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Burning Books

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Ron Collins

Ron Collins

Curiously Confused
By now you have probably heard of this jackass in Florida that was set to publicly burn the Quran on Saturday. Whether or not you want a Mosque near ground zero is irrelevant. Burning books is stupid. Burning another religions sacred text in the name of protest is vile and repugnant. I am all for free speech, but it should be practiced with consideration and respect to the opposition. This backwoods idiot mentality is only slightly more absurd than the media coverage of it.

I think that this is an invite to violence. If one soldier or citizen is seriously injured or killed in protests or retaliative action then tell me how this spectacle was worth it. Man I hate this kind of stuff.
 
This backwoods idiot mentality is only slightly more absurd than the media coverage of it.
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While I totally agree with you, I would rephrase that statement to read; This backwoods idiot mentality is only slightly more absurd than the book he wants to burn.
 
There's over 300 million people in this country. Why anyone cares so much about what one in particular is doing is beyond me. They're just books. Big deal. If some loonie gets upset about it enough to kill someone then that person was just looking for an excuse and nobody should care what he/she thinks anyway. I get tired of being told we should walk on eggshells to please a few nutjobs thousands of miles away. Are they going out of their way to be respectful of us? I doubt it. Then we've got all these people clamoring for a giant mosque at the doorstep of Ground Zero. Again, I don't get it. There's already thousands of mosques in the United States. Why do they have to put one in that specific place? How many Christian churches are in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Syria, etc? I think we should make a trade. They can build a mosque at Ground Zero if we can put a church in Mecca. Sounds fair to me. Why don't some of the Americans arguing for a mosque at that location also demand a church ANYWHERE in Saudi Arabia? Just funny how half of Americans are so quick to bemoan the "insensitivities" of the other half yet they can look to the East and casually dismiss intolerance on an infinitely grander scale. Hell, they even want to reward it. These same people can lament the burning of a Qur'an in Florida yet I very much doubt that the burning of a Bible 3 feet away from them would concern them at all. The whole situation is just bizarre.
 
Wickerman1972 said:
There's over 300 million people in this country. Why anyone cares so much about what one in particular is doing is beyond me. They're just books. Big deal. If some loonie gets upset about it enough to kill someone then that person was just looking for an excuse and nobody should care what he/she thinks anyway. I get tired of being told we should walk on eggshells to please a few nutjobs thousands of miles away. Are they going out of their way to be respectful of us? I doubt it. Then we've got all these people clamoring for a giant mosque at the doorstep of Ground Zero. Again, I don't get it. There's already thousands of mosques in the United States. Why do they have to put one in that specific place? How many Christian churches are in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Syria, etc? I think we should make a trade. They can build a mosque at Ground Zero if we can put a church in Mecca. Sounds fair to me. Why don't some of the Americans arguing for a mosque at that location also demand a church ANYWHERE in Saudi Arabia? Just funny how half of Americans are so quick to belittle the opinions of the other half yet they can look to the East and casually dismiss intolerance on an infinitely grander scale. These same people will lament the burning of a Kuran yet I very much doubt that the burning of a bible would concern them at all. The whole situation is just bizarre.
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main stream media seems to be keeping the boogie man alive so we can use him again soon. we will probably see another 9/11 type event in the very near future.
 
look around dude. the global economy and invasions of other countries speaks volumes.
 
Somehow the situation is all very Bradury-ish. As if this priest/pastor/shaman or whatever wants to play Guy Montag...It's very silly and I wonder if he understands how big of an ass he's making himself.

Beliefs aren't facts. They are simply beliefs. He's no better than the Imam's that call for war. If he goes through with the burning, he should only expect reprisals to land at his feet, by way of the stained glass window and on the backs of the US troops.
 
Xylo said:
Somehow the situation is all very Bradury-ish. As if this priest/pastor/shaman or whatever wants to play Guy Montag...It's very silly and I wonder if he understands how big of an ass he's making himself.

