First and foremost, let me say that I do not support the burning of Korans, or any other book.
Burning books, any books, is not a constructive way to deal with whatever issue you may be having, unless your sole purpose is to inflame the people you have issues with, in which case you are childish and silly.
If you have a problem with an ideology, engage in persuasive conversations, debates, even arguments about it, but simply making gestures of hatred is not going to help your cause.
However, however, burning books is not illegal, and causes no real harm to anybody. It is simply a stupid thing, that stupid people do.
On the other hand; calling for the murder of people who burn books, and murdering people who burn books (*ahem*) IS illegal, and DOES cause harm.
So, in a situation where a group is 'provoked' in harmless ways, and proceeds to commit unacceptable crimes, the blame lies with the group who commits the crime, always. Always.
Saying, "Well so-and-so shouldn't have provoked them!" is the same as saying, "Well, she shouldn't have been wearing so little clothing!" to a girl that has just been raped.
It is absolutely ludicrous, and unforgivable.
So, to every moderate muslim, to every bleeding-heart liberal, who says that Terry Jones was in the wrong for burning Korans, who says that he is a religious lunatic, who says that he is deliberately inflammatory; Yes, he is all of those things.
But you are an asshole for heaping ridicule and disdain upon HIM, when HE is not the one committing a crime. Save your contempt for those deserving of it; those who incite violence, those who commit violence, and those who are proud of doing so.
We do not legislate against bad taste. Burning a book is no more a crime than calling somebody else an idiot, no matter what some ancient text would have you believe. No citizen is obligated to respect another's beliefs beyond the letter of the law, nor should they be.
Hindus don't come up to me and *chastise me for eating beef, even though they hold cows sacred. Jains don't come up to me and chastise me for walking on the grass, thereby killing insects, even though all life is sacred to them.
So how dare Muslims chastise me for drawing a cartoon of Mohammed, or for burning some bits of paper? If I bought it, I can bloody well burn it, it is my property.
These people are not to be placated, they are not to be appeased. They are to be ridiculed, held in contempt and told how stupid they are, over and over and over again. The fault lies with them, not with whatever loony 'provoked' them. They are not rabid dogs (although they do act that way) who can be prodded and poked into violence. They are people, and they have the capacity to control themselves.
Let's not be too lenient.
*I use chastise as a euphemism. What I mean is 'murder' and 'threaten to murder'.
Burning books, any books, is not a constructive way to deal with whatever issue you may be having, unless your sole purpose is to inflame the people you have issues with, in which case you are childish and silly.
If you have a problem with an ideology, engage in persuasive conversations, debates, even arguments about it, but simply making gestures of hatred is not going to help your cause.
However, however, burning books is not illegal, and causes no real harm to anybody. It is simply a stupid thing, that stupid people do.
On the other hand; calling for the murder of people who burn books, and murdering people who burn books (*ahem*) IS illegal, and DOES cause harm.
Not the face of sanity.
So, in a situation where a group is 'provoked' in harmless ways, and proceeds to commit unacceptable crimes, the blame lies with the group who commits the crime, always. Always.
Saying, "Well so-and-so shouldn't have provoked them!" is the same as saying, "Well, she shouldn't have been wearing so little clothing!" to a girl that has just been raped.
It is absolutely ludicrous, and unforgivable.
So, to every moderate muslim, to every bleeding-heart liberal, who says that Terry Jones was in the wrong for burning Korans, who says that he is a religious lunatic, who says that he is deliberately inflammatory; Yes, he is all of those things.
But you are an asshole for heaping ridicule and disdain upon HIM, when HE is not the one committing a crime. Save your contempt for those deserving of it; those who incite violence, those who commit violence, and those who are proud of doing so.
We do not legislate against bad taste. Burning a book is no more a crime than calling somebody else an idiot, no matter what some ancient text would have you believe. No citizen is obligated to respect another's beliefs beyond the letter of the law, nor should they be.
Hindus don't come up to me and *chastise me for eating beef, even though they hold cows sacred. Jains don't come up to me and chastise me for walking on the grass, thereby killing insects, even though all life is sacred to them.
So how dare Muslims chastise me for drawing a cartoon of Mohammed, or for burning some bits of paper? If I bought it, I can bloody well burn it, it is my property.
These people are not to be placated, they are not to be appeased. They are to be ridiculed, held in contempt and told how stupid they are, over and over and over again. The fault lies with them, not with whatever loony 'provoked' them. They are not rabid dogs (although they do act that way) who can be prodded and poked into violence. They are people, and they have the capacity to control themselves.
Let's not be too lenient.
*I use chastise as a euphemism. What I mean is 'murder' and 'threaten to murder'.
While book burning is a stupid idea, the reaction of muslims to any sort of perceived insult is utterly ridiculous. This is not the stone ages, act civilised.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, you are a fucking westernized feminist indian bitch. Feminist indian bitches are the absolute worst women on earth. I can't wait until you fucking whores are all enslaved under Islamic sharia.
ReplyDelete^ Case in point, freakshow.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, that was very civilised. Thankyou for proving me wrong. With that attitude I'm sure more people will understand your position, and not hate you.
ReplyDeleteIf I decided to burn a bible in front of a church I will bet a month's paycheck that I would be hounded and stalked by every born again nut job "christian" on the east coast!
ReplyDeleteFunny how people can post obnoxious drivel like Anonymous' comment, but don't have the courage to show their face. Such cowardice. It's shameful.
ReplyDeleteI've yet to read anything on your blog that would lead me to judge you as being a "feminist bitch", but that's besides the point.
It seems like when people are faced with unnecessarily outrageous behavior, their immediate reaction is not to point out the behavior as being absurd, but to do something even MORE outrageous.
Semi-Pro; :D
ReplyDeleteBig; Hounded, harassed, stalked, maybe. Calls for your beheading, and your *actual* beheading? I don't think so.
Megan; I *am* a feminist, as are most people these days, but the fact that he thinks that's an insult speaks volumes about his medieval mentality.
I dind't enjoy the blogpost in question. It's just more of the same! Try being more original when you want to bring up Muslims, Islam, or inter faith dialogue, etc. It would make this world a better place...maybe.
ReplyDeleteI don't exactly see what could be more original than my personal thoughts.
ReplyDeleteIn my mind, there is but one thing to be said for inter-faith dialogue when it comes to psychotic muslims.. and this is it.
Agreed. Judging by the way that the extremist reaction, Allah is hyper-sensative about material things. One would think that Allah lived only in the Qua'rans that were being burned.
ReplyDelete