Monday, April 18, 2011

Which religious book is okay to burn, according to the U. S. government? Hint: it isn't the Koran

Remember when everyone was talking about about how terrible it was that Terry Jones was burning a Koran? Well, it turns out that burning a Koran is a really terrible thing, but burning the Bible? Hey, no problem.

Here is the way the U. S. government has of dealing with the Koran:
1. Clean gloves will be put on in full view of the detainees prior to handling.
2. Two hands will be used at all times when handling the Koran in manner signaling respect and reverence. Care should be used so that the right hand is the primary one used to manipulate any part of the Koran due to the cultural association with the left hand. Handle the Koran as if it were a fragile piece of delicate art.
But at the same time it and its representatives are waxing eloquent about the care with which the Koran is to be handled, how does it treat Bibles?

We go now to the blog Rogers Rules for a report:
Bibles were sent to U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan. But the U.S. government determined that the presence of Bibles in this “devoutly Muslim country” might inflame the natives. So they burned them. Why did they burn them? Because it is military policy to burn its trash.

So, the Bibles, according to U.S. policy, are trash, garbage, and it’s OK to burn them.

18 comments:

KyCobb said...

Martin,

What is more important in Afghanistan, some books, or the lives of our soldiers? Do you think its actually a good idea to provoke Afghanis when our military is trying to win their hearts and minds away from the Taliban?

Singring said...

Martin, are you talking about the same government that flushed Korans down the toilet in an effort to psychologically torture detainees?

Also, the report your pal Roger links to states the following:

'The unsolicited Bibles sent by a church in the United States were confiscated about a year ago at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan because military rules forbid troops of any religion from proselytizing while deployed there, Lt. Col. Mark Wright said.'

So you see - those Bibles were confiscated in complete compliance with US law and constitution and were burned like any other trash. I can guarantee you that the same would have been done with unsolicited Korans.

Whereas the memo that specifies handling of the Koran is intended for the handling of detainee Korans (a rather welcome change from previous attempts at torture, I might add).

Of course, Roger makes no mention of these vastly different contexts and you apparently didn't have the time or interest to check.

But of course - the blogosphere on the right mixes and matches its reports whenever they feel another pang of self-pity for being 'prosecuted'.

Lee said...

Sounds to me like a breech of the First Amendment. Treating the sensibilities of one religion with more consideration than another?

I mean, I am constantly lectured by my liberal betters that Our Government Cannot Take Sides on Religious Matters! Separation of Church and State! Freedom of Religion! There Is No God in "Team"! I made that last one up.

But of course they didn't really mean it. What they meant was, "We despise our Christian heritage, so we are going to downplay it by playing up the sensibilities of other religions, and so in the process trivialize it. But we can't say so directly."

Can you imagine the outraged headlines in the New York Times and Washington Post if we treated Korans as badly as we treated Bibles? Well, we don't have to imagine, do we? The Washington Post, in fact, went out of its way to make up an incendiary story about flushing a Koran down the toilet.

Aren't we sending the wrong message to Christians? That to get some respect, you have to be willing to cut some heads off?

And by the way, Our Lord and Savior is not going to be stopped by trashing a few Bibles. We'll just print more. I just think it's instructive when the true feelings come out on something like this.

KyCobb said...

Lee,

How many extra US soldiers should die so that we can flood Afghanistan with Bibles?

Lee said...

Thanks for proving my point, Ky. Non-Christians like to talk about how "scary!" Christians are, but nobody is really afraid of them. Why, they won't even kill you for burning their sacred books. And if the point is to save lives that outraged Muslims would otherwise be tempted to take, let's all just cut to the chase and convert to Islam, hmmm?

Singring said...

'Non-Christians like to talk about how "scary!" Christians are, but nobody is really afraid of them.'

Tell that to the gays in Uganda and the rest of Africa and even in parts of the US, the Tutsi in Rwanda or abortion doctors in the US. The selective memory of Christians is quite remarkable.

KyCobb said...

Lee,

If there was a Muslim army fighting in the US and they started burning Bibles as an expression of their contempt for Christianity, I suspect that would inspire local opposition to inflict more casualties on them, don't you? So please tell me, how many more US soldiers you think should die so that Afghanistan can be flooded with Bibles that the Afghans don't want?

P.S. The blog implied these were Bibles for US soldiers. In fact, they were published in the two most popular Afghani languages, so they were being sent to US soldiers for the purpose of trying to proselytize Afghans, which is not the US Army's mission there.

Lee said...

I have already suggested that we simply convert to Islam and remove any chance of further offending Muslims by the very act of existing as non-Muslims. What was wrong with my suggestion?

KyCobb said...

Lee,

The overwhelming majority of Muslims can live with people of other faiths, just as the vast majority of Christians can. The issue here is whether we are going to inflame increased opposition to the US Army in Afghanistan by creating the impression that part of its mission is to promote Christianity.

Lee said...

> The overwhelming majority of Muslims can live with people of other faiths, just as the vast majority of Christians can.

That's beside the point, since it is the radicals who go around killing people.

If the whole point is to reduce the number of killings, then we should all convert to Islam. The way to quit inflaming radical Muslims is to adopt Sharia law and become Muslims.

Singring said...

'The way to quit inflaming radical Muslims is to adopt Sharia law and become Muslims.'

I think the Jews might have a slight problem with that, as would a lot of women and gay people, for example.

I have an even better idea: Let's all become rational, sound-minded atheists! That way not only do we not have to kill each other because of who believes in what version of sky-daddy, but we also don't have to throw battery acid in the face of girls who have sex before marriage or hang gays from lamp-posts to appease the sky-daddy!

Sounds eminently sensible to me...

Oh wait....

I'm just being told that its self-evident that the sky-daddy exists and that the people in X are totally wrong about him so long as you were born in Y and vice versa.

Yup, that makes a lot more sense, so lets go with that.

Lee said...

Do Muslims respect atheists?

Singring said...

'Do Muslims respect atheists?'

Any less than they respect Christians?

I don't know - some of the Muslims I've met have, some haven't.

Either way, at least as atheists we wouldn't have to kill gays or maim women to appease our daddy in the big sky.

Lee said...

I think you missed my point, Singring.

Singring said...

And I think you missed mine.

KyCobb said...

Lee,

If I understand your point, its that Muslims are incapable of living in peace with other people, and therefore the US Army should kill or convert all of them. If that's not your point, please enlighten me.

Lee said...

Ky, my point is that apparently you think Muslims are not responsible for their own actions. If the act of burning a Koran "makes" them kill someone, then you are saying either Muslims cannot tell right from wrong, or that they can but are incapable of choosing right.

So then the onus falls on those of us who can tell right from wrong to restrict our actions and so avoid setting them off.

Same as blaming an attractive girl displaying her decolletage for being raped. She asked for it.

KyCobb said...

Lee,

That is not my point at all. If Afghans get the impression that the US Army's mission is to convert Afghan Muslims to Christianity, that can only serve as a recruiting tool for the Taliban and get more US soldiers killed. Therefore it was entirely appropriate for the Army to dispose of those Bibles sent to US soldiers for the sole purpose of proselytizing Afghans.