Serrano's Madonna and Child II 
Michelangelo's Pieta 
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.
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.
Burning the book of a violent theocratic form of government does not equate to building a victory monument near the grounds where 2,600 died at the same hand of that theocratic form of government.
We are losing if these thoughts are coming from conservatives
It is evil to burn a Koran to show one’s utter rejection of Islam? Why?
“Burning the book of a violent theocratic form of government does not equate to building a victory monument near the grounds where 2,600 died at the same hand of that theocratic form of government.”
True.
The only real comparison is Muslims organizing a burning of the Bible. In my opinion, that would be very rude, very wrong and not necessary for me to understand that Muslims denounce Christianity. I get it. They hate Christians and they even atheists like me.
An enemy of the United States, if a US citizen, IS protected by the 1st Amendment.
The Qu'ran tells them to extend the hand of friendship to unbelievers and then to kill them. About the Jews it says that they will hide behind rocks and the rocks will cry that they are behind the rocks come kill them.
If he is throwing the money-changers out of the temple, he is slapping the faces of those he considers to be "moderate Jews".
I repeat, don't be fooled by this charlatan. He's in it for himself, and the glory here on earth it will bring him.
That's exactly what the Sanhedrin told the Romans.
That doesn’t wash with the people who are not Christians, of which there are multitudes in this country. A lot of them even go to church.
Watching the “press” play the Pied Piper’s tune on this one ... and watching the people “dance to the media’s tune” is amazing. This is a non-incident, but the press plays it though it were the size of 911. What I hate is that this trivial “side show” is going to detract from the attention we should all be paying on the 911 MEMORIAL day. Maybe this is their plan?
Islam is. It's just a matter of time.
People have a constitutional right to burn a Koran if they want to, but doing so is insensitive and an unnecessary provocation – much like building a mosque at Ground Zero.
He based it on the bible and Christianity and tweeked it to suit his needs.
You are comparing a cult leader who supports Fred Phelps, to the Son of God, our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ.
Neither of your specific comparisons make any sense whatsoever, and have no basis in reality, therefore I will not make any attempt to refute them.
The inanity of your words stands on its own.
You were doing good until the last sentence. 'Getting along' is not their goal. It doesn't matter whether we burn korans or not.
Submit or Die, is the bottom line when dealing with Islam.
“Both instances are impositions on liberty”
I agree that banning a religious building is an imposition on liberty. The personal rejection of an idea/value/religion is the expression of liberty.
Serrano's Madonna and Child II
Michelangelo's Pieta
If rocks are taking to Muslims, then just step back, they will be their own undoing.=)
Which is why I thought maybe finding a copy of The Three Little Pigs (heh, heh) and writing ‘Koran’ over the title and burning it might not be such a bad way to go...
Pigs, fairy tales and burning books...effective, but not worth so much retaliation?
“The Koran is a fairy tale. “
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