Burning a copy of the Koran is morally equivalent to flying a plane into the World Trade Center and equally eternally damnable.
That’s essentially the fatwa of Time magazine’s Joe Klein in an April 1 blog post at the magazine’s Swampland blog.
Klein was condemning Florida pastor Terry Jones’s “trial” and subsequent burning of a Koran which allegedly have sparked a murderous rampage against UN workers in Afghanistan last week:
[T]here should be no confusion about this: Jones’s act was murderous as any suicide bomber’s. If there is a hell, he’s just guaranteed himself an afterlifetime membership.
One has to wonder if Klein would say the same thing about a taxpayer-funded artist who photographed a crucifix soaked in a jar of urine or portrayed the Virgin Mary in elephant dung.
Oh wait, that’s right, those demonstrations didn’t result in angry Catholic mobs killing completely innocent third parties. Heck, they didn’t even result in the death or injury of the “artists” responsible.
Curt, I have to respectfully disagree, but with caveats.
First and foremost, I firmly believe that Terry Jones had/has every right to burn the Koran, the Bible, the Torah, the Book of Mormon, you name the religious text! We live in a free country and, as a Soldier, I fight for those rights.
Now that doesn’t mean that I agree with his actions. If it were me, I would look at the very real response that may occur if I burned a copy of the Koran and rethink my decision SOLELY because of the impact our troops would have. However, I would still be adamant that I could still do it if I wanted to, I just CHOOSE not to because I don’t want more troops to die.
With that said, I also applaud Jones for invoking the response he got. He proved that Muslims are religious fanatics that want special treatment and have everyone bow to their absurd beliefs that pieces of paper with religious texts printed on them being burned is somehow a good enough reason to murder people.
Muslims need to learn what liberty and freedom are! They also need to understand that being offended is a personal choice and not something that is forced upon them. They made a conscience to use the freedoms of one idiot to burn a holy book as an excuse to commit murder, something the Koran specifically forbids. By burning the Koran and invoking the response in Afghanistan, Jones has put the spotlight on the intolerance that exists within the Muslim faith. To them, NO ONE should have an opinion that go against theirs. They want everyone to be tolerant of their faith while being intolerant of everyone else’s (or their lack of one).
So, while my brothers and sisters are the ones bearing the brunt of some of this, I would NEVER force the pastor (or any American) never to do it again. I say burn more and more Korans until Muslims see that to all non-Muslims it’s no different than Diary of Wimpy Kid – words on a page. As a Mormon, I have a strong belief in the Book of Mormon and consider every word in that book inspired text and holy. But, you won’t ever see me beheading someone for burning it, flushing it down the toilet, or any other form of stupidity!
We have to support acts of freedom even when we don’t agree with them!!
Sorry I haven’t been around much lately. I’m at the Joint Forces Staff College in Norfolk, VA doing some pre-deployment training that is very intense.
Oh, I agree completely with your take CJ…I just quoted a section of a post from Newsbusters for this Most Wanted post since I find it hard to believe someone actually thinks the way Joe Klein does, but they’re out there.
@Curt: Oops, my bad! hehe Glad we’re on the same team.
Just for the record;… Andres Serrano’s Piss Christ is a much finer piece of artwork than Chris Ofili’s The Holy Virgin Mary. No joke intended.
How about a simple comparison. When Martin Luther King protested in many situations, he knew pretty well that there would be violent reactions. In fact, people were beaten and died. He was protesting what he considred to be injustice and evil. He did it non violently and he did it to point out with visual impact what the other side would do with dogs and firehouses. He also knew that if fact some would die as did the students who drove down from the north and little girls in a church bombing. Some said he should not have done this knowing the reactions and impact it would have and that people would be injured or killed. Everyone knew he was playing with fire.
Rev Jones did a non violent protest against evil knowing he might well provoke an action on the other side who support evil acts such as flying planes into buildings or blowing up innocent civilians or the attack on the USS Cole or the hijacking of planes, or the massacre at the Olympics, or the decades of other violent acts where the Koran and faith called Islam is used as justification. Those who did not want to grant civil rights to blacks used States Rights to be found in our Constitution saying the federal government had no right to come in and force states to change laws. King took that position on upfront and fought for passage of the Civil Rights Act to make sure it was the law of the land. When the evil racist indeed did act on TV, it showed many the upfront hatred in full color exposure and many were swayed to support the bill. Rev Jones did the same thing and the evil ones filled with hate responded in full onslaught attack. But unlike when we saw the firehoses and dogs, today many attacked the non violent protester. Should we have back then called on King to stop protesting because the racists did not like it?
Islam in fact has a longer history of attacks on infidels than American racism. In fact, Islam created more slaves than ever existed in the USA and often the slave catchers in Africa were Muslims. Islam currently has many evils which should have womens groups calling for warfare to stop them as the huge numbers of rape victims in jails, stoned, or beaten. Women have less rights than family animals in Islamic countries. It is therefore not just the terrorist acts like 9/11, but the entire system of the Koran. Islam was killing and attacking for 400 years before the first crusade and yet many still think the crusades are what stirred up the poor peaceful Ilamic countries. They have been at war with the intent of worldwide Islamic domination since their founding and where they succeed, the life of non Muslims is not even second rate as witnessed by the brutal church burnings and killing of other faiths or even Muslims who dare to convert. Recently we have seen the media all excited about Egypt and the new freedom which will be sweeping the land. Who in their right mind believes that there will be freedom in that countries future for all the people? I think we should put Rev Jones in the same catagory as other non violent protesters who dare to point out real evil. I will wait for someone to tell me how King was so different and why the media has such far different response?
JK is just showing the colors of the loony left. Islamic fascists hate Christianity and therefore are an ally to the left (so they think). That is part of the reason why they get special treatment from the left. Add in the fact they are usually not white, and that’s all the left needs to support them.
“The desecration of any holy text, including the Koran, is an act of extreme intolerance and bigotry,” Obama said.
Mocking and ridiculing the Bible, by B H Obama, a short video.
You can desecrate a holy text without burning it.
Quote by Sarah Palin on her Facebook page prior to burning:
“I would hope that Pastor Terry Jones and his supporters will consider the ramifications of their planned book-burning event. It will feed the fire of caustic rhetoric and appear as nothing more than mean-spirited religious intolerance. Don’t feed that fire. If your ultimate point is to prove that the Christian teachings of mercy, justice, freedom, and equality provide the foundation on which our country stands, then your tactic to prove this point is totally counter-productive.”
for more truth: http://democratdeal.blogspot.com/2011/04/few-bad-men-what-do-koran-burner-terry.html