I'm torn. On the one hand, an act of rampant stupidity and prejudice which is only going to cause grief and more hate and angst will (barring some miraculous change) be going down in my home state on Saturday. And my first instinct is to condemn it, and the *clearly* wrong and un-Christian thinking behind it. On the other hand, by doing so, I would, like all the news and media outlets that are covering it, be giving this small minded slive 'fame' and attention, which is what he craves. What he is wanting to get out of this. *grr*
*sigh* Simple minded extremists exist in *every* religion and philosophy. All this does is prove it.
Look, I'm not a Muslim - I don't believe that the Qur'an is the word of God, inspired or direct or otherwise. Do people use the Qur'an for evil ends? Certainly. People have used the Bible, and every other religious text for evil ends as well. The only way you'll stop that is to do away with religion all together. And then we'll just find some other philosophy to use. People will hate and do evil, one way or another if that is what is really in their hearts.
Burning the Qur'an (or destroying any other sacred text, or sacred art, or holy place) isn't going to bring peace. It's only going to drive people further apart.
You destroy things because you fear them. Whether you admit this to yourself or not, that's the truth. You fear that they do have power. So that's what this is about - fear. These people have let a book have so much power over their lives (negative power, in this case, since it's just hate) that they feel like they have to destroy it to expunge it from their souls. But it won't work, of course. They'll still be afraid.
Wow well put. That is exactly what these people are doing. I agree with you 100% no book, especially one of religious significance, should ever be burnt. Doesn't matter if you believe in that book or not there are many that do and it is disrespectful to them. Its just not right.
ReplyDeleteOnce at the airport of a Muslim country I had both the Bible and the Quran in my bag. The security staff asked me what those books were (you know how books are banned in Muslim countries) so I told him. He asked if I was Muslim or Christian and I thought if I said Muslim he'd get annoyed that I was carrying a Bible so I said Christian :) Then he asked why I had the Quran so I said I'm learning it. He gave me a faint smile, said Mashallah and then asked me to take the Quran out of the bag and put the bag back on the scanner belt. I took out both Books and he said, 'no problem. Leave the Bible in the bag just take out the Quran so it is respected"! I took out both.
ReplyDeleteWe should treat all books with respect. This burn the Quran day is utter nonsense and one should be afraid that karma follows you! What if it really disappoints Yahweh?!
Very well said, Amber! I enjoyed this post. I hate the media made this guy known internationally. How else would a guy with a tiny church make international news? Grrr! He's wrong for fearing first of all (the Bible tells us over and over and over "do not fear") and for blatantly being hateful which is totally against Jesus' teachings and example. The media is wrong for having given this guy attention.
ReplyDeleteSuroor, I enjoyed your story. :)
This is simply wrong. We have seen this previously in WW2. Burning any books, let alone a Holy book, is disgusting.
ReplyDeleteLike the film inception, you cant kill an idea. There truely is nothing more dangerous than an idea.
it has been proven cognitively even as small children that we are programmed to believe every thing has a purpose and is made that way.
There was a TV programme on Faith schools in the uk. they asked a whole class of children 1 by 1, on their own a few questions.
They showed the child a sharp stone (slate or flint I think). They said to the child, "do you think this stone is shaped like this because a larger stone fell on it and made it this shape? Or Is it like this because an animal would like to scratch on it?" All the children bar one, said it was made that way so an animal could scratch. Obviously this is only one example of their findings. (and this isnt my blog so will try to be as brief as I can.)
A very primitive way of finding out what children think, I grant you that. But it shows the urge within us to believe in something bigger. Something that makes everything have a purpose. Be it worshiping the Sun, or any God or Idol.
The burning of books what ever religion, will not kill any idea or faith. We should learn from history not repeat it.
Good story Suroor. I also think this is an argument maybe to not have any faith schools. Just plain old school for everyone. so that we understand one another and just go through life with people, rather than seeing what they believe in as alien. Segregation is futile, we need to understand each other so there is no fear.
but this is a whole blog post now so I will leave it at that.
I saw an interesting video this morning related to this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8NtgtG5HFc&feature=player_embedded
ReplyDeleteI don't like everything he says, but he makes a good point that burning the Quran ultimately does nothing. There was a discussion about the video on a forum where someone asked if he was right that Christianity would not survive if all Bibles were destroyed...I don't think he is, I think that even if he was right that no one had the Bible memorized (which I'm fairly sure he isn't), the ideas are still there, and they're not going anywhere.
The book burning day is awful and hateful, and it's also a complete waste of time, even for people who side with them. On September 12th all that will have changed is that those people will have wasted a day of their lives.
LK,
ReplyDeleteThanks. It's weird how the intent behind an action changes everything. It's only wrong that they're wanting to burn the books because they hate what they see as the message of the Qur'an. However, apparently the proper was to dispose of a Qur'an (or so I just recently read) that has become old and tattered, falling apart - is to burn it. Rather than toss it in the trash or something. Same action, but one is a gesture of hate and contempt and the other is all about respect.
Suroor,
ReplyDeleteThat's a very nice story!
I agree that all books should be treated with respect, whether you agree with the contents or not. This whole burn the Qur'an day has had absolutely no positive impact, and has become a sad farce of itself over the past day. It's just a way for this man to feel as though he's important.
I think a great many of the things we do disappoint God - but especially when we do things like this.
Susanne,
ReplyDeleteHe's a little man, just like the guy who runs the WBC cult. Little men who want to be big and important. *shakes head* The whole thing is disgusting and sad.
slice,
ReplyDelete*nods* I was trying not to go to the
'Nazi place', because everything always does, but yes. We've seen this before, and apparently we're not capable of learning from the past.
(aside: Inception is AWESOME. That is all.)
Oooh...interesting test. Even though it is primitive, it does show that we're 'programmed' from the get go to believe in something bigger than us - in a purposeful world. Faith is written into our dna, perhaps?
sanil,
ReplyDeleteNot even the whole day. If it does go down, which it might or might not, at this point, who can tell with this guy, it's only scheduled from 6pm-9pm. *snort* The only thing this man has accomplished is to make himself 'important', which I suspect was the goal all along.
Christianity survived the first few centuries without the Bible in it's current form, so I feel confident that it could survive even if somehow all copies of the Bible were destroyed. A religion is not its book.
Love the picture you posted of the Qur'an. It's really beautiful! ^_^
ReplyDeleteI know how you feel. How did our home state end up a haven for weirdo religious nutjobs?
Happily, though, the last I heard about the subject was that he backed off and wasn't going to burn them.
The thought of burning books makes me sad.
Heather,
ReplyDeleteIsn't it? Arabic is just such a *pretty* language. I don't understand a single word of it, but it's pretty on the page, and it sounds gorgeous.
I think it's the heat. And the mosquitoes. I refer, always when this comes up, to the sage wisdom of Mr. Dean Winchester: 'So much effed up crap happens in Florida.' Sadly true. Religious nutjobs and serial killers. Why?
I heard that too, but he'd been wavering back and forth and back and forth - he said it was cancelled, and then he said it was only cancelled because he was promised that the NY community center (Park51) was going to be moved but that the imam he was talking to had lied (I don't believe for a second anyone told him any such thing - that's just nutty!), and so it was back on, and then it was just 'suspended', and on, and on. I'll believe he isn't going to burn them when the day is over and he hasn't done it.
I'm a bibliophile, so burning or destroying books in any way actually *pains* me. I was a wreck when some of my collection got ruined in a flood and I had to throw them away. And they were utterly ruined! But I was in tears, because I couldn't save them. This? This is just sad and stupid and pointlessly destructive.