With 9/11 approaching, it is hardly surprising that there has been an increase in anti-Muslim sentiments. In some cases, specific events have been planned to express this view. As one example, a pastor in Florida has been considering burning Qurans. As one might expect, the government and the military are encouraging people to not engage in such activities. After all, these incidents seem to provide groups like the Taliban with propaganda gold and can lead directly to an upswing in violence against American troops.
Obviously enough, people have the legal and moral right to express their dislike of Islam and Muslims, provided that such expressions do not extend to actual violence. As such, the pastor is well within his rights to burn Qurans. He can even BBQ pork over the burning books, should he so desire. Likewise, people who dislike Christianity have the right to burn bibles.
Of course, having the right to do something does not entail that it should be done. It even does not entail that the action is morally right. For example, a person has the right to say mean things to other people. However, this does not entail that we should say mean things nor does it entail that it is morally right.
As the government and military spokespeople have pointed out, these sort of incidents do not help our relations with Muslims and do put American soldiers in greater danger. As such, people who intend to take such actions should consider the practical consequences as well as the moral implications. Since it seems that no real good can come from burning Qurans, it seems reasonable to think that people should not do this, even though they have the right to do so.
There is also the matter of treating others as we would like to be treated, as per the Golden Rule. I infer that the pastor would not be pleased with people burning bibles on the anniversaries of various misdeeds committed in the name of Christianity. As such, he should consider how Muslims will feel and what they will think when they hear that their holy book is being burned.
It might be replied that as Americans we should not be held hostage by how people in other countries will react. For example, the fact that American women are allowed to go around with their skin exposed and are allowed to drive and go to school no doubt upsets and angers some people. However, it hardly follows that we should change our behavior to suit them-even if this means that we are at greater risk of attack.
That is, of course, a reasonable reply. However, there seems to be an important distinction between these sorts of cases. To expect us to oppress our women to appease certain people is to expect us to engage in immoral actions. To expect us to not burn Qurans is simply to expect us to show a reasonable degree of respect to the religion and hardly seems to be too much to ask.
But, someone might reply, those people who will be angry about Americans lighting up the Quran probably include people who burn American flags. So, we should burn their book.
The obvious reply is that two wrongs do not make a right. If burning our flag is wrong, then it would seem that burning their book would be wrong as well. Also, of course, there are American Muslims-so we would be burning our own book. In any case, burning things that are important to people hardly seems to be an effective way of making the world a better place.
My overall view is that people have the right to burn Qurans (or bibles). However, they should consider the consequences of their actions and also consider what they would think about someone burning something important to them.
Same arguments apply to building the GZM–a pointless provocation which will only engender ill will.
Germany is showing us how it should be done. They avoided going on a borrowing spree, and their economy is growing at 9%. Now they are teaching us about freedom of the press. Remember, our cowardly publishers would not even print the cartoons in a book dedicated to the subject.
BERLIN (Reuters) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel risked angering Muslims by speaking at an awards ceremony on Wednesday for a Dane whose cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed provoked sometimes violent protests by Muslims five years ago.
The 75-year-old cartoonist Kurt Westergaard, whose drawings of Mohammed that offended Muslims worldwide first appeared in Danish paper Jyllands-Posten in 2005, was due to receive a prize Wednesday evening at a conference on freedom of the press.
At a time of fierce debate in Germany over disparaging remarks about Muslim immigrants made by a central bank member, some Muslims criticized the center-right chancellor and the media said she was taking a risk by honoring a man whom many Muslims believe insulted their faith.
Aiman Mazyek of the Central Council of Muslims in Germany said in a statement: “Merkel is honoring the cartoonist who in our view trampled on our Prophet and trampled on all Muslims.”
“By having her photo taken next to Kurt Westergaard, Merkel is taking a huge risk,” wrote the conservative daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung before the ceremony.
“It will probably be the most explosive appointment of her chancellorship so far.”
The mass-circulation Bild, which has voiced admiration for Bundesbank member Thilo Sarrazin for depicting Turkish and Arab immigrants as welfare spongers who fail to integrate, praised Westergaard and said Merkel’s presence showed Germany “does not back down in the face of threats from Islamist fanatics.”
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6873CC20100908
Agreed and it seems as if the whole world is going in the right direction economically except for us(third world aside). When are these keynesian buffoons going to realize that the money they need for their plan to work needs to come from a free market capitalist system and therefore cannot work except as a parasitical system? Then we keep getting told by the left that the capitalist sytem doesn’t work as they are dismantling it. Well, yeah, it doesn’t work when you are taking it apart or making the environment impossible for it to get restarted after you broke it. free market and giving away for free only go together so far. If the governemnt gives away too much ‘free stuff’ then there isn’t a market anymore.
