions seldom follow every jot and tittle of their respective traditions. This is perfectly ordinary human type behavior, as common as navels. And I agree with this. It is also human behavior to emulate the people they respect eg. Mohammad hence all those Hadiths. And while most don’t follow all their texts ‘religiously’ they don’t all ignore and disregard all the same passages. Some actually do follow the more odious passages. Whether they be from less advantaged parts of the world, or have less education, or any other reason. The point is that the passages are there and they can be readily interpreted to justify acts of violence against others. Again, that most don’t follow these rules is to their benefit. That some do follow them, because they are there, shouldn’t surprise anyone. Maybe they would do the same actions regardless, but they wouldn’t have the excuse of religion to do so. > [@](#): > > If your comic book understanding of Islamic thought and Muslim piety were correct, then the streets of Hamburg and Dearborn would run red with blood every day. Since clearly they do not, you are most likely wrong. Since you don’t understand that the Koran says what to do when Muslims are in the minority, eg: peace and love and all that, how do you know that these Muslims are not just biding their time until they become the majority when they can follow Muhammad’s more odious commandments? Now, I don’t believe that myself, but the Koran does talk about it as a strategy. > [@](#): > > As to your referenced link above, it conclusively proves that there are people who agree with you, can read and write, and have access to the internet. With all due awe, that is pretty much all that it proves. This does not surprise, it does not inform, how can it convince? Why don’t you just say that you’ve made up your mind (based upon what I don’t know as you haven’t linked to anything or made comments other than what is apparently out of your own head) and there is nothing I could say, or link to, that would change it? Even with obvious examples like the division of Pakistan and India based upon religious divides and how they play out, you still hold your opinion as correct nor are willing to look any deeper than what you hope to be true. It is amazing to me that people have ideologies they profess to follow and you think they won’t do so. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-books-in-the-us-burn-quran-day/550891/924 "2010-09-21T15:53:06Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > How can you say that? A religion’s adherents will to admire, look up to, _and emulate_ the man on whom the religion is founded. How can you possibly say that if Founder A did X and Founder B did not do X, that the followers of Religion A would not be **more** inclined to do X? That makes no sense. People don’t make sense, making sense is way down the list of activities for people. You get used to it after a while. Martin Luther, as I referenced above, was fiercely anti-Semitic in some of his writings. So far as I know, Lutherans are not particularly anti-Semitic in their opinions, certainly no more so than any other Christian community. And, as you may or may not know, the Koran specifically enjoins Muslims to respect and revere Jewish and Christian traditions, as they regard Allah as being precisely the same deity worshipped by those traditions. So you seem to have yourself on a bit of a fork. If you are to suggest that Muslims are slavishly committed to violence against infidels, because the Koran insists that they must, then how do you explain away their apparent willingness to overlook the Koranic texts that urge them to reverence of Jewish and Christian traditions? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-books-in-the-us-burn-quran-day/550891/925 "2010-09-21T15:56:45Z")
> [@Uzi](#): > > … It is amazing to me that people have ideologies they profess to follow and you think they won’t do so. If I had a dollar for every time someone on these boards rolled about on the floor pissing and moaning about “liberal hypocrisy”, it would be hookers and blow for the ol’ **'lucster**. ---
