Church plans Qur'an burning

[SteamWake]

Originally Posted by krashkart

They should at the very least wait until the dead of winter when the poor are having a hard time keeping warm.

Thinking outside the box.. I like it.

[antikristuseke]

Well this has got to be the worst idea I have read of this week.

Well this has got to be the worst idea I have read of this week.

It is funny though, this church will have to spend money getting copies of the book just so they can burn it.
Book burners of this ilk are a publishers dream.

[antikristuseke]

Reminds me of the protesters in Postal 2 chanting "Save a tree, burn a book!"

[UnderseaLcpl]

People like this make it hard for me to be a Christian. I have absolutely no compunction about announcing to the world that I believe a miracle-working carpenter from Nazareth was the Son of God and died for our sins - that's easy, but then I turn around and see that these people are my fellow believers!? WTF?

Thanks for showing people the better side of our religion, guys. No, really. We'll win a ton of converts that way. I'm sure Jesus is smiling down on your intolerant asses right now. After all, Christianity's message is that you get to look down on non-Christians, right? Hey, as long as we're burning their books, why not don crosses and go slaughter their women and children in the name of God? Peace be with you. A-holes

[antikristuseke]

What we should do is take all religious extremists we find, shove them all on an island and let them duke it out to find out who is right, the winners get a slice of pie and some .50 caliber aspirine. The whole even would be refereed by hardcore pacifists, as those ****ers wouldn't interfere. After the slaughter is done and the pacifists have either caught a stray bullet or starved to death the entire island could be turned into an actual throne of skulls for Khorne with fountains of blood beside it for tourist attraction and general atmosphere. then to plagiarize even more stuff there should allso be everburning bushes spelling out gods last words to his entire creation: "Sorry for the inconvenience".

[geetrue]

Not all christians would agree with this protest, all christians are followers of Jesus Christ and even Jesus would not agree with this book burning protest.

It's just a way for this particular pastor to get atention in his home town in Florida ... attention spells more traffic, more traffic spells money and money spells having it made.

They do the same things in the south with revival, advertising revival, conjuring up revival with the false gifts of the Holy Spirit, tongues, prophecy, words of knowledge, phony healing, promises of prosperity.

All they do is give the body of Christ a bad name, but the Lord knows who belongs to Him and they hear His voice not follow the bad guys.

These guys are going to get some attention from the muslims for sure and I bet God lets them do the number on them.

This is what St James the brother of Jesus had to say about anger:

My dear brothers and sisters, always be willing to listen and slow to speak.

Do not become angry easily, because anger will not help you live the right kind of life God wants.

So put out of your life every evil thing and every kind of wrong.

Then in gentleness accept God’s teaching that is planted in your hearts, which can save you.

[TLAM Strike]

Originally Posted by antikristuseke

Well this has got to be the worst idea I have read of this week.

You need to read more....

[Aramike]

To be completely honest, while I don't condone what they are doing, it doesn't bother me all that much. Quite frankly its probably been a long time in coming, what with all the cherished symbols of the western world being regularly, and OPENLY burned by Muslims.

[UnderseaLcpl]

Originally Posted by Aramike

To be completely honest, while I don't condone what they are doing, it doesn't bother me all that much. Quite frankly its probably been a long time in coming, what with all the cherished symbols of the western world being regularly, and OPENLY burned by Muslims.

Fair enough, but Christians shouldn't be doing this. Christianity is not supposed to be about about an eye for an eye.

[antikristuseke]

If you read the bible, in parts it is. Christianity is no less brutal than islam is in its holy texts, the difference is only in interpretations by the majority. With the bible it is nigh on impossible to follow every rule it imposes since some of them are contradictory. Same as the Qur'an, torah and every other religious text I have read.

[GoldenRivet]

the actions of this church are completely uncalled for.

[Aramike]

Originally Posted by antikristuseke

If you read the bible, in parts it is. Christianity is no less brutal than islam is in its holy texts, the difference is only in interpretations by the majority. With the bible it is nigh on impossible to follow every rule it imposes since some of them are contradictory. Same as the Qur'an, torah and every other religious text I have read.

