Burning The Book

[boxy]

International Burn the Koran Day, eh? How subtle.

Queue all the cries of "free speech"!

Doesn't change the fact that it's a pathetic, inflammatory action, by a ignorant jerk.




Theists... can't live with 'em... can't kill them.

[IQSRLOW]

Scared of pissing off the muzzies? Doesn't appeal to your inate sense of appeasement? Offends your rolling over gene?

[boxy]

Not particularly. I doubt they'll pick me or mine, for any retribution, if it happens.

[IQSRLOW]

So said the Bali bombing victims. Best to just roll over so as not to offend eh?

[boxy]

Failing to be an offensive jerk is not to roll over. It's called common decency.

I'm fine with people being offensive towards terrorist arseholes. Go for you life. But this is going far past that, to being offensive to all Muslims.

The extremist theists on both sides are the only ones to benefit from this.

[AiA in Atlanta]

FOX News was making the case that middle America isn't really filled with people like this minister who will be burning the Koran on the 11th

[freediver]

I think it was a great idea.

How many Christians would get offended if someone burnt a bible? How many Jews if someone burned a torah? etc etc

The offence is not the freedom to burn the book. What is offensive is the reaction of Muslims - the the boook burning, to the silly cartoons etc. As long as Muslims respond to free speech in such a silly way, we are obligued to defend free speech by doing silly things. Only by doing this will Muslims realise it is not the end of the worl if a non-Muslim draws Muhammed or uses a Koran as a doorstop.

We managed to get modern muslims to abandon their God given right to slaves. Next we need to get them to abandon their God given right to marry and rape 13 year olds, to kill anyone who is not sufficiently respectful of their superior status, to impose their religion via dictatorship etc. One step at a time. Allowing them to think it is OK to intimidate people into giving up free speech is a step backwards. Only a fool would believe it would stop with Koran burning. Where it would stop is with your right to criticise Islam in any way or to criticise what Muslims do to you in the name of Islam.

Freedom of speech is and always will be the freedom to say something you might not like, so the fact that you don't like it is kind of a moot point.

[AiA in Atlanta]

Well, supposedly the Koran burning has been put on the back burner. Just because some idjit puts "international" into "International Quran Burning" does that make it international? As far as I know, he was the only one planning to do it.

[Sappho]

I loath book burners and book burning more than I dislike religion.

[freediver]

I loath book burners and book burning more than I dislike religion.

Book buring is usually equated with censorship. That is not the case here. This is a political statement, not an attempt to prevent people accessing the Koran.

Failing to be an offensive jerk is not to roll over.

When it comes to defending freedom of speech, it is rolling over. Burning a Koran is not being an offensive jerk. Killing people in response is. You are letting rabid Muslims dictate to you what is common decency. You should let common sense dictate what is common decency. If we gave them the chance, they would get equally offended about the freedoms of speech you do consider polite. There are already enough Muslims trying to tell people that any criticism of Islam is offensive and racist, while at the same time preaching the destruction of our freedom and democracy. Do you really want to roll over for people like that?