Florida church plans to burn Korans on 9/11 anniversary

[.lava]

The other example .lava gave, is for example a 15 year old boy, getting worked up over this, and he might easily get sucked into a physical fight. When i was at school i had some fights, over very silly reasons, that doesn't mean i was a terrorist.

However, of course that is an immature reaction to give, and an out of control behavior.

obviously some people have never been teenager, they have never done any rebellion and crazy things in their lives so they don't know how it feels like to be one. probably little kids throwing rocks at police or soldiers are extremists as well

.

 

[Reverend Rick]

In the Christian faith, it requires us to forgive so we may be forgiven as well. Burning the Koran is not an act of forgiveness, it is provoking more anger. Is that what you want?

I'm sorry, but these folks are not practicing Christianity, they are displaying their ignorance IMHO.

 

[Badran]

obviously some people have never been teenager, they have never done any rebellion and crazy things in their lives so they don't know how it feels like to be one. probably little kids throwing rocks at police or soldiers are extremists as well

.

Up until i was 17, fighting wasn't a far fetched thing for me at all. I usually got very easily involved in a physical fight. I was irresponsible, and i didn't even look at it in an ethical manner, i merely viewed it as standing up for myself. Then gradually it started to decrease, until i reached the point where physical violence is a very last resort in very specific situations. I wasn't an extremist back then though, i wouldn't have hit someone if they didn't hit back, let alone do something extreme or terroristic in any shape or form.

I have sometimes hit people merely if they made fun of me or insulted me in an offensive manner. Its very possible for a teenager to get very angry when confronted with a situation such as the one of this thread.

 

[Terrywoodenpic]

The only problem I have in Book burning Is that it is wasteful.
Wasteful of Knowledge
wasteful of resources.

I would be very sad if all Korans were burned, or all Bibles.
But as a token of displeasure I suppose limited book burning can have some emotional value.

Apart from some beautifully scribed and decorated volumes, a copy of a book has little intrinsic value as an object.

I do not think an individual copy of any book has individual spiritual value.
Any spiritual value is in the words and meanings, not the book itself.

 

[Nerthus]

Most Muslims I know, would NEVER burn a bible, they would find that offensive. Now, they might go burn a couple of those Christians for burning their Koran.

This is absurd, and it just goes to show that religion poisons everything. What purpose does this serve? I was sitting at home when 9/11 happened, within twenty-four hours I was in NY City, helping people cope with the disaster. There were Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, and Atheists all affected by what happened that day. Blaming the entire Muslim religion for what happened on that day, would be like blaming the entire Christian religion for what happened to the Jews during WWII, or blaming the Jews for the death of Jesus.

I am as sickened by the RADICAL Christian response to 9/11 as I was by the RADICAL Muslim attacks that happened that day. To me, they are one and the SAME.

I am in no way saying they will go out and burn Bibles as a response - I am simply saying how will those Christians react IF Muslims responded in that way. Pretty hypocritical for them to get annoyed.

 

[Duck]

source

Isn't this the same church that was trying to influence the mayoral election? The one that posted signs about the 'dam durty ***' that was running for election? That had complaints filed (or threatened) with the IRS in an attempt to strip its tax exempt status because of its entry into the political arena?

Why am I not surprised by this?

 

[MacKinnon]

There are people out there who will do things that are contrary to whatever belief system they consider themselves ascribed.

As long as we are aware of this, we do not need to be insulted by their actions, or consider them to be in line with any particular belief system.

In this case, it would appear this Chuch leader wants to lash out against those responsible for hijacking the planes. He can't now for obvious reasons. But the anger still remains. It is unfortunate that he has not sought, or had sufficient assistance to resolve that anger. Unfortunate for him, and for the people who listen to him and would join in this act without question.

Who knows how things might be if people took it upon themselves to think about the reasons they think they have for doing things before actually doing them?

 

[K.Venugopal]

Recently in the southern part of the southernmost state of India, Kerala, in the heartland of probably Asia's most powerful Christian community, a Christian Professor's wrist was chopped off by members of a radical Muslim organization because he set a question in a college exam that was offensive to Muslims. The exam paper was for graduate economic students and the subject was the local language Malayalam. The question had asked the students to properly punctuate four lines of a drama sequence. The lines were actually taken from a book of a somewhat acclaimed writer, himself a Muslim. The original question was popped to God by a character simply called madcap. But in the lines set by the Professor, this character was renamed Mohammad. The God-Mohammad dialogue went like this:

Mohammad: Oh Creator, Oh Creator [Malayalee Muslims often call God this way].
God: Yes, you pesky dog? [the actual Malayalam phrase alludes to a *****'s son].
Mohammad: If I cut a fish, how many pieces of fish would I have?
God: You dog, how many times have I told you that you would have three pieces?

