Today, I bought another Quran.
I already have two of them. Translated by different people. They’re heavily underlined, highlighted, annotated (defaced some may say) just like my copies of the Jewish and Christian scriptures.
I’ve studied them all in quests for understanding that have serves as the backbones of three novels — Daughter of God, Perfect Killer and an almost-completed (and so-far-untitled) work. That study has also helped me — a fairly heretical Protestant — to understand my own faith.
But why yet another Quran?
Because the same evil irrationality that has hijacked most of Islam outside of the United States has possessed Terry Jones — a Florida religious cleric — who says he wants to burn copies of the Quran.
I bought another Quran today as a preemptive strike against Jones’s sectarian bigotry. For, regardless of whether he ever sets match to a Quran, he has burned goodwill and torched the efforts of rational, earnest people who have made an effort to bridge the religious divide.
When the Quran I bought today arrives, I’ll donate it to a friend or a local church or synagogue and urge its careful reading. I will do this because a thoughtful reading of the Quran and the Jewish and Christian scriptures will reveal frighteningly similar tales of death, destruction, murder, mayhem and mutilation committed in the name of Allah, God, or Yahweh.
While today we hear most about the Quran’s admonitions to “slay the infidels wherever you will find them,” Islam has nothing close to a monopoly on scripturally sanctioned violence against people of differing faiths: The Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition and Israelite extermination of Canaanites and others come to mind.
Islamist terrorists and right-wing, fundamentalist religious nuts (same difference) want to tell the world what the Quran says without ever having read the book. They’re counting on others not to read it either. Maybe that’s why it might be an intelligent act to read the words and make up your own mind.
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#61 Milos said, “I kind of laugh when I hear people who don’t really know what’s in the Quran defend Islam and say it’s a peaceful religion.”
Know your enemy; read the Quran. Islam requires its followers to replace the government with Sharia law, oppress women and unbelievers, and act abominably in daily life. Only by reading the Quran would you know what a religion of hate Islam is.
If we want peace with Muslims, “we should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity.” That is the only way the rest of us can be kept safe.
I love it when people refer to all the violence that the Christians did in the Crusades, the Inquisition, et al. Folks, yes, that did happen, but CENTURIES ago. We got over it and realized that’s not the way to do things. Unfortunately, Muslims still believe all the 7th Century rules and “kill all infidels” still applies today.
So if Muslims in this country want to build a mosque on “conquered” land, it’s their right to do (regardless of non-Muslims may feel about it). But if a wacko who calls himself a Christian (and supported the Westboro Baptist church) wants to burn the Quran he’s all of a sudden a bigot represent mainstream Christianity? Ha!
It seems the liberals would love to somehow associate this guy with the majority of all Americans who oppose the mosque. If nothing else, he’s giving those building the mosque a dose of their own medicine.
What he’s going to do isn’t going to make the Jihadists any more motivated to attack us than they already are with our presence in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Who knew Rollie Fingers became a “preacher”!
This cartoon summarizes he problem very well:
(Lets try again)
This cartoon summarizes he problem very well:
stories like one Terry Jones has brought into existence make me want to collect a copy every Religious text i can find …Christian Bibles<to many to count but all think they have the one right path and there interpretation was divinely written>ohh! theres the answer on 9/11 lets has movie night and all watch Life of Brian instead of trying to piss people off by burning there silly books
stories like one Terry Jones has brought into existence make me want to collect a copy every Religious text i can find …Christian Bibles<to many to count but all think they have the one right path and there interpretation was divinely written<, Book of Mormon, Shruti, Quran,Divine Principle,Torah,Dianetics ect and burn the lot of them.
you Believers are a crazy lot. Look I'm glad your imaginary friends bring you comfort and I would like some of you to turn out to be right about an afterlife but get a grip live and let live. NO ONE KNOWS the answers to the ultimate question of "Life, the Universe and Everything" well except the late Douglas Adams who was friends with the real Terry Jones who was in Monty Python's Life of Brian ohh theres the answer on 9/11 lets has movie night and all watch Life of Brian instead of trying to piss people off by burning there silly books
#66
There is no good muslim, even if they are peaceful, they provide a support system for those in active Jihad. Like a communist that only good commie is a dead commie.
