Wave of Muslimphobia?

[Yellow Mage]

Re: Wave of Muslimphobia?

BBQ's post summarized: religion ain't all bad, y'all.

Which, being a religious person myself, is something that I, personally, am inclined to believe. (. . . pun unintended.)

Also, didn't some guy named Ray Bradbury write a story about burning books once?

[Raydeus]

Re: Wave of Muslimphobia?

Well, if you want to live in that fantasy land. Burn your home, burn all literature, burn all belongings, get rid of music, culture, art, science, education, knowledge of medicine and go back to live in a cave.

But you can't rub sticks together to make fire to keep warm, nor make tools to skin animals for clothing. That stuff came from people that worshiped a ball of fire in the sky as a god. All those things came from someone that believed in a god and they were terrible people.

Those terrible people also formed an oral tradtion, leading to a belief system, writing and books about gods. Those books containing scriptures all documented a worldwide flood, which science later confirmed. But you have to disregard those text and that science because it came from people that worshiped nature and invisible beings.

See, for us to live the you believe would be dignified and respectful would be to dismiss all knowledge. But that's not going to bring about respect or honesty or taking responsibility for one's actions. You won't know what those things are. This is because law and order happens to come from morality, which is a byproduct of religion.

Notice how most religions seem to think killing other people, committing adultery and stealing from others are bad? We didn't get there by cold, calculating logic. A belief in a god or spiritual pecking order helped establish order in various cultures. It established law. Additionally, it also inspired music, art, folklore and many other things.

Anyway, go enjoy your cave. No iPhone or internet for you. That stuff comes from people in "McFaith."

I think you should mention your <insert religious leader here> about what you just posted here.

I'm sure he'll give you a few discount coupons for your next Sin Cleansing or your next Happy Heaven Box.

[TheGrandMom]

Re: Wave of Muslimphobia?

Ray Bradbury write a story about burning books once?

Fahrenheit 451

[Yellow Mage]

Re: Wave of Muslimphobia?

Fahrenheit 451

I was being rhetorical, but thank you anyway, Grandma.

[Feba]

Re: Wave of Muslimphobia?

Those books containing scriptures all documented a worldwide flood, which science later confirmed.

Flood myth - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

If by "Worldwide flood confirmed by science" you mean "Flooding in specific areas which is highly debatable", sure.

This is because law and order happens to come from morality, which is a byproduct of religion.

No, Law comes from the government, and order comes from people trying to make life easier for themselves by making life easier for others. Following the rules, even when you dislike them, is often easier than disobeying them. You can argue that religion was very useful in the past when it allowed governments to claim a divine right to power, and give people a cosmic reason to follow the rules. In the modern world, governments rule by the will of the people, and one of the basics of being a civilized human is following the rules even when you dislike them.

Do religious people do good things? Sure. But there are plenty of great leaps forward in human history made by murders, thieves, pedophiles, rapists, and all manner of atrocious leaders. "X is a Y, and he did Z, therefore if you dislike Y you dislike Z" is simply a logical fallacy, non sequitur. Tom Cruise is a scientologist, does that mean that we're not allowed to like Top Gun anymore? Mel Gibson is batshit crazy, did his movies suddenly become worse?

[Malacite]

Re: Wave of Muslimphobia?

Let's not burn any book... That's more greenhouse gas emission this planet doesn't need.

Not even the Brady Games guide?

---------- Post added at 04:29 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:25 PM ----------

Uh, he's commanding the troops there buddy. If you feel the actions of someone are putting your men in harm's way, don't you think they have the right to a say?

And how does it any different for Obama or Clinton then? Way to shoot yourself in the foot. It's okay for the General to step in, but not the Commander in Chief or Secretary of state? Again, I would have preferred no one had said shit (starting with the media) thus resulting in this having gone by unnoticed by the rest of the world.

But that wasn't the case. So I ask you again then, how it's somehow appropriate for the General to weigh in, but not the Secretary of State or even the President when this could very well spark hatred and violence against Americans the world over, and are your elected representatives.

[Aeni]

Re: Wave of Muslimphobia?

