No material item is “sacred” to Christians. They can burn all the books they want in retaliation.
For Islam, however, all their authority rests upon adherence to their demand for submission to the rules. Westerners burning the Korans, drawing pictures of Mohammad, and just generally disobeying their orders and rules of control, will weaken their religous authority. They only have control if we obey and that is the central weakness of Islam’s system of government. In truth, they don’t have the power to control the whole world unless the elite of every country gives them that legal power.
A lot of uppityness in Islam’s face from the Western people is in order if we want to upset the apple cart of Islam’s grip on a billion people. This is way the Indians sank all powerful imperalistic Britian...and the way Martin Luther King upset the unconstitutional racial order in the US. Freedom is worth pantsing Islam.
No material item is “sacred” to Christians.
I’m not sure that all branches of Christianity would agree with that. I’ve seen objects in reliquaries that many considered sacred. Generally, though, you are right about printed books.
As you said, it’s more about control than about sacredness. Nobody expects a turn-the-cheek Christian to go postal over a crucifix in urine. otoh, nobody would put a crucifix in urine if they thought so.
I like your analysis.