Church plans Qur'an burning

[Platapus]

Wow.

I knew we had nutters in this country, but this really shocks me.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/07/29/flo...day/index.html

In protest of what it calls a religion "of the devil," a nondenominational church in Gainesville, Florida, plans to host an "International Burn a Quran Day" on the ninth anniversary of the September 11, 2001, attacks.

The Dove World Outreach Center says it is hosting the event to remember 9/11 victims and take a stand against Islam. With promotions on its website and Facebook page, it invites Christians to burn the Muslim holy book at the church from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.


.....

The Islamic advocacy group Council on American-Islamic Relations called on Muslims and others to host "Share the Quran" dinners to educate the public during the monthlong fast of Ramadan beginning in August. In a news release, the group announced a campaign to give out 100,000 copies of the Quran to local, state and national leaders.


"American Muslims and other people of conscience should support positive educational efforts to prevent the spread of Islamophobia," said CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper in the release.


The National Association of Evangelicals, the nation's largest umbrella evangelical group, issued a statement urging the church to cancel the event, warning it could cause worldwide tension between the two religions.
"The NAE calls on its members to cultivate relationships of trust and respect with our neighbors of other faiths. God created human beings in his image, and therefore all should be treated with dignity and respect," it said in the statement.


.....the Dove center is also hosting a protest against Gainesville Mayor Craig Lowe, who is openly gay, on Monday at Gainesville's City Hall.

.....

Book burning in America? Have some sunk that far? What do they really expect to accomplish with this?



I hope the world recognizes that these people do not represent the culture of the United States. I, for one, did not spill my blood in a foreign country to support a culture of book burnings. I know that freedom of expression allows burning books, but it just seems so wrong, hateful, and ineffective.



p.s. One religion calling another religion "deceptive"

[mookiemookie]

Disgusting.

[Onkel Neal]

Almost as bad as burning the flag, and that practice has a lot of defenders.

[tater]

Burning books ain't my thing (I collect them ).

That said, it is freedom of expression. What would really disturb me would not be a few nuts burning books, but the government protecting THAT book out of being PC.

[Platapus]

Oh I agree, the Government should not take any stand on this. Just like the government should not take a stand on burning the flag.

I am just sorry that this "church" is so insecure about their own faith that the would need to stoop to the lowest level like this. They would be pitiful if I were not so angered about this.

[tater]

What was the reaction of the major churches to the Danish cartoons?

At the very least I recall some of them saying that the problem was in fact... blasphemy. That fit well with the generalized Western reaction which was to not print the images the news story was about, then also bend over backwards to throw THOSE nuts a bone and claim that sensitivity trumps freedom of expression.

Not something I'd do (one holy book being pretty much the same as any other to me—If I really needed to start a fire badly and I had to burn books, I's start with the religious stuff ), but it doesn't really get my knickers in a bunch.

[Schroeder]

This will go a long way in the Islamist's propaganda wars.
How dumb can one get...says the guy from a country that burnt books 75 years ago.....?

[TLAM Strike]

I don't think this go far enough, I think they need to burn all religious texts.

Only way to start to replace superstition with science and rational thought..

[Ducimus]

Originally Posted by Platapus

Wow.

I knew we had nutters in this country, but this really shocks me.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/07/29/flo...day/index.html

Doesn't shock me in the least. I've seen church people do all sorts of crazy things.

Book burning in America? Have some sunk that far? What do they really expect to accomplish with this?

When it comes to religion, our society went somewhere over the coo-coo's nest awhile ago. What do they expect to accomplish? Affirmation of their belief's while concurrently sending a political and "patriotic" message.

I hope the world recognizes that these people do not represent the culture of the United States.

We're not all judeo christian evangelical fundamentalists, but there are a larger number who are. The rest of the world might be able to tell the difference, but the muslim world won't. To be fair, i cant tell the difference between muslims either. To me they're ALL whackjobs in my eyes, so im indifferent to our own judeo christian whackjobs burning the koran.

. I know that freedom of expression allows burning books, but it just seems so wrong, hateful, and ineffective.

You got the wrong and hateful part right.

p.s. One religion calling another religion "deceptive"

Christianity as an organization has always done this in one form or another, thoughout history. To Judeo christian evangelicals, their god is the one true god, their religion the one true religion, and everyone else must be converted, and brought to see "the light and the way."

FYI, my two favorite bumper stickers on this subject are:
- "It's not God i Have a problem with, it's his fan club"
- "Jesus save me from your followers".

One of these days i may have the balls to put them on my truck, but i tend to keep my beleifs to myself, less I become what i despise.

[TLAM Strike]

Originally Posted by Ducimus

One of these days i may have the balls to put them on my truck...

You can put those on your truck too.

Saw a rust bucket of a Mustang with a blue pair yesterday.

[Ducimus]

Yeah i seen those. I laugh every time. But i figure the dangly bit trailer hitch is kinda like owning a hummer... compensation for something that's lacking. I don't have to prove my beliefs to the rest of the world, or feel the need to do so. That, and i don't need some whackjob keying my truck.

[Aramike]

Just so there are is no confusion, I detest organized religion of all kinds, don't see as any one being better or worse than the others. Same as my view on politicians.

Either that's a failure of perception or a depraved sense of "anything goes" relativism.

For one, I see the religion that sends out missionaries with medicine as far better than the one which sends out zealots with bombs strapped to their backs.

[antikristuseke]

But it is the people who do that, not the religion. Their motivations may be religious, but religions are not sentient beings ordering anyone to do anything. Religion is just a convenient excuse to do either good or bad.

And yes, I do concider morals relative, hell, everything is relative, there are no real absolutes. Morals , for instance, are nothing more than a society deems acceptable at the time, sure it may be dressed up as divine orders, but it came from people. What I wouldnt say, though, is anything goes since humans are sentient and social beings, which means we should take eachother in to account when making our decisions, your freedom ends where my nose begins, or however that saying goes.

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by Aramike

Either that's a failure of perception or a depraved sense of "anything goes" relativism.

For one, I see the religion that sends out missionaries with medicine as far better than the one which sends out zealots with bombs strapped to their backs.

And then there are those missionaries who go out with medicine - but only give it to those in need if they submit.

In the end, when you think you must make your personal rerlation to your relgion a public affair, you are no onger baout releigon, but politics. Best thing is a missionary who gives help when he is asked for, and never loses a single word on religion and does not waste one day with building temples, just lives his life on the basis what his reason and thought have showed him to be good for the few and good for the many. If it is convincing, others will become aware of his way of life. If it is not, he should not try to talk people into something.

You must not believe in a religion in order to want to help people. when you decide to help, do it for the people, not because your deity told you you should. Don't do it to collect some points on your heavenly banking account. Don't do it to raise attention for your ego. Just do it - that is good enough.