You may have heard of International Burn a Koran Day. On September 11th, the non-denominational Dove World Outreach Center church in Florida will burn Korans to show that “…Islam is causing billions of people to go to hell, it is a deceptive religion, it is a violent religion and that is proven many, many times.” Hemant was lucky enough to interview the church’s pastor here.
…Yeah, it’s a bit insane. I’m not sure what this church is trying to accomplish other than needlessly pissing people off to gain media attention. Thankfully Muslims and and Christians alike have publicly denounced the event, including the National Association of Evangelicals. But of course there has to be one extremist Muslim group to ruin everything:
Members of the al-Falluja online forum have reportedly promised to “spill rivers of your (American) blood” if the event goes forward.
You know, if someone is attacking you by saying you’re violent, the best method probably isn’t to respond with violence. Just sayin’. I know you’re upset and you may even have religious reasoning backing you up, but it’s just not a good strategy to illustrate that your opponent is right.
Bleh. Refreshing to know there are hateful extremists on both sides, no? Oops, I think I meant “terrifying,” not “refreshing.” My bad.
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13 comments
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haris
August 1, 2010 at 9:31 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
The irony is lost on these people
MeredithAncret
August 1, 2010 at 9:48 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
I don’t think the word irony is even a part of their language at this point.
MeredithAncret
August 1, 2010 at 9:49 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
I’m not a fan of the whole book burning thing at all (I could make an exception for Twilight), but I have to appreciate the opportunity for hilarious (if terrifying) irony.
bombylius major
August 1, 2010 at 9:51 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
that reminds of a discussion in our “ethic”-class(the subject you have to take in germany if you don’t want to go to (cath./protestant) religious class). it was at the time of Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy:muslim girl: “Islam is a peaceful religion, but if we are gravly insulted it’s totally acceptable to use violence in order to defend ourselves”yeah. way to go. don’t call me aggressive or I’ll punch you!
libhomo
August 1, 2010 at 11:37 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
I am so sick of all religion. Humanity would be much better off without it.
rogro
August 1, 2010 at 4:33 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
i’m also sick of all these ‘religulous’ (religious and ridiculous, as B. Maher wonderfully created the word) phanatics.
123
August 1, 2010 at 6:14 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
al-Fallujah forum is an extremist forum linked to terrorist organizations. I don’t think the people who post there have a problem being labeled violent, it’s kinda their thing.
Azkyroth
August 1, 2010 at 7:49 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
So apparently this is photoshopped rather than genuine but it’s perfect.
Daniel Schealler
August 1, 2010 at 11:06 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
We’re getting pretentious here – but fuck it.I suspect that irony and sincere piety cannot co-exist in the same human mind.That’s not to say that I don’t respect the human mind’s capacity to tolerate cognitive dissonance. I do. However, I think the combination of irony and sincere piety is just too much, even for as able a collection of self-deceivers as humans.In short: If they had a grasp of irony, they wouldn’t be devout in the first place.
???
August 2, 2010 at 12:54 AM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
A bit off topic: I don’t know if it’s just because I’m tired, but I read halfway through this post thinking it said “Burn a KOREAN day” I was a bit confused to say the least.
bethmahoney
August 2, 2010 at 5:02 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
I’m not sure this will really take place, but if it does it will be interesting to see how many people actually show up…
evansentranced
August 3, 2010 at 4:53 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
What the hell did this group expect? Of course Muslims are going to react with violence if you’re burning their holy book. Imagine what would happen if a group of atheists or Muslims or Jewish people decided to have a Bible burning day? People would freak out. There might or might not be organised violence as a reaction, but someone would end up in the hospital. It’s not irony. It’s obvious. They were probably expecting it. It’s like my little sister slapping at my sunburn because she knows I’ll slap her back, and she can turn around and say, ‘Mommy, she hit me!’ Come *on*.I don’t care what you believe. This Koran-burning group is religious. They aren’t rejecting religion, they’re being assholes because a group that identifies as Muslim did something radical and now Muslims are the ‘bad guys’, so they think they can dump on them. Maybe it’s because I’m an atheist, but I’m so used to people of religious persuasion, no matter what they believe, being on the same side against me, that it appalls me when they undermine each other like this. It’s the same thing with Scientology. *How* can they scoff at each other and call each other delusional, and still go to church every week and genuinely believe that *they’re* right?It’s all the same stuff and nonsense to an outsider.
John Doe
January 9, 2011 at 6:21 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
My dear lady, do you think if someone were to burn the Bible, “rivers of blood” will be spilt? No, there will only be _vocal_ angry reactions on mics, but no bombs or planes.But the muslims always mean what they say when they talk about rivers of blood. Forgot that September haven’t you?