How do atheists view the public burning of religious books?

[Philosoraptor]

Me? I don't care what you burn in protest, Old Glory, the Confererate flag, Mein Kampf, efigies, burn em' all, it's just a protest, and not being religious, I don't care if you burn so called holy books, they are just so many books.

This Koran burning is just plain flame bait in the truest sense of the word, the right wing extremists are all coming out of the racist, homophobic, end-timers woodwork like cockroaches.

I personally wouldn't care if they burned all the so called holy books, particularly the ones brandished by the current insane religious groups, ours and theirs.

Is there sort of a religious war brewing in our future? Should we be concerned Americans? How can you ward off such evil from WITHIN?

I wish I had some diety to pray to, but alas, my faith has gone.

[saltpoint]

1. I like those bumper stickers that say, "Keep the Books, Burn

the Censors."

There are any number of saced texts that I don't read or would disagree with if I did, but I would argue that they should be on the shelves of world libraries just the same.

There is something morally tawdry about burning a book, no matter what it is or who wrote it, that smacks of cowardice.

[wookie72]

32. Why burn anything?

It's bad for the air.

[saltpoint]

34. Deesh woosh!

I'm posting a letter from Kurt Vonnegut in a concurrent DU post in General Discussion which features his letter to the Drake, North Dakota school committee, which instructed a school janitor to burn copies of his novel SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE after it had been assigned to students.

I stand with Vonnegut on the subject of book-burning.

[madokie]

52. You speak for this non religious person too

:hi:

[saltpoint]

53. Hey madokie! Good morning!

:hi:

[madokie]

67. And good morning to you

you ole salt you :-) :hi:

[LeftishBrit]

70. Great post!

As often, this atheist Brit strongly agrees with you.

[cleanhippie]

78. "There is something morally tawdry about burning a book, no matter what it is or who wrote it..."

There is something morally tawdry about burning a book, no matter what it is or who wrote it, that smacks of cowardice


Perfect!

[JNelson6563]

119. Well said.

Agree 100%. :hi:

Julie

[hobbit709]

2. "When viewed from the outside, ALL religions appear equally silly"

[KarenS]

20. +1

What I do not understand is how this hateful little man has garnered so much attention ~ his "church" has 50 people and they have a stack of 150 books ~ international coverage ~ seriously??

I don't like book burnings.

[Philosoraptor]

23. Look behind you Rev. phred phelps, you're bein' out-crazied by this guy

[RKP5637]

51. Exactly!!! n/t

[stuntcat]

102. for real, +1

I used to just be a "eh, whatever" kind of Atheist.

But thanks to religious people's Earth-rape and Holy Wars I'm a militant now :hi: I blame EVERYTHING bad on religion, it'll sometimes take me some twisted brainwork but I can do it.

"With or without religion, you'd have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things.
But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion."

[mcctatas]

3. this atheist doesn't approve of book burnings, period...

Except maybe 'Going Rogue' ;)

[hobbit709]

7. The only thing that one is good for is fire stater.

It's too full of crap already for the other purpose.

[howard112211]

4. Having been educated in Germany, public book burnings conjure sinister images.

I think there is something deeply wrong with using public book burnings as a symbolic gesture. I think the gesture is authoritarian in nature,
and very contrary to the idea of freedom of speech. Burning a book as a symbolic gesture is implied censorship, as well as an implied
threat to authors or readers of said books. And since the US is at war with two islamic countries, the old quote about where books are
burned people will be burned certainly applies to our specific case at hand.

[msongs]

56. actually it doesnt apply - not state or dominant church sanctioned, just individuals nt

[architect359]

57. +1

Thanks.

[no_hypocrisy]

5. There isn't one standard, uniform atheist model.

I can speak for myself as an atheist, a humanist, and ethical culturalist.

I don't endorse burning books, period. I go along with Heinrich Heine's warning that where books are burnt, ultimately men will be burned. I find the topic of religion to be a distraction to the argument or a separate argument altogether.

Burning books may be constitutional under certain circumstances, but I don't agree with the premise notwithstanding.

[piratefish08]

6. i couldn't care less if they burned a holy book from every religion. .

the thing that does bother me is the attention these asshats receive from the rest of the world.

[wookie72]

39. it should bother you

Believe it or not, ideas from religion filter down to all areas of society. Where do you think MArx got "to each according to their need?"

