Quote:
Originally Posted by JimKal
I don't want to be offensive but these statements leave me perplexed. In the first post you assert the right to be offensive by publicly deleting a copy of the Koran to demonstrate that it is not the word of God. While that is a right protected by our concept of free speech, it really doesn't prove anything. I would submit to you that any religious work can be deleted without a deity stopping the process. This would include the religious text you seem to prefer - the Christian Bible. If I were to delete a copy of the Bible would it make you less likely to accept it as the word of God? If you think that isn't the case, why would you expect by this act of public deletion to show any believing Muslim that the Koran is not the word of God?
You have used the words "incomparable" and "self evident" to bolster your assertions about the religious text you prefer. Have you read the other texts? Why are they not comparable? The Koran is a holy text to one third of the human race. I find the words of the "Tao Te Ching" to be very moving. Any text that helps you connect with the divine (however you define that term) is helpful in confronting the complexities of life. But you need to be aware of the context in which it was written as demonstrated elsewhere in this very interesting discussion. I am glad you find comfort in the text you prefer. Try not to be so dismissive of the beliefs of others.
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I didn't make the claim that the bible is actually the word of God. I don't believe it is. My point is this. In these times theres a whole lot of trouble being caused by a few folks from the Islamic community. I don't think they represent the Islamic community entirely, but their actions are bringing out some problems that were hiding under the floorboards for a few hundred years. Why do those guys over there think that they can chant "Death to America!", "Death to the Pope!", burn our flag, burn our religious texts, without us making so much of a peep of protest?! And then when one guy over here comes out and says hes going to do a Koran burning to give em something of there own medicine.... suddenly ...oh we can't because it would upset them too much... oh, they believe the Koran was written by God so its a sin to burn it... oh yeah, they're so sensitive! I don't see rallies in America every week threatening Koran burning... this was a one off.
And the problem is this. In Islam its believed that Gabriel dictated the Koran to Mohammed on Mt. Ararat in Arabia. No... Mohammed didn't make any of it up, oh yeah... it was dictated by an agent of God! So according to them, while its ok to burn the Bible or any other book for that matter, its not ok to do so with the Koran cause its unique. Incidentally this goes hand in hand with another belief that states that Muslims accept 'people of the book' ie Christians, Jews, Zoroastrians ect. but only if the Islam has political and legal authority in any given society. Well... I speak for everyone in America when I say .... Yeah right!! Over my dead body! See ... if they really accept us they wouldn't need to be in control! Anyway... tough luck pals... aint gonna happen.. ever.
So if you deleted the Bible, I wouldn't have a problem with that, such an act means nothing to me. The Bible is a compilation and account of Gods activites in this world, and includes the ancient accounts up to the point when He sent his son to save us( and a few things after that). This makes the Bible incomparable and a special compendium of knowledge. It deals with the most important things in life. Now muslims say that Mohammed was a prophet. They say Jesus was not the son of God but a prophet too, and thats how they claim superiority for their religion. Gee... kind of reminds me of that guy who claimed he spoke to Gabriel right here in America and then formed a sect based of it.
Look folks, with the coming of Jesus the game plan changed! Theres no need for prophets anymore, and there will never be any more. So Mohammed was not a prophet. Mohammed wrote the Koran, and while some of the information in it is correct and taken from the Bible, other stuff is literature, and 'different' versions of biblical stories.
So look... heck I'm not into book burning. I don't want to routinly burn books like the Koran anymore than I want to burn the Lord of the Rings . Literature and ideas is sacred too... but in this case a one time public act shows these people that we aint afraid to stand up for ourselves. And we aint afraid of Jihad or the Koran. Yeah.... you're right in this country we've got free speech so the citizens can decide what speech actions to take. If you're raising a kid and that kid keeps throwing temper tantrums ever time you don't give him a candy bar, do you say... oh no better not make him mad... hey, heres your twix! No way! You say, sorry, thats not how do things. And guess what... the kid eventually learns its pointless and focus on other things.
See... I don't think that what I'm saying is really offensive at all. Its a call for a protest at the extreme behavior levelled at us. And this kind of behavior gives terrorists the backing they need.