Essayist: Before Burning Quran, Know What's In It : NPR

Anisa Mehdi is a Fulbright Scholar and filmmaker who directed the National Geographic documentary Inside Mecca.

Here’s a quick test of your knowledge of scripture. Where does the following passage come from?

“Behold! The angels said: “O Mary! God hath chosen thee and purified thee – chosen thee above the women of all nations.”

Let’s try another, with more modern language:

“Behold, the angels said, “O Mary, God announces good news to you by a Word from God named the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, honored in this world and the hereafter.”

The first from the King James Version of the Bible and the second from the Revised Standard?

No on both accounts.

These are passages from the Quran. The first in English translation by Yusuf Ali and the second by Thomas Cleary. As an English-speaking Muslim, I have several versions of the Quran in English.

The Quran, the holy book of Islam, gets quoted for exhortations to fight for the faith. “Those who believe fight in the cause of God, and those who reject faith fight in the cause of Evil.” But it’s also filled with reverent passages about Jesus Christ. There is a whole chapter named for his mother, Mary, who is mentioned more often in the Quran than she is in the Bible itself.

And this is the book the Rev. Terry Jones threatened to burn at his Dove World Outreach Center in Gainsville, Fla., on Saturday?

Did he know what he would be burning?

The Rev. Jones may reject much of what he believes is so about Islam. He may reject the notion that another prophet came to humankind after Jesus. He may resent Islam’s fierce adherence to One God and not a Trinity. He may — and rightly so — despise the acts of terror committed in the name of Islam. But he should know that the book he hopes to burn as a statement of protest and rage holds his Savior in the highest esteem.

“And in the footsteps of the prophets we send Jesus, the son of Mary, confirming the law that had come before him. We sent him the Gospel. Therein was Guidance and Light.”

The Quran tells about miracles performed by Jesus — some unfamiliar to the Bible, like talking when he was a baby and breathing life into a clay bird, but also recognizable miracles, like healing lepers and restoring the dead to life.

The chapter of Mary also tells stories of Abraham, Moses and Noah. Surely these are figures of prominence in the Christianity of the Dove World Outreach Center.

But the crisis around burning the Quran was not one-sided. It may have been instigated in Florida but hostile reactions were predicted in Afghanistan by U.S. Gen. David Petraeus and who knows where else. After all, there is a history of violent reaction by Muslim people to perceived offenses against their faith. Remember the Danish cartoons?

So there is another group of people who need to know better just what’s in the book at the center of this story.

Muslims themselves.

We are now celebrating the end of the month of Ramadan. Muslims showed self-discipline by fasting from dawn until dusk for 30 days in a row. This is a time to put that self-control into action. In Chapter Five, the Table, we read, “O Believers! Stand up as witnesses for God by righteousness and let not ill will at any induce you not to act uprightly. Act uprightly … And fear ye God. God is apprised of what ye do.”

“Killing is bad,” the book goes on to say,” but lawlessness is even worse than carnage.”

Just like the Bible, the Quran has its share of passages about punishment and vengeance. No doubt I’ll be accused of only choosing the soft, sweet lines out of context for the purpose of making a point.

But it’s a point that needs to be made as much as the point that has been made that burning the Quran is NOT a good idea. That the challenge for Muslims in this trying situation is to behave and perform as cited in the very book they said they were trying to save.

[Vyuru]

Re: Wave of Muslimphobia?

If it was me I'd burn ALL religious "scritpures" and put an end to the McFaith business. Replacing it with a culture of respect and honest responsability for one's actions, regardless of personal beliefs.

Not sure if you are joking or not but frankly this is foolishness and I see it as the same intolerance that leads to someone burning the Quran.

It is not the word of God that is the problem, it is what Man does with the word of God that can be the problem. It is also what man does in the name of God that can be the problem.

I mean, heck, what is the basic underlying principles of Christianity?

You've got your 10 commandments, which, oddly enough, are exactly the things you do not want to do in order to have a mostly harmonious group. Then you have the basic message of, "Do your best to do good, do not do evil, and God will take care of the rest".

How in the world is this a bad thing?

