Posted on 09/09/2010 7:23:42 AM PDT by shortstop
The Koran burning and the Ground Zero mosque are the same thing.
They are both legal, and they are both wrong. They are impolite, cruel and hurtful, and protected by the Constitution.
Good people would do neither.
But good people aren’t behind either.
Yes, the loony pastor in Florida is wrong to burn Korans as a protest. But, yes, for the exact same reasons, the loony imam in New York is wrong to put a mosque within the blood splatter of Ground Zero.
Yet, ironically, the Obama Administration calls one action “protected” and the other “idiotic.”
And the same people who defend burning the flag as free speech denounce burning the Koran as religious intolerance.
The double standards on this deal are nauseating.
First, as to Saturday. In Florida, where a tiny church has threatened to burn copies of the Muslim Koran, a PR stunt has made a flake a star, and brought attention to one more loser who craves it.
He claims his Christianity compels him to burn the Muslim book.
He is wrong. Christianity compels no such thing.
Yes, Christianity compels him – and all believers – to reject Islam as a means of salvation. Christianity teaches that only through faith in and obedience to Jesus Christ can mankind be saved. Christianity teaches that the Koran is spiritual falsehood and confusion, akin to the idolatry and false gods of the Old Testament.
But Christianity also teaches a simple standard for dealing with others: Treat them the way you yourself would want to be treated. Not the way they have treated you – that is the devil’s plan of revenge and lowest-common-denominator relations – but the way that you would want to be treated.
And it is clear that no one – including this pastor in Florida – would want a symbol of their faith treated in a disrespectful way. It’s simply not courteous, neighborly or Christian.
The Koran may not mean anything to the Florida guy – or to you and me – but it means something to somebody else, and out of common courtesy to that somebody else, it shouldn’t be burned.
Muslims have a unique view of their sacred scripture that Christians and Jews do not. To Christians and Jews, while a particular Bible or Torah might have sentimental or historical value, the actual book is just ink on paper, the true significance is in the message. You can burn the book, but that is meaningless when it comes to the eternal and unchanging truths in the book. Islam looks at its book differently, and instills some of the message’s revered nature in the actual copy of the book itself. That objectification of the Koran may not make sense to a non-Muslim, but it doesn’t have to.
That’s how they feel about it and a neighborly person – who is treating others the way he would want to be treated – wouldn’t make a spectacle and burn a bunch of Korans.
That would be cruel and unbrotherly.
The same way that building a mosque in a building damaged on September 11 would be cruel and unbrotherly.
Most Muslims find it inappropriate to burn Korans. Most Americans find it inappropriate to build the Ground Zero mosque. An argument for courtesy in one matter should lead naturally to an argument for courtesy in the other.
That’s the point that needs to be made about this Koran burning. Every argument in favor of building the mosque is, logically, also an argument for burning the Koran. Both actions are protected by the First Amendment. There is no doubt about that.
Yet we don’t hear the president standing up in front of his Muslim friends and defending the rights of the Florida pastor. Rather, the same people who defend the mosque are shouting down the pastor. It’s as if liberty is a one-way street, and courtesy only makes demands on a portion of society.
If it is wrong and divisive to burn the Koran, and it is, then it is wrong and divisive to build the mosque.
Yet Muslims and their defenders demand a protection for their rights which they are not willing to extend to others. Muslims and so-called “inter-faith” groups condemn the burning but defend the mosque. Their bias blinds them to the hypocrisy of their stand.
One is as offensive as the other.
Astoundingly, the mosque defenders are unable to see that the Florida pastor is giving them a taste of their own medicine. Rudeness in the name of liberty is defended in New York and denounced in Florida.
But both are wrong together.
And both sides should be more Christian. Both sides should do what Jesus said, and do unto others as they would have others do unto them.
The Korans should not be burned, and the mosque should not be built.
They are two peas in the same pod.
No, I was seriously asking. Geez. I was honestly trying to be fair. Thanks for the rudeness.
“A giant snotty attitude is a poor substitute for intelligence and intellectual integrity. You have chosen to post your opinions on this thread yet you admit (when pressed) that you have chosen to remain ignorant of the subject under discussion. In order for the truth to set you free you must first seek it.”
“You were giving Christians advice on how to be Christian.”
No, I wasn’t. I only said ‘this is my opinion as an atheist’ MORE than twice, AND I also used question marks because I was ASKING you, not telling or giving you anything but my admitted uneducated, unbelieving opinion.
You are just very rude, dude. Very rude.
