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.
Well the Bible does say if we do not praise God the rocks will cry out. Which is probably where the mentally ill Mohammed got the idea.
It WILL be if Christians, Jews, Hindus, Agnostics, Atheists, etc, don;t wake up.
Unlike those other religions or belief systems, Muslims BELIEVE IN, WANT and SUPPORT a theocracy.
I’m sorry but not equivalent
desecrating and spitting on the graves of the nearly 3000 American murdered in the name of Islam by putting a mosque next to the WTC is a million times worse than burning a book
BTW I plan to burn a koran sunday, videotape it, and put it on you tube. Why? because MY first amendment rights ARE NOT vetoed when muslims are offended and threaten violence.
“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.”
Of course I realize this. But this particular Pastor IS a Christian and I was using ‘being a Christian’ as an example of one way to denounce Islam.
“BTW I plan to burn a koran sunday, videotape it, and put it on you tube. Why? because MY first amendment rights ARE NOT vetoed when muslims are offended and threaten violence.”
I think you should do what you feel you need to do. Whether you feel you need to burn the Koran and film it or not.
Either way would be YOUR choice, not the choice of any muslim.
One BIG difference:
He’s not planning to burn the Koran on a site where 3,000 muslims were killed.
>> but it means something to somebody else, and out of common courtesy to that somebody else, it shouldn’t be burned.<<
Can anyone find for me, in the Bible, where God instructed His people to make sure they didn’t offend the sensibilities of the Pagans? Maybe it was in Jericho? I can’t seem to find it.
*I’m going to have to agree with Bob Lonsberry. No victory mosque and no quran burning, OK? Everyone gets along.
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.*
True enough.
I should’ve said, everyone in America PRETENDS to get along until there are enough muslims to take over
I think that perhaps you simply do not understand either Christianity or Islam.
I am reminded of George Harrison's final words: "Everything else can wait, but to know God cannot wait."
Well, you've certainly listed the anti-burning talking points. But you ignore the pro-burning arguments and instead substitute your judgment that it is only being done to provoke violence.
I think maybe Pastor Jones intended in part to expose the weakness of your thought.
Thank you. : )
You are comparing a cult leader who supports Fred Phelps, to the Son of God, our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ.
Well, do you think Jesus would 'condone' the Muslims? If he found them burning Jewish temples, or beheading Jewish children, do you think he would just let it pass?
This minister may have different motives than Jesus, but the acts are comparable.
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.
"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."
Are you saying that the Sanhedrin didn't say almost exactly those words to the Romans? It's hard to refute something that is actually true.
The inanity of your words stands on its own.
I think that is what Pilate said to Jesus at the trial.
Well, their 'God' is a rock.
He's encased in a hole on a wall in the Shrine.
He had to be wired together, because the meteorite he is in started falling apart.
I said: “Go help the needy in the name of Jesus Christ and you will do so much more to denounce Islam than burning a book.”
You said: “I think that perhaps you simply do not understand either Christianity or Islam.
I am reminded of George Harrison’s final words: “Everything else can wait, but to know God cannot wait.”
Perhaps I don’t understand Jesus, at all. That is really too bad. I did say I was an atheist, thanks for correcting me on that.
Yikes.
</It is evil to burn a Koran to show one’s utter rejection of Islam? Why?/>
That obviously is apparent to most of us—it would seem almost all of us—since we reject Islam, especially the radical off-shoots; and we don’t find it either necessary or appropriate to burn what millions of other humans consider a holy book.
Is it not evil to carry out an unnecessary and provocative action that will be used by Jihadists as a symbolic action to justify further, and well as past murderous actions, against non-Muslims—and even other Muslims who may be working with Western nations and personnel in the war against terror in such places as Iraq and Afghanistan?
Why would anyone want to do anything, even in “the name of liberty”, to, provide ammunition to those to whom liberty is anathema and whose life mission is to destroy it?
Ironically, in proposing to torch a Koran, this fool only feeds the flames of radical Islam.
I have not heard them yet, please list them to give us all a fair view of the argument. Thank you!
“But you ignore the pro-burning arguments”
You were giving Christians advice on how to be Christian.
I'm not a brain surgeon. For this reason I keep my advice on brain surgery to myself.
A giant snotty attitude is a poor substitute for intelligence and intellectual integrity. You have chosen to post your opinions on this thread yet you admit (when pressed) that you have chosen to remain ignorant of the subject under discussion. In order for the truth to set you free you must first seek it.
Where as our Lord ascended to His rightful place. :-)
I believe that God has a purpose for us here on Earth. I further believe that there are people on Earth today who actively oppose God. Finally, I believe that serving God’s purpose will sometimes unavoidably bring us into conflict with those who oppose Him. So be it.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.