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.
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.
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.)
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.
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. So, I don’t think Oakminster needs to fret unduly about them taking over the west just yet.
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?
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.
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.
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 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:
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.