**Author:** ![Uzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/91b2a8/32.png) [@Uzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uzi)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-books-in-the-us-burn-quran-day/550891/926 "2010-09-21T16:02:10Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Martin Luther, as I referenced above, was fiercely anti-Semitic in some of his writings. So far as I know, Lutherans are not particularly anti-Semitic in their opinions, certainly no more so than any other Christian community. I’m copying this from the Wiki Page on [Lutherans](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lutheran): > [@](#): > > Traditionally, Lutherans hold the Bible of the Old and New Testaments to be the only divinely inspired book, the only source of divinely revealed knowledge, and the only norm for Christian teaching.[47] Scripture alone is the formal principle of the faith, the final authority for all matters of faith and morals because of its inspiration, authority, clarity, efficacy, and sufficiency.[48] It kind of seems that the only thing they read is the bible and not what the founder wrote, well, other than to read the bible. > [@](#): > > And, as you may or may not know, the Koran specifically enjoins Muslims to respect and revere Jewish and Christian traditions, as they regard Allah as being precisely the same deity worshipped by those traditions. If we grant that what you say is true, it sucks to be the other half of the human population on the planet, doesn’t it? And atheists like myself? Where do we fit in? ---
**Author:** ![Mozart1220](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@Mozart1220](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mozart1220)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-books-in-the-us-burn-quran-day/550891/927 "2010-09-21T16:16:39Z")
What it boils down to for me is that in a country where religious freedom is supposed to be a constitutional absolute, no one should be burning or destroying anyone’s holy books. But who cares about that constitution when irrational paranoia is so much more fun? ---
**Author:** ![Uzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/91b2a8/32.png) [@Uzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uzi)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-books-in-the-us-burn-quran-day/550891/928 "2010-09-21T16:19:00Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > If I had a dollar for every time someone on these boards rolled about on the floor pissing and moaning about “liberal hypocrisy”, it would be hookers and blow for the ol’ **'lucster**. I don’t know what you mean by this other than to say if you liberals allowed people to keep more of their taxes you’d be able to have more hookers and blow (which I’m all for making legal, btw)! ---
**Author:** ![Uzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/91b2a8/32.png) [@Uzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uzi)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-books-in-the-us-burn-quran-day/550891/929 "2010-09-21T16:28:21Z")
> [@Mozart1220](#): > > What it boils down to for me is that in a country where religious freedom is supposed to be a constitutional absolute, no one should be burning or destroying anyone’s holy books. So freedom of religion trumps freedom of speech? No, you have to have a way to argue against the ignorance that is religion. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-books-in-the-us-burn-quran-day/550891/930 "2010-09-21T16:43:08Z")
Burning books isn’t “arguing”. Burning books is being a total dick. ---
**Author:** ![Mozart1220](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@Mozart1220](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mozart1220)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-books-in-the-us-burn-quran-day/550891/931 "2010-09-21T16:52:26Z")
> [@Uzi](#): > > > [@Mozart1220](#): > > > > What it boils down to for me is that in a country where religious freedom is supposed to be a constitutional absolute, no one should be burning or destroying anyone’s holy books. > > So freedom of religion trumps freedom of speech? > > \*\*\*Burning books is not freedom of speech. It’s vandalism. In fact, it shows disrespect for THEIR freedom of speech when you burn a book. \*\*\* > > No, you have to have a way to argue against the ignorance that is religion. \*\*\*We have. It’s called “not joining the church”. \*\*\* \*\*\*I think I should also mention that I am as close to being an Atheist as you can get without actually being one. I think the Bible is 90% mythological nonsense. \*\*\* ---
**Author:** ![Doxy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f14d63/32.png) [@Doxy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doxy)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-books-in-the-us-burn-quran-day/550891/932 "2010-09-21T17:01:05Z")
> [@xtisme](#): > > In light of the threads on the Mosque at Ground Zero controversy, I haven’t seen anything on this, um, person’s plan to hold a…it’s hard for me to even credit this…a BOOK BURNING, on the anniversary of 9/11. [Here](http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/08/20/ahmed.quran.burning/index.html?hpt=C2) is a CNN article discussing this from the perspective of a Muslim scholar. > > > [@](#): > > > > The pastor, author of the book “Islam is of the Devil,” is using the burning to urge American Christians