I’ve been seeing this Qur’an burning thing that Dove World Outreach Center has planned, and initially I thought, “Who gives a shit?” In fact, a while back, a Christian church in NC was burning bibles, and I supported the idea, adding that they were burning 1 less edition than they should be.
I have now been swayed by the arguments for not burning books though, although I am still not as strict about destruction of books as many others are. I don’t think that a book that has large numbers of missing pages or has been majorly defiled is a big deal to throw away unless it is a rare book. I have realized that burning documents that you find offensive is wrong though, no matter if it is a religious text. I haven’t ever really thought about it in depth before.
Well, luckily I’ve been quiet about it until now. I could have stepped in it again by supporting burning Qur’ans, so I’m glad I waited.
Even though I have been opposed to this for a few days now, I have remained silent. In my silence, I’ve been wondering if it’s only going to be atheists and Muslims that oppose this action. I found it rather frustrating that nobody from the Christian circles has been even discussing this, much less condemning it. Well, finally someone has spoken up. The National Association of Evangelicals has finally come out and condemned the planned Qur’an burning.
It’s About Time
It is irritating that after 9/11, up to this very day, Christians decry the lack of outrage shown by moderate Muslims about terrorism, yet the only words spoken officially by any Christian group about this, up to this point, were in support of the idea.
It’s Not a Good Freedom of Speech Issue
I was all for Draw Mohammad Day. They brought it on themselves, and nobody was actually hurt by the images being created. On the other hand, burning books is not something I want to be seen in favor of any longer.
When you burn a book, you lessen the chances that someone else will be exposed to the ideas and information stored in that book. Even a religious book full of nonsense and superstition is worth holding onto. We would be worse off if we didn’t have access to some of the ancient religious texts from long dead religions.
I know there are more Bibles and Qur’ans than you can shake a stick at, but that can change in a hurry. First of all, we are in a digital age. There are more words written and read electronically per year than there have ever been books. A burned book at this moment may never get reprinted, and even if it did, who is to say that the exact one you destroyed wouldn’t have been one of the only ones to survive some future natural disaster?
There is no way to measure the importance of the books you own. It’s a terrible idea to burn them. Burn an effigy of a book if you want to make a statement. Muslims will be just as angry with you, and you won’t look so much like a total dick.
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