# Way to start a holy war, Newsweek **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 15, 2005, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/way-to-start-a-holy-war-newsweek/303951 "2005-05-15T18:58:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/way-to-start-a-holy-war-newsweek/303951/1 "2005-05-15T18:58:02Z")
As if our soldiers and civilians don’t have enought to contend with, Newsweek pulls [this total fuckup.](http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/15/international/asia/15cnd-afghan.html?hp&ex=1116216000&en=c35729128bc1194e&ei=5094&partner=homepage) No amount of retractions and corrections will fix this, since it will now be seen as an attempt to cover up what may have happened. When are the fucking douchebag fishwrap hacks going to start checking sources instead of getting their facts from the blogs? ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/way-to-start-a-holy-war-newsweek/303951/2 "2005-05-15T19:04:56Z")
That is pretty pathetic. When something should be reported, they bury it. When it is false, they treat it as fact. Any attempts to fix it will be seen as a cover-up now. Maybe instead of reading, and checking facts, we should all just start making shit up too. How many rolleyes would it take to cover this? What a disaster. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/way-to-start-a-holy-war-newsweek/303951/3 "2005-05-15T19:12:40Z")
> [@](#): > > The weekly news magazine said in its May 23 edition that the original source of the allegation was not sure \*where he saw the assertion \* that at least one copy of the Koran was flushed down a toilet in an attempt to get detainees to talk. Please tell me that that doesn’t mean what I think it means. Because I think it means that their ‘source’ was a third hand account… ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/way-to-start-a-holy-war-newsweek/303951/4 "2005-05-15T19:16:14Z")
> [@](#): > > Because I think it means that their ‘source’ was a third hand account… Chalabi again? ---
**Author:** ![belladonna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9fc29f/32.png) [@belladonna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/belladonna)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/way-to-start-a-holy-war-newsweek/303951/5 "2005-05-15T19:24:15Z")
Ignorant question: Are copies of the Koran considered more sacred to muslims than the Bible is to Christians? I can’t imagine getting all up in arms over somebody flushing a bible down the toilet, even if I was very devout. It’s just ink on paper, and flushing won’t destroy the other umpteen thousand copies. The act is an insult, sure, but hardly an unbearable one. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/way-to-start-a-holy-war-newsweek/303951/6 "2005-05-15T19:27:49Z")
Would that even be an effective interrogation technique? Even if I found some book to be the ultimate holy whatever, if somebody else desecrates it, that’s on his head, not mine. Do extremist Muslims feel differently somehow? If the Koran is desecrated merely in their presence, do they feel they somehow pay some religious penalty? ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/way-to-start-a-holy-war-newsweek/303951/7 "2005-05-15T19:32:12Z")
What, Newsweek is reputable now? ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/way-to-start-a-holy-war-newsweek/303951/8 "2005-05-15T19:41:32Z")
Aaaannd there’s rioting in Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, & elsewhere over this. At least 15 dead, killed by US Troops. > **[Latest news from around the world | The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/world)** > > Latest World news news, comment and analysis from the Guardian, the world's leading liberal voice Great Krypton! On days when I’ve had _waaaay_ too much caffine, I’ve had a paranoid fantasy that a cabal of Republicans is trying to destroy America, & that all the screw-ups are deliberate acts to further that plan. Now, I have no caffine in me. Only despair. ---
**Author:** ![Avenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de0a6/32.png) [@Avenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avenger)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/way-to-start-a-holy-war-newsweek/303951/9 "2005-05-15T19:49:12Z")
Part of me wants to comment that news organisations shouldn’t be held to any higher standards of fact checking than governments presenting a case for invading a sovereign state. Then I remember that the esteemed Lord Hutton concluded that that indeed they should and I humbly remain silent. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/way-to-start-a-holy-war-newsweek/303951/10 "2005-05-15T20:08:04Z")
> [@belladonna](#): > > Ignorant question: Are copies of the Koran considered more sacred to muslims than the Bible is to Christians? I can’t imagine getting all up in arms over somebody flushing a bible down the toilet, even if I was very devout. It’s just ink on paper, and flushing won’t destroy the other umpteen thousand copies. The act is an insult, sure, but hardly an unbearable one. From a military force that has invaded and occupied your country? It _might_ look like they were going after your religion, too. Yes, I think many Christians would take to the streets after that. Many people here feel that a lenghty prison term is a good idea for those who burn the American flag. They consider _that_ insult unbearable. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/way-to-start-a-holy-war-newsweek/303951/11 "2005-05-15T20:26:22Z")
That _Newsweek_ printed such a flawed story is their fault. The fact that such a story is believable is ours. ---
**Author:** ![Dancer\_Flight](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dancer_flight/32/7601_2.png) [@Dancer\_Flight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dancer_Flight)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/way-to-start-a-holy-war-newsweek/303951/12 "2005-05-15T20:28:18Z")
> [@spooje](#): > > Many people here feel that a lenghty prison term is a good idea for those who burn the American flag. They consider _that_ insult unbearable. \ I am always amused by this when the United States Flag Code (see e.g. [here](http://www.ushistory.org/betsy/flagetiq.html#5)) states in Sec. 8.k. > [@](#): > > The flag, when it is in such condition that it is no longer a fitting emblem for display, should be destroyed in a dignified way, **preferably by burning.** Bolding Mine. I guess those who get in a tizzy about this only do so when said destruction is of a flag in good shape and as an act of protest.\ -DF ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/way-to-start-a-holy-war-newsweek/303951/13 "2005-05-15T20:29:54Z")