[Cleobulus]

61. All ideas come from humans though, its not like a god gave out that idea and humans...

were incapable of thinking of it on their own. Religious give an illusion of authority for such ideas, through some type of mythological being, that doesn't necessarily make the idea more valid when viewed in a secular way. All ideas should be tested for their validity, and those that are good ideas should be put into practice, and those that aren't should be discarded.

[wookie72]

79. Not the point

There's this myth of universal progress, that we're always more enlightened than we were in the past. As Marilynne Robinson has pointed out, anti-semitism was dying out by the time it was revived as a genetic theory in Germany. As well, Bertrand Russell argued that religion *has* served to give moral authority to good ideas, for example the abolition of slavery. It's not a matter of them "coming from God," but religion has been a good technology for spreading wisdom.

[Zhade]

139. Nah. Religion just gets lucky to be on the right side of history sometimes.

MLK very well could have been just as humane and compassionate as an atheist as he was as a believer. He didn't need religion to be that way. Maybe it helped channel his innate goodness, but it didn't create it.

[Cleobulus]

142. But that doesn't negate the hundreds of years where religion was used to justify slavery...

religion is a good medium for spreading ideas, not wisdom, its does just as well in spreading bad ideas as good ones.

[Zhade]

138. Perfectly said.

NT!

[piratefish08]

63. religious ideas filter up from the mind of man. believe it or not, some will even

use these beliefs of others to further their own agendas.

the actual burning of holy books influences nothing in the universe. the emotion people attach to them do the harm. people are the problem.

[wookie72]

81. Nothing we do "influences the universe" in the long run.

However, while we're here, stuff like the Golden Rule is good to remember.

[ladjf]

65. Burning the books does not burn the ideas. The only

consequence is that the act is intentionally insulting. nt

[wookie72]

124. In this case,yes

But I've read a lot of cavalier comments along the lines of "burn all religious books," and personally I find that troubling.

[ladjf]

143. The "burn all religious books" is more a statement of attitude

toward religion in general than a real attempt to deprive religious people of their holy books.

Personally, I feel that religion is doing more harm than good for the human race. However, trying
to take away their religious articles is not a good way to handle the dangers of religious activity.

[cleanhippie]

80. And where do you think that idea came from in the first place?

Hint: it ain't god.

[wookie72]

125. So what?

The good ideas (and the good writing) stand the test of time, unless some yahoo decides to get rid of them. (I realize that a lot of the commentators are anonymous idiots, but I'm glad they're not in charge of things). Yes, there are a lot of troubling parts in religious texts (in any text, really), but there are also amazing parts. As an example of the futility of existence, for example, I would put Ecclesiastes up against any Cure song any day.

[RussBLib]

8. Burn 'em all

While book burning is rather inflammatory (pun intended), I can think of few better books to burn than those that have inspired hatred, intolerance and war: the "holy" books of planet Earth.

One does not need a "holy" book to be kind to your fellow man.

[wookie72]

33. They've also inspired love, freedom, and strength

The Desmond Tutus and the MLKs of the future have to get their inspiration somewhere.

If ideas are "memes," like Dawkins claims, they should be allowed to die out and adapt naturally, not be hunted to extinction.

[cynatnite]

9. The burning of any book is abhorrent to me...

It doesn't matter what book it is. Even if it's Mein Kampf. The burning of books is an attempt to silence opinion and ideas even if we don't agree or like the subject.

[howard112211]

14. Agreed. I find it ironic that we are arguing about whether book burnings are protected free speech.

The gesture itsself is implied censorship. So while the act of burning a book may be a protected form of expression, the symbolic gesture is contrary to the idea of freedom of expression.

[Philosoraptor]

18. I would never burn a book in public to be clear

[madmom]

10. I don't approve of book burnings at all, but they do have a "right" ,BUT in this case, I

believe it is being done to incite a bad reaction and there should be something that can be done, either to stop them or punish them.

[piratefish08]

19. Constitutional rights don't come with a 'BUT'

We may not like it, or approve, but 'BUT' is a slippery slope.

[madmom]

29. When they are putting peoples lives in danger, there needs to be a "BUT".

[woo me with science]

76. Nobody burning a book is killing anyone.

Your problem is with the religious zealots who overreact.

Sheesh.