#68
If we want peace with Muslims, “we should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity.” That is the only way the rest of us can be kept safe.
The entire world is going to a whole lot better when you two antediluvians go.
I hope you two are not christians, because if you are and there IS an afterlife, you will be going to the tormentors.
#72
Torture is NOT self-defence. Torture is not sanctioned by Christ.
Again hope you are not a Christian. Or else your afterlife will be very very bad.
That is of course if christians are right.
Cursor_
Oh, the goofy picture! You got me! The goofy picture defeated me when your weak ass argument could not!
Arrrggghhh!! Nooo, meeeeeelting! OhWhatAWorld!
My new first choice of Web Hosts: Rackspace.
==============
The website of the Dove World Outreach Center has been pulled from the Internet by the web host, Rackspace.
Dan Goodgame, a spokesman for the San Antonio, Texas-based web hosting firm Rackspace, told AFP the evangelical Dove World Outreach Center church had, “violated the Offensive Content section of its Acceptable Use policy.”
The policy forbids content or links to material that is “excessively violent, incites violence, threatens violence, or contains harassing content or hate speech; and creates a risk to a person’s safety or health, creates a risk to public safety or health, compromises national security, or interferes with a investigation by law enforcement.”
http://google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iCOmq6xX87ErMuEs3Or3tgqY5vDA
======
Before you go crying first ammendment, Jones is welcome to host his site on any number of hosting companies, including those that promote racism, white power, armed revolution, etc.
‘Conservatives’ should be applauding this decision by Rackspace, since it empowers the company to behave in ways that it considers to be of it’s own ethics. It is liberals that should be crying foul.
But as always, conservatives will cry foul, not because of their core principles, but because things don’t go their way.
Bad people are bad people there not killing because of their religion.
Religion is just a suitable flag for many to wave, but there are plenty of other flags available if it wasn’t religion, they’d do their killing with some other rationale. Some sheep will be persuaded by religion others by plane nationalism some just to be part of the gang/family/group, it might just come down to the have nots want what the haves have.
pencils down/matches down/ put your heeds on you desks and and take a break from being polarized by the media.
Join RP4409 and us protesting this douchebag burning the Quaran by Burning a 911 Commission Report!
Burn the lies!
Burning? What a shameful waste.
We should change the subject. Anyone remember
the WWII combat movie where the US troops are
stuck behind enemy lines? The Germans drop
leaflets demanding surrender. One of the men
collects a bunch of them and just says
“Nice smooth paper”
Not sure why I thought of this.
#85 Alfred –
Next proclamation when his ‘inside source’ (aka God) proves wrong about why the burning was canceled:
“Those devil worshiping Muslims have gone back on their word, so not only are we going to burn the Koran, we gonna’ have ourselves a good old fashioned lynching of the first devil worshiping ayrab that crosses our path.”
I keep hearing circus music whenever I read the stories… PT Barnum rules!
#3 dusanmal “Starting advice is not bad… my parents intentionally provided us, the elementary-to-highschool children at the time with Bible, Quran, Bhagavad Gita, Capital (though that one was required school reading) among many others. ”
What is the “Capital” you are referring to?
“The other odd thing about scriptures is that most religious people read them only rarely and often have the most superficial understanding of them.” I think your overly optimistic.
“God hates pedophiles like Mohammed.” If god existed he/she/it would probably hate assholes to.
I have a dollar for anybody willing to burn off that stupid mustache, it offend me.
muslims never burn bibles. get your facts straight alfie.
So, if I got a copy of the Koran, read it and think that it is a bunch of violent tripe am I still bigoted?