I have no idea why you haven’t simply gone to Pastor Jones’ website and read his arguments for yourself. I did. Days ago. And if I hadn’t, I wouldn’t be posting to these threads. Neither in favor of, nor opposed to Pastor Jones’ actions.
“yet you admit (when pressed) that you have chosen to remain ignorant of the subject under discussion.”
When pressed? no one asked me, I offered it up that I am an atheist. It’s in my profile.
Geez. I mean GEEZ. You have some hangups. That much I KNOW FO SHO.
And you most certainly can't compare me to Pilate because I see through this phony baloney cult guy.
As for the Sanhedrin, your comparison is still of this glory-hound and the Son of God, not what the Sanhedrin did.
Yikes. Your agument is just plain goofy. Use a little reason, and try to get your mental act together, OK?
“I have no idea why you haven’t simply gone to Pastor Jones’ website and read his arguments for yourself. I did.”
You were the one that was concerned that someone was not talking about the points in favor of burning the Koran, not me.
I was suggesting you do so for the sake of a fair argument. Seriously, if you are teaching me what it means to be a Christian...no thanks.
You claim that you were not giving Christians advice on being Christians. I don’t think this is true. Here is what you said at reply #21:
“Go help the needy in the name of Jesus Christ and you will do so much more to denounce Islam than burning a book.”
It was to this statement that I responded (and I quoted it in my post).
I might be impolite, but I am not saying things that are untrue. You are.
THIS IS WAHT I WROTE IN FULL CONTEXT:
“IMO, if you are a Christian, then why not just live your life through Christ and those teachings every single day? You wouldn’t have much of an appreciation for Muslims burning the Bible, if you are a Christian, eh?
I am an atheist and would never burn a Bible or a Koran. Burning books is actually just really uncool and immature, IMO.
Go help the needy in the name of Jesus Christ and you will do so much more to denounce Islam than burning a book. If you have to find a book to burn, burn a ‘fable’ or ‘fairy tale’ or even a porn mag and write ‘Koran’ across the top then burn it. Honestly, I think that would say as much.
Again, this is all just my atheistic opinion. Ultimately, people should do what they feel is right.”
ONE MORE TIME ON THIS LAST LINE:
“Again, this is all just my atheistic opinion. Ultimately, people should do what they feel is right.””
Learning before teaching is not unique to Christianity.
The last line bears repeating, and repeating (just so you understand this time.)
“Again, this is all just my atheistic opinion. Ultimately, people should do what they feel is right.””
Oh, go burn a useless book and feel useful.
OK gottcha In that case I say burn “Stairway to Heaven” too. (besided the Islamic tie, I just hate that song)
not exactly
one is a victory monument to be seen for decades
the other is an angry statement that will last 15 minutes. longer if fanned as propaganda by American hating muslims
“Burning books is actually just really uncool and immature, IMO.”
Great way to heat the house when the firewood runs out.
That’s about the only good excuse I can imagine to burn a book.
But you ignore the pro-burning arguments...
I am of the very same mind, as are millions of others.
Isn’t the Way to oppose those who actively oppose God the Way which will defeat them instead of creating scenarios under such perverted labels as “liberty to burn a Koran” which will only fuel terrorists’ murderous actions and enable them to enlist others in their evil?
We are in essense not discussing abstract liberty involved in the right of a fool to flagrantly burn a work that millions of humans consider a holy book. The real core is the war against terror and radical Islam: that is the lethal challenge for the foreseeable future for us, our families, and our nation—and indeed the whole civilized world. SO THAT LIBERTY WILL CONTINUE TO EXIST!!!
God indeed has a purpose for us on earth. And we only need recite the Lord’s Prayer daily to ourselves to know the path to follow.
Yup..In the end it’s a matter of property rights..
Once again, I am comparing their 'acts', and not their 'souls'.
If it had been Billy Graham who called for burning the Korans in remembrance of 9/11, and I made the same comparisons, would you so strongly object?
I am using 'reason' (or 'logic').
You have responded both times with nothing but emotion.
No facts, only ultimatums.
The only reason you give for objecting to my comparison, is that you don't like this minister, and you love Jesus, therefore ....
Well, I love Jesus too.
-Our Government sees this minister as a troublemaker. They want him stopped.
-The Sanhedrin saw Jesus as a troublemaker. They wanted him stopped.
Is that easier to see, for a comparison?
I'm not implying there is anything else of similarity between this minister and Jesus. For all I know this 'minister' is a scammer, or a communist plant.
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