Posted on 09/07/2010 7:53:35 PM PDT by oldleft
None of us should burn a koran, or any book for that matter. We should all have access to every available text ever written and be able to make up our own minds about it.
Sure, I understand that the pending koran burning is a political statement more than an action to rid the world of the stupid book. But it sends the wrong message.
I WANT people to read this book, to truly understand its message. Taken in the context of modern events no sane person could possibly take the koran seriously. Imagine if more people had read "Mien Kampf" or the "Communist Manifesto." Imagine if in 1900 "Das Kapital" was required reading. How many lives could have been saved?
So instead of burning this stupid book we should be encouraging people to read it. READ the koran, and try to UNDERSTAND it. Only then will people know its true and terrifying nature.
Lol!
How on earth is book burning always wrong? People can dispose of their own property as they see fit. And as for insulting other peoples religions, it’s crazy to say that it’s always wrong. And even when it is wrong, it’s pretty harmless. I don’t care if Muslims insult Christianity, and actually I think the religious grievance industry is a plague on society. Muslims should take the same attitude.
It would have been more clever to burn PICTURES of Mohammed. It would have gotten the same reaction from muslims & their dhimmis, while silencing the anti-book burning crowd.
Jesus said there would be no more prophets. Jesus also warned us about false prophets. Mohammed is a false prophet, making his teachings false, too. Therefore, the koran is a lie & blasphemy. It is just that simple.
So, let's stop all this nonsense about muslims & Christians worshiping the same God. Muslims will burn in hell for their rejection of Christ. Instead of proclaiming islam a great religion, Christians should be spreading the Gospel to the damned muslims as Jesus instructed them to do.
Back in the 70's, the Illinois Nazis wanted to parade around in their snappy uniforms and bulbous helmets. Problem was, they wanted to march in Skokie, a mostly Jewish neighborhood that had a lot of Holocaust survivors. They ended up marching somewhere else, but not before taking it to court and getting the "right" to do it.
More recently, the gays in Calfornia have taken the prop. 8 thing to court. They want to be "married," even though they enjoy the benefits of marriage without the title "Marriage." They want to be called married, but in doing so, they alienate a lot of people who might support their quest for a relational title if it wasn't called marriage. We also have the quest to build a mosque on Ground Zero. Even though it was a group of Muslims who piloted the planes that destroyed the WTC and killed 3,000 Americans, some people don't see anything wrong with it. As another example, look at the Orangemen in Northern Ireland. Every summer these jaspers dress up in their orange sashes and march through a Catholic neighborhood to honor some battle or another that happened ages ago, yet still needs to have Catholic faces rubbed in it.
Everyone has something that is special, that is, for lack of a better word, "holy." For some, it is the flag. (I know I am not alone when I see loathsome persons burning it, but I restrain myself from getting out the Louisville Slugger and doing an Al Capone on them.) For others, it is NASCAR: "Don't you be dissin' my main man Jeff Gordon!" In the movie "The Commitments," Colm Meany's character shouts, "Elvis is GOD!" when a group sings that he was "a cajun."
Point is, everyone and every group has their holy things. Problem is, in a pluralistic, allegedly tolerant society, that holy must be respected on all fronts. Sure, I might have the right to totally talk trash about, say, the Kennedys (especially that Ted person), but if I'm around people who honestly dig on the whole "Camelot" thing, I will silently vomit into my mouth a little, smile, and change the subject. It's called respect.
Don't get me wrong. I hate Islam. It is an insult to free people everywhere, and its claims about the person of Jesus and that they worship the same god as the Jews are two of the biggest whoppers I've ever heard.
But given that there are enough idiots around the world who would use this as an opportunity to attack Americans or Christians, I don't think burning the Koran in public is a good idea. All it takes is some imam somewhere with a Youtube account, and morons everywhere will see Pastor D'Zaster making a big deal out of burning their holy book. They'd froth at the mouth, go out and blow themselves up, and think they've struck a blow for Islam.
I don't want to give them the sastisfaction. I don't want to give them any opportunity to think they're serving their "god" by doing anything against this. Instead, we should continue to use humor to drag them down. We should continually point out that the Jesus in the Bible can really save them, and that the Jesus of the K'ran is, well, a useless joke that can't save anybody. Just like the rest of their religion. And we should do it covertly, covering the web with artistic examples of truth and mockery, so that they can't go out and do anything against any one person or group. Let 'em stew, as we laugh at them, until they grow tired of gnawing on their hatred and come to the Risen Lord of love, life, and laughter.