[cleanhippie]

82. Whose life, besides their own, are they putting in danger?

Other than self-immolating (I can only hope) themselves or becoming a target for revenge, who are they endangering?

[madmom]

116. According to military brass the soldiers in muslim countries, that is if you believe them.

[Lyric]

117. No, the offended Muslims in those countries are putting our soldiers in danger.

Not the book burners.

If radical religious nutjobs can't control themselves, that's not our fault. Saying that the book-burning (however repulsive) should be stopped because offended Muslims might hurt our troops in retaliation is like saying that flag-burning here at home should be stopped because offended Freepers might firebomb a "liberal" university HERE in retaliation.

People have a right to be offended, but they don't have the right to hurt other people over it. We cannot start restricting speech just because some nutcase murderer somewhere might decide to get pissed and hurt people over it. We punish the nutcases--not the people practicing speech.

[Codeine]

92. They aren't putting anyone at all in danger.

The danger stems from the people who will actually kill. Don't blame anyone else.

[Lucian]

95. There are no lives at stake at burning a fucking book.

This is the dumbest statement I've read here all day.

[Codeine]

112. Precisely.

They don't realize their argument is exactly the same as blaming a rape victim for the way she dressed.

When your entire thesis boils down to "Well, you were ASKIN' for it by exercising your freedoms!" then you have a serious problem.

[woo me with science]

75. Thank you.

Some of the comments around here make me ill. People really need to read their Constitution.

[piratefish08]

88. the Constitution is apparently an 'incident specific' document on DU now.

We wave it around to prove that Muslims have a right to build in NYC, but some are more than willing to compromise it to stop this nutbag.

[Codeine]

111. I've dubbed it Bizarro DU.

It's like a funhouse mirror version of the place lately.

[Codeine]

91. I like that! "Constitutional rights don't come with a 'BUT'." Excellent. nt

[woo me with science]

74. Oh my god. nt

[lunatica]

11. Illiterate people like to burn books

I'll bet money I don't have that this group of 51 idiocrats don't read anything other than the bible. And maybe only one reads it at that.

[eShirl]

12. I hate it; it always reminds me of the destruction of the Library of Alexandria.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jixnM7S9tLw
And that makes me sad/depressed/pissed.

[Smarmie Doofus]

13. Seems likely that only a theist would think of burning...

... the scripture of another ( competitor) religion.

This agnostic doesn't agree with the burning but will defend ( probably not to "the death") his right to burn it.

[Philosoraptor]

15. My crazy bornagain brother burned my mail he got by mistake

You can't make this crap up, 30 some odd years ago my brother got my national lampoon by mistake, I didn't even know, but he showed up on my porch with 3 dollars and said, 'here's 3 bucks to replace your magazine I burned'.

He was dead serious, and I asked him why didn't he just bring me the fucking u.s. mail instead of burning it? He said it had a blasphemous image of Christ on the cover, (don't remember the cover, feel free to refresh my memory), and I said 'you crazy religious fuckers really like to burn stuff don't you'?....'like millions of witches and books you don't like', then I injected quite a few 'fuck you's', and I happily didn't see him for almost a decade.

He never did snap out of it........

[madmom]

35. LOL, my sister-in-law was quite upset when she received a copy of my husband's

"Blue Press" by mistake. It had a scantily clad (bikini) woman on the front. It was a catalog for reloading components. It is one of those that is taped shut with the little sticky dot things, oh yes it WAS opened. LOL. She is a BIG TIME fundie.

[Philosoraptor]

45. Once you've seen a buxom, comely harlot from hell, you can't UN-see her

That satanic pornography should be thouroughly excorsized by hell fire, no doubt. We who have fundies in the family know the drill

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

16. It's idiotic and hateful.

That book might not mean anything to me, but it sure does mean a lot to more than a billion people. Sure, the right exists to burn whatever one wants, so long as said activity isn't designed to threaten or intimidate others. That's the accepted ruling as it stood for cross burning by the KKK, and so it should apply to this.

[scheming daemons]

17. for THIS atheist, it's the functional equivalent of burning a Dr. Seuss book

a whole bunch of silliness.