to “stand up” to what he describes as a monolithic Muslim threat. A Facebook page for the event has accrued thousands of “likes” and Jones has said people have been mailing him Qurans to burn. > > > > As a Muslim scholar, an adherent of one of the Abrahamic faiths – Judaism, Christianity and Islam – and as someone committed to interfaith understanding, I urge Jones to cancel this event. Not only are the actions of Jones contrary to the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, but they are also against the ideals of the American Founding Fathers. > > For debate I suppose, first off is…WTF? Book burnings in the US? That’s…surreal. Oh, I realize it has happened in the past (and even recently for all I know), but how can anyone think that this is something that matches the ideals of this country?? > > Secondly, what do you suppose the effect and impact of this (I’m trying hard not to use any demeaning terms to describe this guy)…this…person…will have on both US citizens who are Muslim or, worst yet, on Muslims in places like Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq…etc?? > > While the US is reaching out to Pakistan and giving them more aid in their time of hardship and trouble with all the flooding…or aid, last I checked, than all the rest of the world combined…we are, basically spitting in their faces by burning their most holy book! When I say ‘we’, of course, that’s how THEY are going to see it…the same way this idiot (sorry, can’t help my self) sees a vast, monolithic Muslim world. As if they are all in lockstep, think the same, feel the same, act the same…they are going to see US the same way. Some idiot in Florida has a bonfire, and it’s going to be ‘America hates Muslims!’. > > I’m hoping that I haven’t inflamed things too much…Mods, if you think this is more appropriate in the Pit, feel free to move it. I am hoping for a debate, but at the same time, this really pisses me off. > > (apologies if there is already a thread on this…I didn’t see one, but I didn’t do a search either, just looked at thread titles). > > -XT Having just got here and not having read the SIX pages of posts before mine… I just gotta say this: There are book burnings held damn near every week down in my part of the good old US of A. Usually sponsored by one of the “Fundamentalist” Christian churches… i.e. any of the Baptist churches and many of the Pentecostal ones. Not only do they burn books, they burn magazines such as Glamour, Mademoiselle, Cosmopolitan, Tiger Beat, and Seventeen. They burn music cds. They burn dvds… I’ll bet you didn’t know that Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” was a satanic and evil movie!! All these burnings usually take place during one of their “Teen Fellowship” meetings. And they gleefully advertise the event in the local paper so that everybody can be sure to come!! Lemme give ya an example of the types of folks I’m talking about here… My son talked me into taking him to the big First Baptist church one Sunday near Easter a few years back when he was around 7 or 8 years old… They had a rock band on the stage and a giant movie theater screen behind the… altar (?)… nah… I just can’t call it an “altar”… it was a stage. So while the “audience” (can’t rightly call them a congregation) which ranged in age from newborns to elders and everything in between were starring with rapt attention at the screen… They show the scourging scene from Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ”!!! Now if you haven’t seen this… they are tearing his back up with a cat-o-nine embedded with metal tips!! His back is literally torn up… meat and blood flying every where. And THIS is what they consider to be “family viewing” at its best! I was outraged and stated quite loudly that a rated “R” movie is inappropriate for children and I hid my son’s face while it played! As soon as it was over, we left. So to answer your question, “Do book burnings really happen in the United States?” Oh, you betcha they do! ---
**Author:** ![Mozart1220](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@Mozart1220](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mozart1220)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-books-in-the-us-burn-quran-day/550891/933 "2010-09-21T17:07:07Z")
I am reminded of the Beatles in 1966, when John Lennon (truthfully) said "The Beatles are more POPULAR with young people than Jesus is. he didn’t say “better” he said “more popular”. Beatle records were burned in great bonfires in the south, about which Ringo later said… “We didn’t care because it made our fans defend us and the kids went out and rebought the records anyway”. Like terrorists, people who burn books, holy or orherwise, get exactly the opposite reaction they are looking for. It strengthens the resolve of the “enemy” ---