Beliefs aren't facts. They are simply beliefs. He's no better than the Imam's that call for war. If he goes through with the burning, he should only expect reprisals to land at his feet, by way of the stained glass window and on the backs of the US troops.
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You're going at it from a completely different perspective than I am. I just don't see what the big deal is. If the burning of a stack of Bibles isn't newsworthy or worth throwing a bitch about than neither should a pile of Qur'ans. Why does one garner no attention and the other one does? Sure, I know what the answer is: Because violence won't erupt over burned Bibles but it may over burned Qur'ans. That's entirely the wrong reason to place more emphasis on it. Special attention like that actually rewards the violent behavior. The people of this country are getting so ridiculously PC, yuppified, and polarized that it's approaching hilarity. We've become a nation that can't stop arguing over dumb shit (I hate you because you watch Fox News! Well, I hate you because you watch MSNBC!) yet we'll tie ourselves in knots to kiss the asses of people that want to kill us. Surreal.
 
Wickerman1972 said:
I'm not going to get into a debate about it. Just striking to me that you talk about it all the time lately where in the past I don't recall you mentioning it.
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we are frogs in a pot of heating water that is about to come to a boil.
 
Ron Collins said:
I think that this is an invite to violence. If one soldier or citizen is seriously injured or killed in protests or retaliative action then tell me how this spectacle was worth it
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Aren't the people who would become enraged and murderous over the destruction of a man-made artifact already trying to kill both soldiers and citizens? So we should treat these people like they are dangerous animals that you don't want to provoke? Is that the strategy? No cartoons of their favorite dead guy, don't disrespect the book, and don't disrespect their imaginary friends?

Certainly if this fellow had planed to burn the American flag and The Bible these same people calling for blood and riots would have celebrated it rather than protest it wouldn't they? Since when is what is good for the goose not good for the gander? Do we pander to people's irrational beliefs because we're afraid they'll go insane and start killing people over the gods of their imaginations? Is that what its come to? Do what the scary people say, they'll be upset and do irrational and insane acts of violence?

Would riots and murder threats result from someone announcing they were going to delete thousands PDF copies of the Koran? I bet they would. It makes about that much sense.
 
Holy texts are just books to some but they are extremely sacred to many. This jackass that wants to burn the Qur'an is doing so becasue he wants attention.

About the so-called Mosque at Ground-Zero, it boggles my mind that there is such an uproar over it in the media. It's a cultural center and there shouldn't be a problem putting it there - the last time I checked, the United States had freedom of religion. Saying that one would never be able to put a church in Saudi Arabia is true, but it's because they do not have freedom of religion there. Instead of taking pride in the freedom Americans have, some shit all over it when it goes against their beliefs. It brings to mind the ridiculous arguments against gay marriage, as though it will bring about the downfall of society. Absolutely moronic thoughts with no basis in reality.
 
trainedobserver said:
Do you think he did this just to get attention for himself personally or does he have some issue he is trying to make a point about?
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He basically saying my god is much better than your god. Like many, he probably thinks that the United States is a Christian nation, founded on Christian values. Too bad he misses the point of the country he lives in.
 
what if he had a book burning and nobody came? no tv, papers, radio or bloggers.

funny we can have laws against hate crimes and that isn't covered, somehow...
 
Angel of Ioren said:
Holy texts are just books to some but they are extremely sacred to many. This jackass that wants to burn the Qur'an is doing so becasue he wants attention.

About the so-called Mosque at Ground-Zero, it boggles my mind that there is such an uproar over it in the media. It's a cultural center and there shouldn't be a problem putting it there - the last time I checked, the United States had freedom of religion. Saying that one would never be able to put a church in Saudi Arabia is true, but it's because they do not have freedom of religion there. Instead of taking pride in the freedom Americans have, some shit all over it when it goes against their beliefs. It brings to mind the ridiculous arguments against gay marriage, as though it will bring about the downfall of society. Absolutely moronic thoughts with no basis in reality.
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Ya' see, there it goes again. This attitude never ceases to marvel me. Again we were given a lecture about the supposed insensitivities of Americans while in the very same stroke the boundlessly more archaic behavior of others was flippantly cast aside and even came bundled with an argument to reward it! It simply leaves me awestruck that you can't see the irony in condemning a man for simply burning some books while at the same time advocating special consideration for those wanting to build a religious center at the spot where a religious attack resulting in the deaths of thousands of people recently took place! How in the world can you find some old man doing nothing more than burning some books more offensive or insensitive than those looking to rub salt into the wounds of thousands of family members who's loved ones were murdered on that spot on that day? I simply find it incredibly mind-boggling to know that as a conservative American (And I'm guessing this guy in Florida is conservative as well) I am considered someone to be hated and jeered by the left, but if I lived in the desert, had a beard, carried a Qur'an, had 30 wives and routinely beat them and didn't allow them to speak without permission and treated them like slaves, killed scores of infidels, blew up American buildings and then built my own religious centers in the rubble, that I would suddenly cease to be an enemy of the left. Instead I would be transformed from one of those evil "Glenn-Beck-types" into something that should be defended by progressives, made a symbol of tolerance, be advocated for. It's just one of the most loony damned things I've ever heard of and it never ceases to fascinate me that it's the world I live in.
 