[wookie72]

36. I would be sad if a Dr. Seuss book were burned

And frankly Im a little sad that someone would think that they have nothing to learn from even Dr. Seuss

[MineralMan]

43. Some would burn Dr. Seuss's Sneetches book, I'm sure,

since it teaches the value of tolerance of everyone, instead of creating artificial divisions amongst people. Don't discount the desire of some to destroy all references to tolerance these days.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sneetches_and_Other_Stories

[snooper2]

55. Best Post + bunches...

:) :hi:

[cleanhippie]

83. That WOULD be a tragedy!

Dr. Seuss books have done more good in this world than any "holy" book ever has.

[Amaril]

101. Too true

I credit The Lorax with turning me -- a kid from a so-far-right-it-was-scary family -- into a tree-hugging, bunny-lover. :)

[reggie the dog]

21. i think it is poor taste to burn books

but support the right of people to express themselves. I think it is very disrespectful to burn religious texts even though i am an athiest. i see no good coming from burning bibles, qu'rans etc.... it is just not an effective way to convince people to give up religion.

[Philosoraptor]

26. It's one of the stupidest, most embarassing low points in our nation's history

[RKP5637]

59. Given how this country operates today, I'm sure there will be even worse... n/t

[dkf]

22. This Atheist/Agnostic hopes you all don't kill each other in some religious war

and take me with you.

[Philosoraptor]

28. If you're killed in the name of Christ, that's called 'Crossfire'

[dkf]

37. I'm hoping the yearning for Armageddon is subdued also.

[Sisaruus]

133. I Ain't Afraid by Holly Near

http://unionsong.com/u202.html

[vi5]

24. It's disrespectful, but ultimately....

..to me it means nothing. But again, I'm an atheist so the books mean nothing to me.

[Philosoraptor]

31. Some so called reverends are just STARVED for attention

They just want to start some violent shit is all, it's a call for violence against millions of people, it's a fucking nazi dick-move. My diety will kill your diety etc etc bla bla bla

[NC_Nurse]

25. To me it just provides a perfect example of how many religious folks confuse

the symbol, in this case the book, with the Divine. I am not exactly an atheist, probably more of a Diest, but I don't believe anyone has the final say on God.

Therefore, "religion" is bullshit, IMO, since it involves man-made concepts of divinity which are by definition flawed. If you think God lives in a book, you might want to broaden your horizons a bit.

I don't approve of censorship though, so they can knock their stupid selves out with their little book burning. How ironic that they are exercising their rights by censuring someone else's writings. Somehow, I dont think they see it that way.

That pastor sounds like a certifiable nutcase, however, I hope the authorities are keeping an eye on him. He obviously needs LOTS of attention and doesn't care who he hurts to get it.

[CanonRay]

27. I don't like to see any book burned. Period.

Even "The Turner Diaries". But burning religious books is just a needless way to piss people off.

[MattBaggins]

30. I always follow the words of David Hume

"When we run over our libraries, persuaded of these principles, what havoc must we make? If we take in our hand any volume; of divinity or school metaphysics, for instance; let us ask, Does it contain any abstract reasoning concerning quantity or number? No. Does it contain any experimental reasoning concerning matter of fact and existence? No. Commit it then to the flames; for it can contain nothing but sophistry and illusion."

[wookie72]

38. Hume sounds like kind of an asshole, frankly.

[MattBaggins]

47. No he was just correct. And brilliant

“Generally speaking, the errors in religion are dangerous; those in philosophy only ridiculous”

“The Christian religion not only was at first attended with miracles, but even at this day cannot be believed by any reasonable person without one”

“Nothing is more surprising than the easiness with which the many are governed by the few.”

“The rules of morality are not the conclusion of our reason”

“Avarice, the spur of industry”

“It's when we start working together that the real healing takes place, ... It's when we start spilling our sweat, and not our blood.”

“Beauty is no quality in things themselves: it exists merely in the mind which contemplates them”

[wookie72]

77. Burning books you don't believe in is okay?

I don't care if Einstein or Lincoln who said it, that's wrong.

[MattBaggins]

86. Hume was speaking Metaphorically

I wouldn't burn any books ever.

Tongue in cheek not your forte?

[wookie72]

123. So were a lot of the authors of the Bible

and yet many atheists seem to think that every Christian takes every word literally.

[Ohio Joe]

40. Speaking only for myself

I am opposed to any book burning.

[old mark]

41. First, It's all a publicity stunt - who heard of that jerk a month ago?

Second, this is really typical of religions over the centuries - but usually, they banned the books and burned the authors...and anyone else they didn't like.