And as for the mosque-builders, the gays, and others whose behaviors mirror those of the Nazis, let us loudly point out to them the glaring lack of tolerance they have, using their own words against them, to make them realize that what we consider holy is not negotiable. Argue, and make them see that they should give up trying to rub on us their own shortcomings, because we won't put up with it.
Tolerance is to two-way street. I'd like to see someone give tolerance and respect to someone else's "holy" for a change.
I sit corrected. My bad!
This walking on eggshells to keep from "offending" or "enraging" Muslims has gotten pathological, and serves only to encourage them to express their rage about the most insignificant things. ....like drawing Mad Mo's likeness in a cartoon. ....or protesting the proposed mosque at Ground Zero. ....or a pastor of a tiny church burning a few books. The more politically correct and culturally sensitive you act, the more likely they are to get enraged about the slightest perceived slight to their sadistic cult. And btw, if some nutball in Afghanistan (or anywhere else) riots over an event like this, he was never "up to this point non-violent."
Exactly. Our military burned Bibles!
I like General Patraeus, a whole lot, and respect him even more, but he needs to stay out of this one. This is an exercise of the 1st Amendment. It’s not the same as Wiki releasing classified documents and jeopardizing national security.
I find it disturbing that such a powerful General got involved with this very civilian, very domestic, very political, very local, very tiny, Florida church protest.
I think his speaking to the world as an active and commanding Army General is the major story of this event, it gives me the willies.
Did you happen to listen to Hannity today? I caught 5 minutes while out on a errand. A guy called in with a thick accent that sounded like he was Middle Eastern. He said that there are two particular English translations of the quran (sp?) that are in error and were intentionally misinterpreted. He cited two verses as examples. He claims that the real quran doesn’t teach those two things. He made it sound like they were simply misunderstood. (Hogwash.)
I’ll try to find the audio and post it. And I’ll research the verses he quoted to see what I can find.
I don’t think you’re overthinking it. That was a good point.
It creeped me out too. And as I said, I have lots of respect for General Patraeus. He’s a good man. Military officials sure have been rather opinionated lately (last 12 months or so) in their public comments. I don’t think they respect Obama. Maybe they feel the need to stand up for themselves and their men because they know Obamao won’t do so. If that’s a factor, I’ll cut them lots of slack.
But yeah, creepy.
If you want people to consider reading the Koran which do you think will bring more attention to it; burning it in a public protest or a weak-kneed plea on the internet to read it?
I don’t think Petraeus is defying 0baMao in any way by calling out this church. The State Dept. and Eric Holder have also made the same public statements about it. More like it is a concerted effort coming from the WH.
If they believe they're advancing their death cult, they can tell you "Islam" means "peace", "jihad" means "struggle", the Ground Zero Mosque is really a "cultural center", that they're only building nuclear reactors for civilian energy purposes, that they'll take the billions of dollars worth of equipment and training we've given them and use it to create stable, secular democracies in Iraq and Afghanistan, and that they only want to peacefully co-exist with us infidels here in the USA.
Anyone who believes that might be interested in some choice real estate I have for sale in south-central Florida...
Scouts Out! Cavalry Ho!
It is worse that he is calling out a Florida preacher and his little church of 50 people. American Generals aren't supposed to do that.
Well I didn’t really mean he was defying Obama. I meant that he may feel the need to point out and speak up about something that he believes will bring harm to his troops or threaten their mission because Obama’s priority is never the troops or national security. Not that this is such an issue IMO, but Patraeus perceives it as such.
Since Holder has spoken up about it, then it could be an orchestrated effort. Did Holder comment before or after Patraeus? If it was before, you’re probably right. If it was after, it could be that Patraeus’ comments shamed or embarassed the WH and they felt that they needed to publicly back Patraeus.
It’s late. I could be loopy.
I agree. That is not appropriate for a serving general currently engaging the enemy. Your previous post on that is spot on. Even worse that he is falling line with 0baMao’s PC police force.
I just heard on Fox News this evening that Holder had made a statement. Haven’t seen it from a second source actually. I sure don’t agree with Petraeus’ reasoning though.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.