(Cause I did and I do)
Australia : Muslim Students Urinate, Spit On Then Burn Bible
http://justifythis.blogspot.com/2006/12/australia-muslim-students-urinate-spit.html
Just a blog, but detailed enough to have the ring of truth. Never? “Never Lie?” Given what you say, I could almost let the idea pass as showing great respect for all religions==but that is something Muslims don’t do, so the only proper response to “Muslims never burn bibles” is “Muslims never tell the truth.”
Suck it zorkor. Ha. Ha.
Alfred, please point to where in #86 Awake said they represented all Christians.
When you can remember and take responsibility for your own comments (“I have never advocated violence at any time, against anyone.”)
then maybe you can participate in a relevant discussion of other peoples comments. (like Awake’s and Liberals’)
Why did anyone decide that it’s news that somebody decided to burn a book they own? Why is it worth discussing?
In my view the man is doing nothing note worthy or worth noting. It’s just some ink stained paper. Grow up and get over it.
Alfred: So when a psychopath kills a bunch of people, and says “God told me to do it,” and we lock him up, is that an affront to all Christians too?
You read what you wanted to read and then blamed Lefty Loons for being illogical.
#94 Alfred,
Terry Jones has declared outright that he is in direct communication with God, and that God speaks to him directly and tells him what to do. He has declared himself a prophet of God, in the same lineage as Moses himself.
His claims got so bad that he was expelled by his fellow Christian ministers from a seminary in Germany that he was attending to become a minister, so he ordained himself.
Terry Jones claims that his direction comes directly from God, and that his (Terry’s) word is holy.
When I say “inside source” being God, it refers to the outright claims that this guy makes about being a prophet and speaking directly with God in ways that other Christians (including anybody else in his flock) can not do.
Let me give you another example of a guy that had an ‘inside source’ that was God himself: Jim Jones of the People’s Temple in Guyana. Are you willing to defend his conversations with God to also be good and holy?
And oh… by the way…
If you’re disappointed that psycho preacher Terry Jones called off “International Burn a Quran Day,” no worries! Because the evil freaks of the Westboro Baptist cult are ready to carry the torch.
Westboro Baptist Church, the small Topeka, Kan., church that pickets funerals of American soldiers to spread its message that God is punishing the country for being tolerant of homosexuals, has vowed to hold a Quran burning if Gainesville’s Dove World Outreach Center calls its off.
“WBC burned the Koran once – and if you sissy brats of Doomed america bully Terry Jones and the Dove World Outreach Center until they change their plans to burn that blasphemous tripe called the Koran, then WBC will burn it (again), to clearly show you some things,” the church announced in a news release this week.
(copied from here: http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/37142_Westboro_Baptist_Cult_to_Take_Over_Burn_a_Quran_Day/comments/#ctop )
Mohamed couldn’t even read.
I have no interest in what illiterates think. Although I do think we should drop bombs on them.
This is the 21st century.
Mohamed couldn’t even read.
I have no interest in what illiterates think. Although I do think we should drop bombs on them.
This is the 21st century.
If your culture can’t even read, that says something about the FAIL oriented nature of your culture. And we shouldn’t be giving them vaccines to continue their FAIL existence.
I’m not going to buy a Kuran or any other religious text. I believe I’m tiring of all things religious. I do believe this pastor in Florida has balls bigger than most I know.
Islamist terrorists and right-wing, fundamentalist religious nuts (same difference)
LOL. Really. lperdue you are such a loser.
Alfred, you just took Awake to task for (allegedly) making sweeping and unfair generalizations. Here you go doing the same thing.
Mao’s Cultural Revolution was about purging Liberal elements from the government that he feared would try to introduce Capitalism. Mao was for returning to the ideals of the Communist Chinese revoulution.
Hitler condemned Liberalism just as he condemned Communism.
You cant just slap a liberal label on anything you don’t like. The world is rarely so easily categorized.
You know, I heard of a famous Liberal once. He had some new and unconventional ideas, said some of the old traditions were out of date and unnecessary. Even though they crucified him for his radical beliefs, he changed the world with his ideas of brotherhood and compassion. Perhaps you’ve heard of him?