When the somewhat well-known Muslim writer who was also a Communist leader wrote the same thing, except he did not call the character Mohammad but simply madcap, there was no controversy at all. But in this instance, there was an instant uproar in the minority Muslim community when the students went home and showed the question paper. The Kerala government (a communist one) acted fast to seek to diffuse the situation by immediately asking the college to suspend the Professor, which they promptly did. The Christian community largely condemned the professor for his insensitive question paper and concluded him to be an idiot. Meanwhile, a particular Muslim organization bayed for the Professor's blood and the Professor went into hiding. Sensing the mood, the police had to arrest the Professor without delay and used the rather immoral technique of picking up the professor's son and torturing him. News of this naturally made the professor surface and surrender before the police. The fellow was in lock-up and the case went to the court. Meanwhile he was given bail and on a Sunday morning was returning from Church with his wife and sister (who is a nun) in a vehicle. The vehicle was waylaid by about 10-15 men in another vehicle, who stepped out and in a macabre display of Shariat resolution, chopped the professor's right wrist, the very one with which he presumably set the question paper. He was rushed to hospital and was in serious condition due to blood loss. They managed to save his life and also sew back his palms. It is now almost a month and he is still in hospital.

This is the first time that such a Taliban like action has been carried out in India. Many here would say that this is a stray incident and it would seem so. But actually this is only the climax, maybe the first of many future climaxes, unless nipped in the bud. The build up and occasional display of Muslim organizational prowess is causing disquiet even among normally politically-correct quarters. Something further on the same lines may trigger a backlash, God forbid.

 

[MacKinnon]

That's an interesting story, where did you read it?

 

[K.Venugopal]

That's an interesting story, where did you read it?

Its been all over the news.

 

[LuisDantas]

Sometimes it is hard to accept that such things happen. What is the point in deliberately irritating (much less physically threatening) other groups? What is the motivation? How could that possibly be defensable?

 

[K.Venugopal]

Sometimes it is hard to accept that such things happen. What is the point in deliberately irritating (much less physically threatening) other groups? What is the motivation? How could that possibly be defensable?

The point is, whatever the Professor's motivation, almost nobody supported him. Civil society moved immediately to get him suspended, charge him, put him behind bars and have a case running against him which in all probably would have resulted in his losing his job and all his accrued benefits and worse, the tag of a useless fellow by the whole community. What more punishment did he deserve for his indiscretion? But apparently all this was not enough for the particular Muslim organization, which wanted an Islamic solution. And in carrying it out, the sympathy of everyone moved back to the Professor. The courts of India are well known for taking independent views on matters and refusing to be intimidated. Before the attack on him, the courts may well have discharged the Professor (Professor Joseph) with strictures and a fine. The chap could have repented and restarted a new life. But all that is not to be now. He is scarred for life. It is reported that the police are cracking down heavily on the involved Muslim organization and in all likelihood the attackers would face stiff prison terms. The Shariat solution kind of short-circuited everything. The powerful Christian community is not amused, though the Professor himself has pardoned his attackers. It seems that everywhere Islamic solutions backfire. That is the link between this story and the Quran-burning resolution by the wayward Church.

 

[MacKinnon]

Its been all over the news.

I suppose that depends on which media you read. I've found a couple of articles though, but it wasn't exactly 'front page news'.

Anyway. I agree there is, has and probably always will be a problem with people committing acts of violence against one another where they cite blasphemy or any other excuse, religious or otherwise.

I'm not sure what you could advocate as an effective means to 'nip it in the bud', (is it the violence we're talking about here?) as the world is ever changing.

 

[Badran]

It seems that everywhere Islamic solutions backfire. That is the link between this story and the Quran-burning resolution by the wayward Church.

What they did is not Islamic in anyway, shape or form. Its not an islamic solution. There is no such thing as to cut of the hand of someone who wrote something i didn't like. Especially when he is already being dealt with by the court.

How was that sentence relevant at all though? I don't understand the link.

 

[LuisDantas]

I believe the intent is to claim that Islamic communities are failing to an alarming degree at keeping violent behavior under control.

I'm not sure what to make of it.

 

[Badran]

I believe the intent is to claim that Islamic communities are failing to an alarming degree at keeping violent behavior under control.

I'm not sure what to make of it.

If thats what was meant, i can see it as almost a completely irrelevant claim to this subject.

 

[LuisDantas]

Irrelevant? Separate, certainly, but I can see how many would (rather foolishly and destructively, to be sure, but even so sincerely) feel justified in "upping the ante" as long as they associate such behavior with the spread of Islam.

It is much like an arms race, come to think of it. Both sides claim to abhor it, neither wants to be much behind the other.

I would love to learn that such violent radicals are not Muslims, and do not even consider themselves Muslims. Quite frankly, that would make so many things easier. But is it reasonable to expect as much?

 

[Kilgore Trout]

I hope they at least make s'mores.

 

[FlyingTeaPot]

source

They call themselves the WORLD OUTREACH CENTER ?????!!!!

 

[FlyingTeaPot]

That's a good point! They probably don't quite realize they are also burning the Old Testament. (Unless they are going through the trouble to remove it first.)

well, as Bill Maher points out, half of Americans do not know that Judaism came before christianity. He says " That's right, half of America looks at books called the Old Testament and the New Testament and cannot figure out which one came first."