Rest of the religions I frankly don't know much about, even though I may share some of their beliefs, though possibly in a different and maybe more simplistic sense.

But you can't rub sticks together to make fire to keep warm, nor make tools to skin animals for clothing. That stuff came from people that worshiped a ball of fire in the sky as a god. All those things came from someone that believed in a god and they were terrible people.

No offense, but proof please. I find a very hard time believing that people were worshiping a deity by rubbing sticks together for fire in order to cook, keep warm, and who knows what else. Or clothe themselves in order to keep warm.

Now cheesecake, THAT is inspired by the divine!

[Kailea]

Re: Wave of Muslimphobia?

I'm actually simultaneously embarrassed and distressed about the dude doing the book burning thing, as it is happening right in my own hometown of Gainesville (the same town that brought you "Don't Tase Me Bro" and "David After Dentist"!). Here's hoping that Florida doesn't let up on the rain for that day . . .

screw the rain, thats when you show up with a fire hose, and right before they burn the first bok, run in and hose the fire.

I swear this stupid shit needs to stop -.-

[TheGrandMom]

Re: Wave of Muslimphobia?

If it was me I'd burn ALL religious "scritpures" and put an end to the McFaith business.

You could burn them all you want, it wouldn't make one bit of difference. Man needs to believe there is something greater than himself out there to be able to put life and death into context. There is no Utopian society, no matter how much we dream of one. Go watch The Book of Eli and put that into context with what you are saying. It's makes a pretty good point about what would happen.

[Raydeus]

Re: Wave of Muslimphobia?

You could burn them all you want, it wouldn't make one bit of difference. Man needs to believe there is something greater than himself out there to be able to put life and death into context. There is no Utopian society, no matter how much we dream of one. Go watch The Book of Eli and put that into context with what you are saying. It's makes a pretty good point about what would happen.

I wouldn't burn them because I want to get rid of beliefs, it was just figurative speech about getting rid of religions. Hence the "regardless of personal beliefs" part. Since those scriptures were made by the religious leaders (100% human) without a single divinity involved in the process, just the same way companies make brochures to convince people of how good their product is and how much better it is compared to their competitors.

Now, I'm sure everyone believes in something, as do I. From the simple order of mathematics all the way to a god who determines every single thing that happens in everyone's life, and others. It's all good as long as you respect others, take responsability for your actions and don't try to force your beliefs on others.

Problem is with the McFaithâ„¢ bu$ine$$. It needs to dissapear, period.



Anyway. I wont go into details of what I think about it, but lets just say that if <insert religious divinities here> actually exist they will send all of their "children" straight to hell for following those false religious leaders.




PS >
It would be interesting seeing Mac fanboys going on a "Holy war" to get rid of PC users in the name of Jobs. And then see how the companies would spin it as "Something regretable, but it's all in the past now! " and continue business as usual.

[Kailea]

Re: Wave of Muslimphobia?

ha he chickened out.

Fla. pastor will 'not today, not ever' burn Quran - Yahoo! News

[Malacite]

Re: Wave of Muslimphobia?

You could burn them all you want, it wouldn't make one bit of difference. Man needs to believe there is something greater than himself out there to be able to put life and death into context. There is no Utopian society, no matter how much we dream of one. Go watch The Book of Eli and put that into context with what you are saying. It's makes a pretty good point about what would happen.

Stephen Hawking says otherwise.

Hawking&#039;s &#039;The Grand Design&#039; worth the effort – CNN Belief Blog - CNN.com Blogs

[TheGrandMom]

Re: Wave of Muslimphobia?

There will always be some type of religion. Whether it be the rock That just happens to look like the shape of something or a book of words that people believe in, man will always worship something. You just can not change that.

[Feba]

Re: Wave of Muslimphobia?

There will always be some type of religion.

Trends suggest otherwise. Fewer people are religious now than any time in recorded history. People who are religious spend less and less time and focus on their religion. Countries are run on a secular basis in many cases, including many of the most powerful countries in the world.

Obviously there will always be a few people that will believe something others don't, but that organized religion will stay relevant is far from a certainty.