It’s Not that big of a deal to burn books. Like it or not it does not changes a thing, just like it changes nothing when they burn the American flag.
It is a big deal to threaten with murderous intent about the burning of the books, especially when you know the intent is a legit act of terrorism.
It seems you people have forgotten about the first amendment and have succumb to the fear of terrorism. This is America and we will not be told what we can or cannot do in our own country out of fear to attacks. If a group of psychopaths are threatening us over the burning of books, they are radicals against America and we cannot fall victim by “bowing down” to their threats.
Any person who would want to kill another human over the burning of a book, non the less one that is mass produced, are in-human and still living in then 12th century.
At this moment Americans and Muslims are killing each other daily. But the burning of books is the real provoker. Not the stoning of women, not the killings over a cartoon, no, were all in the wrong, nobody can say anything bad about Muslims. We should all just live in fear because we all know they are a bunch of psychotic barbarians who pretty much have the freedom to threaten and kill anyone that offends them. And were all in the wrong for thinking of them for what they really are, savage radicals against the growth for a peaceful civilization.
Oh, lol, I wrote almost the same as you before reading it. Good points.
This from AP
“By AMIR SHAH, Associated Press Writer Amir Shah, Associated Press Writer – 1 hr 1 min ago
KABUL, Afghanistan – Hundreds of angry Afghans burned a U.S. flag and chanted “Death to the Christians” on Thursday to protest plans by a small American church to torch copies of the Muslim holy book on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks.
Religious and political leaders across the Muslim world, as well as several U.S. officials, have asked the church to call off the plan, warning it would lead to violence against Americans. Iraq, worried that it will unleash a backlash against all Christians, has beefed up security near churches.”
lol, so let me get this straight. We are warned that if we let someone through the First Amendment burn a religious book we are risking violence from the other side? How come there is no comdemnation of the other side for this? Maybe this is the Pastor’s ploy to bring to the world a lesson they cannot ignore though I’m sure it will be ignored. This is not an issue of ‘two wrongs don’t make a right’ but of One wrong does not justify a thousand more.
Yes, you can argue that the Pastor(who seems to be the extreme or close to it on the christian side) is acting childish but then we see what the Muslim side does on the extreme. They act like children that are psychopathic.
It is funny that nobody is asking for more security near Mosques. Hmmmmm, I wonder why that is?
In the US? Well, violence against holy places is fairly rare these days.
‘Iraq, worried that it will unleash a backlash against all Christians, has beefed up security near churches.” ‘ -from the above quote. Violence against Churches in Muslim or mixed Muslim/Christian countries outside of the US is more common. Isn’t that what we are talking about?
Oh snap! Where was the left when this happened?
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/05/20/us.military.bibles.burned/
Oh right, this is accepted practice in the world. One way street.
They shouldn’t have burned the books. As general principle, I’m against that.
However, the military is a government entity and has to avoid getting into the religion business. Soldiers handing out bibles in other countries in their role as soldiers would not be acceptable. However, soldiers doing outreach on their own time and out of uniform is their right.
I am also inclined to agree with Jon Stewart here-we should probably stop caring about what the radicals think. The odds that anything we do will change their minds is unlikely. However, we should avoid doing things that will push people into the radical camps. Burning holy books is one thing that could do that.
Phew! Well at least Jon Stewart agrees.
“However, the military is a government entity and has to avoid getting into the religion business. Soldiers handing out bibles in other countries in their role as soldiers would not be acceptable. However, soldiers doing outreach on their own time and out of uniform is their right.”- Well did they have to be burned or destroyed? Even though the government isn’t into the business of passing out Bibles it also is not in the business of destroying them. At least that is what I thought. Isn’t it against freedom of religion for the government to destroy religious books? Wow, if only I was an ACLU lawyer…..oh, that’s right, I would probably cheer the destroyed Bibles wouldn’t I?
I guess I would have to agree with Jon Stewart here too but is this link a sign of caring what the radicals think in lieu of our freedoms or is it what our government in power really thinks on the matter? Where was the US government when the Virgin Mary was a sculpture of art covered with feces and urine in a museum? Oh, right, they funded that religious hate speech.
http://www.moonbattery.com/archives/2010/09/still-more-kora.html
There are some serious double standards at play. Patriotic Americans endure flag burnings, Christians endure constant ridicule of their religion, but one must never offend Muslims.
I guess the take away message is that violent intimidation is not only effective, but the people who are intimidated won’t even admit it.
I should have put my last post under yours. You are right but it looks like the link from the above post shows that our own governments both fed and state are in on the intimidating. Meanwhile the double standard lives on. Special treatment anyone?
http://www.moonbattery.com/archives/2010/09/next-major-hasa.html