International Burn a Qu'ran Day

[Recovering LSO]

http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/23/world/asia/afghanistan-burned-qurans/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

i'm sick of this - grow the F up and act like the confident people of faith you claim to be. if you burn a bible in front of me, sure that sucks, but it does not shake my faith in the principles therein.


go ahead and pile on and tell me how wrongheaded this opinion is.

 

[PropStop]

http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/23/world/asia/afghanistan-burned-qurans/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

i'm sick of this - grow the F up and act like the confident people of faith you claim to be. if you burn a bible in front of me, sure that sucks, but it does not shake my faith in the principles therein.


go ahead and pile on and tell me how wrongheaded this opinion is.

If you held this opinion 500 years ago, you'd be wrong and you'd probably be killed for burning a bible. That being said, i guess it shows these guys are living in a worldview that's 500 years + behind ours. Yes, time for them to grow up and act like adults.

Fuck them.

 

[pilot_man]

http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/23/world/asia/afghanistan-burned-qurans/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

i'm sick of this - grow the F up and act like the confident people of faith you claim to be. if you burn a bible in front of me, sure that sucks, but it does not shake my faith in the principles therein.


go ahead and pile on and tell me how wrongheaded this opinion is.

I'll go ahead and dogpile. What's wrong with your post is that you are assuming we are dealing with somewhat rational, somewhat educated, and somewhat modern people. It reminds me of the story of some General at the beginning of the war saying that we should just bomb them back to the stone ages, and his aid reminding him that they haven't yet left. It really is true. They are a people of ignorance and extremism and they will never get it. This religious war has been going on forever now, and it isn't going to stop because we get involved.

 

[squorch2]

Telling millions of people - some of whom have nuclear weapons - to "grow up" just doesn't work.

 

[Reconjoe]

To a culture like that, religion is ALL they have. Think about it....we have TV/entertainment, lives that we work on to make things better for us, we work harder at our jobs to make more money and earn advancements, we use that advancement to buy better things for ourselves and provide a better quality of life, we are tuned into national/international media so we stay appraised to all the things going on around us...we have a busy life full of purpose with tangible rewards we actually get to see.

Now..take all that away and imagine your daily life. As human beings, we would naturally want to seek a greater purpose, or something to keep us going...otherwise what's the point of living? That is what religion is to them. No matter how insignificant we think an event like burning one book is...to them it is (almost) all they live for...most of them are working towards the only rewarding promise they have in their lives...be a good Muslim and you will get your rewards. I wont add to the debate of if it's ultimately right or wrong and what being a good Muslim actually means. Just know any little thing will set them off because for most of them it's the only thing in life they have going for them.

 

[scoolbubba]

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-N...ldier-kills-2-US-soldiers/UPI-66781330001572/


I'm getting kind of tired of hearing how some ANA asshole we trained turned his weapons on the Americans. When will we learn?

 

[mmx1]

And yet a not insignificant portion of the country wants to make flag-burning illegal. Even though the proper method of disposal....is to burn it.

We're not as different as you'd think or protest to be. Everyone has their sacred cows.

 

[armada1651]

And yet a not insignificant portion of the country wants to make flag-burning illegal. Even though the proper method of disposal....is to burn it.

We're not as different as you'd think or protest to be. Everyone has their sacred cows.

Pushing for legislation against something that offends you is somewhat different than rioting and murdering people because of something that offends you.

 

[Brett327]

I'm pretty sure I could find some places in this country where I would suffer assault or worse for burning a bible out in public. I don't think I'd even have to look very hard.

 

[armada1651]

I'm pretty sure I could find some places in this country where I would suffer assault or worse for burning a bible out in public. I don't think I'd even have to look very hard.

In this case, we're not talking about an act done deliberately and antagonistically in public inciting a violent crime of passion. Qu'rans were inadvertently, privately disposed of in a way that was not technically correct (nor intentionally or flagrantly disrespectful), and it has resulted in rioting mobs and pre-meditated multiple homicides. I think trying to draw this parallel is a stretch.

 

[Brett327]

That's not how they see it - they don't get the distinction. You're mirror imaging.

Brett

 

[armada1651]

The inability or unwillingness to see that distinction is itself a breakdown in the parallel.

 

[Fog]

That's not how they see it - they don't get the distinction. You're mirror imaging.

Brett

Despite their ability to repel invaders for centuries & their ability to murder each other since time immemorial, the average afghan is as dumb as a fencepost and less well-educated. I think the finer distinctions of Koran disposal are pretty much lost on them - which is no excuse for their stupid behavior or our president's in apologizing to these jerks the same day they kill two of our servicemen. You would think the World's Smartest Man could see a slight difference between an inadverdent book-burning and cold-blooded murder.

 

[pilot_man]

I'm pretty sure I could find some places in this country where I would suffer assault or worse for burning a bible out in public. I don't think I'd even have to look very hard.

Yes there are outliers in every situation. The difference is in the States the outliers are the crazy ones and in the other case the outliers are the sane. I'll make a deal with you Brett, you go to any city of Afghanistan, get a crowd gathered, and then burn a Koran. I'll then go to whatever city in the States you'd like and do the same with a Bible. Then we'll see who fairs the best. We all know what the results would be.

 

[Brett327]

The parallel is that the savage Muslims aren't the only ones capable of reacting with violence when their sacred texts are handled inappropriately. Different circumstances, yes, but it's not intended to be a perfect analogy. I think we can agree that violence over religious or moral "offense" isn't appropriate (or civilized) under any circumstances. Seeking to understand or explain people's motives isn't condoning their actions. Hopefully, if we understand people's motivations, we can avoid unforced errors that ultimately make our jobs more challenging. I guarantee that's what GEN Allen is thinking right about now. I know it would be a whole lot easier to say "fuck 'em" and kill the entire population, but that's not really an option.

@ Pilotman: I don't disagree with you there, definitely a matter of degree. I'm not saying we're as bad as they are, just that we're capable under the right circumstances.

Brett