Sunday, September 5, 2010

Burning the Quran? Better Than Burning a Muslim: Still - - -

America is, really, a very tolerant country. Which isn't to say that all Americans are tolerant. From yesterday's news:
"Thousands of Indonesian Muslims protest US church's plan to burn Koran on 9/11"
The Associated Press, via FOXNews (September 4, 2010)

"Thousands of Indonesian Muslims rallied outside the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta on Saturday to denounce an American church's plan to mark the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks by burning copies of the Koran.

"The Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida, said it will burn the Islamic holy book Wednesday, the ninth anniversary of the terror attacks. Local officials have denied a permit for the bonfire on the church's grounds, but the center - which made headlines last year by distributing T-shirts that said 'Islam is of the Devil' - insists it will go ahead with the plan...."
I don't think much of that church's (self?) righteous actions. Partly because I don't think that burning books is a good way of showing how decent and good one is: partly because I'm a member of another religious minority that some virulently virtuous folks say is 'of the Devil.' (A Catholic Citizen in America (March 5, 2010)

If that Florida church simply has more T-shirts to sell, or wants its members to reinforce their loyalty to the "Outreach Center," maybe that book burning makes sense.

If they're seriously interested in reaching out to folks who aren't just like themselves - that reenactment of the Opernplatz book-burning probably isn't the best move they could make.

Related posts:In the news:Related posts, on tolerance, bigotry, racism, and hatred.

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Blogroll

Note! Although I believe that these websites and blogs are useful resources for understanding the War on Terror, I do not necessarily agree with their opinions. 1 1 Given a recent misunderstanding of the phrase "useful resources," a clarification: I do not limit my reading to resources which support my views, or even to those which appear to be accurate. Reading opinions contrary to what I believed has been very useful at times: sometimes verifying my previous assumptions, sometimes encouraging me to change them.

Even resources which, in my opinion, are simply inaccurate are sometimes useful: these can give valuable insights into why some people or groups believe what they do.

In short, It is my opinion that some of the resources in this blogroll are neither accurate, nor unbiased. I do, however, believe that they are useful in understanding the War on Terror, the many versions of Islam, terrorism, and related topics.