**Author:** ![Uzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/91b2a8/32.png) [@Uzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uzi)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-books-in-the-us-burn-quran-day/550891/934 "2010-09-21T17:10:07Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Burning books isn’t “arguing”. Burning books is being a total dick. Having and believing in a book that says I am going to burn forever in some afterlife or should be killed and punished because I don’t believe in its message isn’t being a dick? And me burning that same book as a form of mild protest makes me one? Maybe I’m starting to understand this ‘liberal hypocrisy’ you referred to above. [QUOTE=Mozart1220] We have. It’s called “not joining the church”. [/QUOTE] Ridiculous. When the church says that gays shouldn’t be married because of some stone age text, I should just shut up? No, my right to protest that should be higher than their ability to hide behind a right to be ignorant. ---
**Author:** ![Mozart1220](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@Mozart1220](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mozart1220)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-books-in-the-us-burn-quran-day/550891/935 "2010-09-21T17:18:07Z")
> [@Uzi](#): > > > [@elucidator](#): > > > > Burning books isn’t “arguing”. Burning books is being a total dick. > > Having and believing in a book that says I am going to burn forever in some afterlife or should be killed and punished because I don’t believe in its message isn’t being a dick? > > \*\*\*Not as long as you don’t force that belief on others, no. \*\*\* > > And me burning that same book as a form of mild protest makes me one? > > \*\*\*Yes, it does. You are under no obligation to subscribe to their beliefs. \*\*\* > Maybe I’m starting to understand this ‘liberal hypocrisy’ you referred to above. > > \*\*\*I never used those words. Those come from the “dicks” who subscribe to the belief system you seem to hate. \*\*\* > > [QUOTE=Mozart1220] > We have. It’s called “not joining the church”. Ridiculous. When the church says that gays shouldn’t be married because of some stone age text, I should just shut up? _ **No, speak out and speak often. Vote for people who believe as you do. But you don’t get to burn their holy books. It makes you look as bad as you claim thay are, and it just isn’t right** _ No, my right to protest that should be higher than their ability to hide behind a right to be ignorant. \*\*\*No one is taking away your right to protest, just don’t burn holy books. it only puts another bullet in THEIR gun against you. \*\*\* [/QUOTE] \*\*\*Just because we CAN do a thing, doesn’t mean it’s a good thing to do. \*\*\* ---
**Author:** ![Doxy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f14d63/32.png) [@Doxy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doxy)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-books-in-the-us-burn-quran-day/550891/936 "2010-09-21T17:34:11Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > > [@Uzi](#): > > > > …It is amazing how under duress people fall back on fundamentalism as the solution. I wonder where they get these ideas from? Could it be a book? \ > > Cheese Louise, Uzi, you sling that book stuff around like you have discovered the axis on which the whole universe spins. > > \ > > If you are going to insist that Islamic texts are more powerful, more effective, than others, you’re going to have to explain why. \ Oh, Bra-Vo!!! Excellent post!!! _applauding_ > [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > > [@magellan01](#): > > > > Step 1 is one that Obama has yet to take: understand that radical Islam has declared war on us. And subsequently, we are at war with radical Islam. Simply calling these people terrorists, generically, is both childish and unhelpful. > > No more so than declaring war on an idea. You mean like “The War on Poverty!” or “The War on Drugs!” or “The War on Terror!” All these “wars” are a total pet peeve of mine. Thank-you for pointing out how ridiculous they are. > [@elucidator](#): > > > [@Uzi](#): > > > > … > > When these texts have the ability to be interpreted to permit the killing of others not following said texts then, yeah, I think it is important. > > \ > > \ > > Nobody else seems to follow thier holy text to the extremes that you insist Muslims do, so Muslims must be fundamentally different. OK, in what way? Because they are “They” and not “Us”. They are “Them” and not “We”. They are “Theirs” and not “Ours”. I truly believe that is the biggest difference. > [@Gyrate](#): > > > [@magellan01](#): > > > > You mean like nazism? > > We didn’t declare war on Nazism. We didn’t even declare war on Nazis, _per