Religions have been mean, nasty and evil forces over most of their history - it is only over the last 3 centuries or so that they haven't been killing each other as general policy.Don't let them fool you with their relatively recent relatively good behavior.

mark

[SidDithers]

42. I don't think any books should be burned...

to me, religious books are no different than Catcher in the Rye, or Tropic of Cancer, or any of the multitude of other books that have been burned through the ages.

Sid

[Sisaruus]

134. Ditto

Although I have to admit that religious books just aren't in my to-be-read pile.

[Ganja Ninja]

44. Recycling is better for the environment.

I wonder how the religious would react if Atheists acted like them, bombing, killing and burning books.

[Kelvin Mace]

46. I agree with you

As far as the flag (any flag actually)is concerned. When a symbol of liberty becomes more important than actual liberty, the entire concept of liberty is null and void.

The same analogy holds for religious texts and symbols. When these things hold greater importance than human life, your religion is meaningless.

As to who to prey... er I mean "pray" to, I recommend Herman, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvey_%28film%29">Harvey's lesser known brother. He needs the followers since he's about to be kicked out of the pantheon for falling below quota.

[era veteran]

48. Like burning a flag, tacky

I think that preacher looks like a witch, BURN HIM

[Odin2005]

49. The only book this Atheist supports burning is Ayn Rand's.

That that's more because her writing is atrocious, not her insanely stupid political views.

[pipi_k]

50. Lots of mixed feelings on this...

As an Atheist/Agnostic, I don't care, either, what religious books get burned. Or anything else for that matter.

In some respects, isn't burning a more respectable way to dispose of something rather than allowing it to rot?


OTOH, it's the organized burning of books that disturbs me, even if it's only a pissant little church with less than 100 members.

Not particularly helpful, I know...

:shrug:

[uncommon]

54. I think it hurts the psyche of a segment of society and therefore

I am not supportive of it. However, I also think that the fact that it hurts the psyche of a segment of society is foolish since the books are full of man in the sky nonsense.

:shrug:

[Bragi]

58. I don't think there's an "atheist" view on this

I'm an atheist and don't think there is a universal atheist perspective on this.

Maybe the dividing line is whether one is a tolerant atheist, who doesn't care what others believe, or an intolerant atheist, who thinks religion needs to be actively condemned.

I suspect tolerant atheists would see social harm arising from holy book burnings, whereas an intolerant atheist might be encouraged to see pious people burning each others holy books.

[sinkingfeeling]

60. I'm with you. I don't think burning anything is the best protest method around, but I really

don't care what symbol is burnt.

[Throd]

62. Wanna burn your own books? Go for it. Stay away from mine.

[Kablooie]

64. The burning of books is a symbol of denial of knowledge and embrace of ignorance.

[fascisthunter]

66. It's a Disgusting act... I may not believe but I would never burn a bible or Koran to protest

This movement goes beyond just religion... it is an agenda to spread hatred of Islam and muslims in general. No... this should not be tolerated by just ignoring, but it should be countered by those of us who seek harmony.

[Gator_Matt]

68. I'm agnostic, and I don't like any book burning

Regardless of my opinion on a subject, there are many better ways to show one's distaste for something. As ridiculous as the Muslim world's reaction would be to the burning, a person must be pragmatic and realize the consequences.

[LeftishBrit]

69. I'm against book burning - whatever the book.

Burning books is a lot better, of course, than harming or killing people; but in history, often those who have started with the first have ended with the second.

[saltpoint]

132. There you go again, LeftishBrit, taking the long view,

assuming the burden of history and then presenting it with clarity of purpose and common sense.

:thumbsup:

[robdogbucky]

71. This atheist views it with alarm

Not the book burning itself, that is an old trick. It is a symbol to me of how extensive and pervasive the propaganda and hatred has become to the low information set. I am alarmed at how easy it has been, with simply a man of color that happens to have been elected as president, to charge up the racist element, and to point them in any direction desired. This time toward Islam, as an extension of the hatred toward President Obama. And of course toward Dems, minorities, etc., etc. You just know the Daniel Pipes, Liz Cheneys and Bill Kristols of the world are just loving this.