Wickerman1972 said:
Ya' see, there it goes again. This attitude never ceases to marvel me. Again we were given a lecture about the supposed insensitivities of Americans while in the very same stroke the boundlessly more archaic behavior of others was flippantly cast aside and even came bundled with an argument to reward it! It simply leaves me awestruck that you can't see the irony in condemning a man for simply burning some books while at the same time advocating special consideration for those wanting to build a religious center at the spot where a religious attack resulting in the deaths of thousands of people recently took place! How in the world can you find some old man doing nothing more than burning some books more offensive or insensitive than those looking to rub salt into the wounds of thousands of family members who's loved ones were murdered on that spot on that day? I simply find it incredibly mind-boggling to know that as a conservative American (And I'm guessing this guy in Florida is conservative as well) I am considered someone to be hated and jeered by the left, but if I lived in the desert, had a beard, carried a Qur'an, had 30 wives and routinely beat them and didn't allow them to speak without permission and treated them like slaves, killed scores of infidels, blew up American buildings and then built my own religious centers in the rubble, that I would suddenly cease to be an enemy of the left. Instead I would be transformed from one of those evil "Glenn-Beck-types" into something that should be defended by progressives, made a symbol of tolerance, be advocated for. It's just one of the most loony damned things I've ever heard of and it never ceases to fascinate me that it's the world I live in.
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I think that the a cultural center would go a long way in showing religious unity, not creating a separation because of fundamentalists that use religion as a reason to kill people.
 
Angel of Ioren said:
I think that the a cultural center would go a long way in showing religious unity, not creating a separation because of fundamentalists that use religion as a reason to kill people.
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Which is code for: They're scary so we should kiss their asses. Lol, I love the internet, never get to hear this shit at home. :)
 
trainedobserver said:
Aren't the people who would become enraged and murderous over the destruction of a man-made artifact already trying to kill both soldiers and citizens? So we should treat these people like they are dangerous animals that you don't want to provoke? Is that the strategy? No cartoons of their favorite dead guy, don't disrespect the book, and don't disrespect their imaginary friends?

Certainly if this fellow had planed to burn the American flag and The Bible these same people calling for blood and riots would have celebrated it rather than protest it wouldn't they? Since when is what is good for the goose not good for the gander? Do we pander to people's irrational beliefs because we're afraid they'll go insane and start killing people over the gods of their imaginations? Is that what its come to? Do what the scary people say, they'll be upset and do irrational and insane acts of violence?

Would riots and murder threats result from someone announcing they were going to delete thousands PDF copies of the Koran? I bet they would. It makes about that much sense.
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I was riding an emotional wave. My main thesis was that burning books and the inherent intolerance and disrespect it engenders is vile to me. I was not intentionally suggesting a policy of cowering to the potential threats posed. I should have stuck to that and not added the last part. I guess My feeling was that while a fire is burning tossing more kerosine in the mix is ill advised and can help to spread the violence in new directions. Adding more ignorance to a situation already rife with dogmatic lunacy will only serve to keep the hatred in a never ending loop. The overwhelming majority of Muslims condemn the fundamentalists attack that day. It is a very divisive event. The inappropriateness of buring the Quran is something all Muslims can agree on.

I don't see the issue with putting a Mosque near the site. It would be tantamount to saying that we should not allow a Catholic church near the OKC bombing memorial because Timothy McVeigh was Catholic.

For the record, I get that burning things is covered by Free Speech. However, I disagree with the practice no matter the material. You can't have compromise and coexistence without respect and tolerance. I am opposed to the mindset and its affects more than to the act itself.
 
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