se_. We declared war on Germany. > > But you knew that. Gyrate… let’s get married and have babies! I like the way you think! > [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > > [@Magiver](#): > > > > Because the author had a habit of killing people who didn’t submit and his followers interpret his words based on his actions? > > And this distinguishes Islam from Christianity how? If Gyrate turns down my marriage proposal, will YOU marry me? > [@Mozart1220](#): > > > [@Uzi](#): > > > > So freedom of religion trumps freedom of speech? > > > > \*\*\*Burning books is not freedom of speech. It’s vandalism. In fact, it shows disrespect for THEIR freedom of speech when you burn a book. \*\*\* > > > > No, you have to have a way to argue against the ignorance that is religion. > > \*\*\*We have. It’s called “not joining the church”. \*\*\* > \*\*\*I think I should also mention that I am as close to being an Atheist as you can get without actually being one. I think the Bible is 90% mythological nonsense. \*\*\* 100% agreement here. And an offer of concubinage if **Gyrate** or **Der Trihs** accepts my marriage proposal. I do love me a pithy response! ---
**Author:** ![Uzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/91b2a8/32.png) [@Uzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uzi)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-books-in-the-us-burn-quran-day/550891/937 "2010-09-21T17:57:31Z")
> [@Doxy](#): > > > [@elucidator](#): > > > > If you are going to insist that Islamic texts are more powerful, more effective, than others, you’re going to have to explain why. \ > > Oh, Bra-Vo!!! Excellent post!!! _applauding_ Wow, I never said that any particular religion follows their text more than any others. I said that some texts are worse than others and if followed as written can be more damaging to other people subject to that interpretation. > [@](#): > > Because they are “They” and not “Us”. They are “Them” and not “We”. They are “Theirs” and not “Ours”. Of course. I’m not a muslim. This is obvious, duh. If I was a ‘We’ I wouldn’t have to worry now would I? The same if I was a Christian or a Jew. I’d probably agree that my religious text was all light and fluffy bunnies and no harm to anyone else. Or, I’d be some form of quisling and afraid to criticize obvious said passages, or just a ‘religious’ relativist that thinks that all religions result in similar outcomes. The latter forgetting that people are just lazy in general and don’t want to kill each other if they can avoid it, for the most part. ---
**Author:** ![Doxy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f14d63/32.png) [@Doxy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doxy)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-books-in-the-us-burn-quran-day/550891/938 "2010-09-21T18:06:46Z")
> [@Uzi](#): > > \… that people are just lazy in general and don’t want to kill each other if they can avoid it, for the most part. I both agree and disagree with this statement. Before I go on, let me state that I haven’t bothered reading all 6 pages of this “Great Debate”… I read the OP and the last page, so I’m not at all familiar with what it is you have been espousing. I agree that people are generally lazy. I disagree with what that means. You say that their inherent laziness leads them to NOT kill each other. I say their inherent laziness is pretty much the REASON for killing one another. It’s much easier to kill someone and take what they have worked for than to work for it yourself. Why try to create a home in the desert when these indigenous people already have? Let’s just kill 'em and take their stuff. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-books-in-the-us-burn-quran-day/550891/939 "2010-09-21T18:37:34Z")
Never underestimate the civilizing power of sloth. It is said that necessity is the mother of invention, this is false. Lazy is the mother of invention, we invent stuff to do things we cannot be bothered with. ---
**Author:** ![Doxy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f14d63/32.png) [@Doxy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doxy)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-books-in-the-us-burn-quran-day/550891/940 "2010-09-21T18:49:34Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Never underestimate the civilizing power of sloth. It is said that necessity is the mother of invention, this is false. Lazy is the mother of invention, we invent stuff to do things we cannot be bothered with. Therein becoming highly sought after “Efficiency Experts” LOL [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-books-in-the-us-burn-quran-day/550891.md?page=46) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-books-in-the-us-burn-quran-day/550891.md?page=48)