Burning Issues

[lil_shepherd]

This morning while listening to the radio, I heard two people on the subject of Terry Jones and his maybe/maybe not proposed Koran-burning session

Comments

[were_gopher]

Similar things were being said on PM last night.

[lil_shepherd]

The problem is that none of the press seems able to ignore a nutter, and that the religious extremists are all-too-ready to take advantage of any opportunity.

Personally, I think the whole lot ought to be mocked and laughed at - the latest Jesus and Mo cartoon says it perfectly.

http://www.jesusandmo.net/

[were_gopher]

I love Jesus and Mo.

[lil_shepherd]

Me too.

[la_marquise_de_]

Those are two very sane responses.

[lil_shepherd]

Indeed. I was most struck by Ms Siddiqui, with whom I often disagree intellectually, talking straightforward sense.

[madfilkentist]

What they're actually doing doesn't much matter. During the Dutch cartoon controversy, a couple of imams invented and circulated some cartoons of their own, which were far more offensive than the originals. The Taliban can claim anything it wants, and how will Afghani peasants without electricity know otherwise?

By creating this much publicity, the US media have maximized the effectiveness of any violence the Taliban organizes in response, and saying it's expected.

The Taliban's aim isn't, except incidentally, to stop Quran-burnings in the US. It's to maximize hostility to the US in Afghanistan. Their concern is simply with how they can spin this to stir up the most hatred.

[lil_shepherd]

I would agree with you - but it would make it easier for conservative but not militant Muslims (and they do exist) to ignore the media circus.

[fatpie42]

I'd agree with you about the relevance of the burnings to the Taliban. With just the media circus they've probably got all the fuel they really need, regardless of whether the burning goes ahead

[lil_shepherd]

Siddiqui comments that "the truth" is contained in the words and not in a physical book. While she and I may not agree on "the truth", she has a point. What's more, coming from a moderate (it may, I think, be more accurate to say "liberal") Muslim makes it more important.

[the_magician]

The copy on the top of the stack on the table in Mr.Jones "church" was definitely a translation (didn't catch the name of the translator but it was something like I.M.Makingthisup)

[lil_shepherd]

*shhh!*

No one tell him until afterwards!

[melodyclark]

Sadly, the actions of a LA Lutheran minister to have a Koran blessed and given to a local mosque will be ritually ignored by all the press.

This northern Florida jerk is an old narcissist enjoying his 15 minutes of fame. I long for his obscurity. I wish everyone would ignore him.

Seven of the rescuers who died trying to save people on September 11th were also Muslim. Funny how "Brother Jones" skillfully ignores this.

[lil_shepherd]

Well, he is also ignoring the facts;

a) it ain't a mosque,
b) there is a mosque, long established, nearer to "ground zero",
c) there are a large number of bars, strip joints and what appear to be brothels nearer to "ground zero", and
d) most New Yorkers are, apparently, pro the building of the cultural centre.

[madfilkentist]

[melodyclark]

Jones' real issues are racism and ignorance. He's only recently tried to connect the not-a-mosque to his crap. Northern Florida is the south. It's as different geo-politically from Southern Florida (Walt Disney World, etc.) as South Korea is from North Korea. It may as well be Alabama.

The anti-not-a-mosque garbage is a completely engineered outrage. It's the GOP attempting to fan anti-Muslim sentiment and trying to connect it to Obama. They don't care that it's untrue. They merely see it as useful.

New Yorkers are strongly in favor of the Islamic cultural center being built. The ones carping on it amount to about twenty, but they're getting the coverage because of the Republicans.

It's also two frickin' blocks from Ground Zero. In NYC, in terms of proximity, that's one heckuva long distance.