I don't think you're nearly as well-versed in this matter as your statement would suggest. Christianity (meaning, Christ-like) is based upon Christ, whom doesn't appear until the New Testament of the Bible. If you understood this, you'd clearly be aware that the texts describing the expected behaviors of those who prescribe to the Christian faith are no where NEAR the barbarianism and brutality of Islamic works describing the same.

While no doubt there has been much evil committed in the name of Christianity, let us not confuse that for the modern interpretations of the texts which the religion is based upon, as that would be intellectually shallow.

The bottom line is that, as an atheist, I do not believe that religion is what caused, or continues to cause, men to be brutal to other men. I believe it's man's very nature, and if religion wasn't an excuse, we'd simply find another. (If you were alive while the secularist Soviets were placing nuclear missiles in Cuba, you'd understand.)

It is a grave logical error to take what has been done in the name of some document as the definition of that document itself. Rather one should examine said document as its own definition and be equally capable of finding fault within the texts as well as the interpretation (read: spin).

[UnderseaLcpl]

Originally Posted by antikristuseke

If you read the bible, in parts it is. Christianity is no less brutal than islam is in its holy texts, the difference is only in interpretations by the majority. With the bible it is nigh on impossible to follow every rule it imposes since some of them are contradictory. Same as the Qur'an, torah and every other religious text I have read.

Not in the New Testament, with the exception of Revelations. Certainly not in the Gospels, which is what most of my faith is based upon.

Unlike some of my Bible-thumping bretheren, my faith is not built upon the idea of the Good Book's infallibility. I know it was written by people and as such it reflects human imperfections. The bible gives the value of pi as "3" in Kings, so it obviously isn't infallible. However, we still have Jesus' example to follow, and He would never condone the burning of religious texts, or any persecution for that matter. Our Lord and Saviour was above such things. Why stoop to violence and hatred when your message is so obviously superior?

Sadly, many consider the Bible, in its entirety, to be a permanent rulebook of some kind without ever looking into any kind of historical context. In the worst-case scenarios, they somehow decide that it gives them licence to lord over non-believers. I don't see it that way. I can put the Old and New Testaments into two words: Survive, and Thrive, respectively. The Old Testament established basic rules needed for cooperative human survival (Don't eat parasite-ridden pork! Don't commit adultery or covet your neighbor's oxen; you'll start a fight, and that's bad!) It's also full of ancient rivalries translated into a religious medium.

The New Testament, on the other hand, is a religious guide for a developed society, with Jesus Christ as its shining exemplar. It preaches forgiveness and reason, as shown by His example. The Son of God is not concerned with the secular aspects of religion because His faith is so tremendously superior that it has no need to persecute or demean others. All He asks is that you ask for His salvation, and if you don't, there are millions who will ask for you . He demands little of you, and offers everything in return.

Call me an idiot or whatever you please, but I'll be praying for you from now until the day I die. I have no shame in admitting that my God is a Jewish caprenter. Even if there is no god, and the Bible is nothing but a lie, I take pride in trying to follow the example of a humble man who gave everything for the sake of the people who killed him. Even the mopst die-hard secularists have to admit that there is some divinity in that.

[Aramike]

Originally Posted by UnderseaLcpl

Fair enough, but Christians shouldn't be doing this. Christianity is not supposed to be about about an eye for an eye.

I don't see this as a case of "eye for an eye". This burning is an expression of a certain shared belief of specific Christians who believe that the Quaran represents something anathema to their beliefs. It does not cause harm to anyone, at least no more than any other form of protected speech.

Personally, as I am not a Christian, I cannot qualify the following, but it seems to me as though "turning the other cheek" never was intended to mean that Christians should simply bite their tongues. Perhaps one can say that Christians should only spread their creed without attacking others, but that is merely an argument of semantics. Our world (and world perception) is relative - meaning, that saying "this is the right way" clearly implies that other ways are wrong.

I can't intellectually fault someone for stating that clearly, rather than merely relying upon the obvious implication, as the ultimate equation is the same.

So this church wants to make a strong statement that Islam is bad ... so what? I happen to agree that Islam, in it's most fundamental form, is a dangerous religion. Ironically, while Christianity's works teach turning the other cheek, as it were, Islamic texts do not. In other words, Islamic texts don't afford any argument of interpretation in this matter, whereas Christianity's does. To me, that's an interesting dilleneation all by itself.