Sadly, it was believable. Maybe the fact that nobody anywhere said “What? No Way!” is a sad sad commentary we need to really pay attention to. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/way-to-start-a-holy-war-newsweek/303951/14 "2005-05-15T20:32:55Z")
I have read that Muslims consider the words of the Koran holy, even more so than Christians and the Bible. I don’t have a cite, but I did once read that when a copy is sold the pages are “free”, and one buys the binding only. For crying out loud, there are people who memorize the whole Koran, now \*that’s \* devotion! I’m a pretty devout Christian, but if someone was holding me hostage, desecrating a Bible would bother me, but I wouldn’t risk my security, or riot, because of it. But not everyone believes as I do, and for Newsweek to publish such a report is the heighth of irresponsibility. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/way-to-start-a-holy-war-newsweek/303951/15 "2005-05-15T21:00:00Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > Sadly, it was believable. Maybe the fact that nobody anywhere said “What? No Way!” is a sad sad commentary we need to really pay attention to. Condi Rice did. Did you believe her? Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Avenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de0a6/32.png) [@Avenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avenger)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/way-to-start-a-holy-war-newsweek/303951/16 "2005-05-15T21:04:27Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Condi Rice did. Did you believe her? > > Regards, > Shodan She did? [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4542785.stm](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4542785.stm) > [@](#): > > The US secretary of state has promised prompt action if allegations of desecration of the Koran at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp prove true…snip… “Appropriate action” would be taken if the allegations proved true, she added. ---
**Author:** ![pasunejen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/58956e/32.png) [@pasunejen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pasunejen)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/way-to-start-a-holy-war-newsweek/303951/17 "2005-05-15T21:05:42Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > I have read that Muslims consider the words of the Koran holy, even more so than Christians and the Bible. I don’t have a cite, but I did once read that when a copy is sold the pages are “free”, and one buys the binding only. Also, at least some Muslims are not willing to touch a copy of the Koran containing a translation from the original language–when one of my college classes required such a text, any Muslim cashiers at the bookstore had to call someone else in to handle that part of the transaction. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/way-to-start-a-holy-war-newsweek/303951/18 "2005-05-15T21:24:00Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Condi Rice did. Did you believe her? > > Regards, > Shodan Could I squirm out of this by claiming it’s a trick question? Didn’t think so. I can honestly say, that I think her first reaction (in private) was more like “what the hell?!?”. I guess as a “liberal Democrat” I _should_ claim she was only giving the official version, but I’d be bullshitting you. I believe her. ---
**Author:** ![threemae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f9b8f/32.png) [@threemae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/threemae)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/way-to-start-a-holy-war-newsweek/303951/19 "2005-05-15T21:40:37Z")
I think you’re on the right track here. Given that it has to be kept written in Arabic because it’s supposedly the actual, direct word of God as opposed to a translation or retelling, they seem to take their text a bit more seriously. ---
**Author:** ![WeRSauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f19dbf/32.png) [@WeRSauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WeRSauron)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2005, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/way-to-start-a-holy-war-newsweek/303951/20 "2005-05-16T01:36:33Z")
Desecrating a copy of the Qur’an to Muslims is equivalent to desecrating Torah scrolls to Jews. Unlike in other religious traditions, the Qur’an is far more than a book. It is considered to be a universal rule that no one is allowed to even touch a copy of the Qur’an while in a state of ritual impurity as defined by Muslim laws. One may never casually read the Qur’an: while reading it one’s posture must indicate respect. It is forbidden to bring the Qur’an, or anything else containing holy words, into the bathroom or any other impure place. It is very bad to drop the Qur’an (it is kissed when picked up). Many Muslims show a large amount of veneration to the Qur’an. To an outsider observer who knows nothng about Islam or Muslims, it may seem that Muslims worship the book. Desecration of the Qur’an is considered to be a crime against God and Islam, by Muslims. It is punishable by death, according to the Shari’ah. To those who understand Islam and Muslims, the protests are understandable. If the story run by Newsweek is, indeed, false, those involved in its publication should be arrested and tried for inciting riots. Any editor of any noteworthy magazine should know the potential consequences of publishing such a story. For the record, many riots turned lethal, particularly in Afghanistan. How will Newsweek compensate for those lost lives? How will Newsweek compensate for damaged property? Publishing this article was extremely reckless. The damage this has done to relations with and perceptions of the US are very serious and irrevocable. Retracting the article or apologizing will do nothing: people will accuse the US of pressuring Newsweek to retract the article. WRS - For this recklessness, I am now boycotting Newsweek. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/way-to-start-a-holy-war-newsweek/303951.md?page=2)