I saw a brief newscast on this, as this is red meat for the Corporate-owned media in this week's propaganda push and they were interviewing those church members. Remember this is a tiny congregation in the south. What I saw was a toothless man in a t-shirt and a tobacco stained cap on, that proudly told the camera in all sincerity, "You know we had 9/11, and well he isn't American and we just can't have that, not in a free America."

So, this told me that he is a cultivated racist, that the propaganda drivers know folks like him already resent the president being half-black, has a Arabic middle name, was born in Hawaii of all places, and it is a solid fact and history to this guy that President Obama is now a symbol of that one act of violence he attributes to the entire Muslim world.

That to me is very scary, how it has been so easy to direct this blind racist hatred toward our president and by extension to the brown people that live on the other side of the globe and that they have been told are responsible for 9/11.

Same old, same old. 9/11 is the best thing that happened for the Republican Pary since the Soviets got the bomb.



Hands off my Social Security!
Hands off Latin America!




Just my dos centavos


robdogbucky

[Moostache]

72. Book burnings (or ANY burnings for that matter) are cliche...

Wanna make a really offensive statement? Start tearing out pages and wiping your ass with them...THAT would be gratuitously offensive!

[Blaukraut]

73. I object to the air pollution caused by book burning, no matter which book n/t

[JHB]

84. I don't have much patience for shit-stirring with no purpose...

...nor with stupid, myopic purpose.

The target of book burning is other people, not what's in the print.

[Matariki]

87. Very good point. They certainly haven't *read* the Koran.

[msanthrope]

85. As an atheist, no book is holy. And no book should be burned. n/t

[earth mom]

89. All it does is ignite the hatred of the religious whack jobs around the globe.

Yes we should all be worried-the wars the U.S. is waging right now are wars based on religion, hatred and greed.

Religion and hatred and greed are what will destroy this planet. :nuke:

[Lil Missy]

90. I'd say if it puts our troops or others in danger, I'm against it!!

[Codeine]

93. They told us that our antiwar protests would do the same thing.

It was bullshit then. It's bullshit now.

We cannot be cowards.

[Lil Missy]

108. apples and oranges

[Codeine]

109. Explain.

Three clichéd words do not constitute even the genesis of an argument.

[Lil Missy]

113. For the sake of argument, I could ask you to explain why you think they are the same in principle.

But I'll answer you.

Protesting a war is not the same as protesting a Religion and All People who practice that religion.

And I reject your premise that a peaceful war protest puts troops or others in danger.

[Codeine]

115. You are wrong.

Protest is protest; it is protected political speech and expression and is inherently protected under our system. Bigotry, stupidity, and general bad manners do not change those facts. The Supreme Court ruled that American Nazis could parade through a largely Jewish village in Illinois in 1977 -- this in in no way different; in fact it's even less of an issue because it's on private property.

Secondly, this puts nobody in danger. Someone else will put people in danger by attacking them. Those folks will be the cause of the violence, not some semi-literate Jesus freak in Floriduh.

[Lil Missy]

120. Go yell FIRE! FIRE! in a crowded theater.

[Codeine]

122. Not the same thing. That presents a clear danger.

Case law and precedence do not support your position. Go read National Socialist Party of America v. Village of Skokie.

[Lucian]

94. As an atheist, I support the burning of all religious books.

Whether it's a Qur'an, the Holy Bible, the Torah, or anything else.

Religion has no place in this world of rationality anymore.

[immoderate]

99. As an atheist, I oppose the burning of any book.

Burning books, or flags, for that matter, only has one purpose -- to piss people off. It can never change anyone's mind. Better we save these books for the "Things People Used To Believe" section of the library.

--imm

[Lucian]

114. Freedom of Speech.

You either support that or don't.

I do.

[immoderate]

130. I do, too. And I am hereby using that freedom to say...

I oppose the burning of any books, because that does nothing but piss people off. Isn't that an example of freedom of speech?

And you have the freedom to say you support burning books, or whatever. See how it works?

The burning of books, and its anti-intellectual implications, is a particularly distasteful display. Do you understand that burning books is intended to limit speech? I hope that occurred to you. There have been many book burnings. Which stand out in your mind as most exemplary of freedom of speech? Mark Twain? Kurt Vonnegut? JK Rowling?

--imm

[and-justice-for-all]

96. They are just books, it is not like they are ALL getting burned...

I find that the xtian burning that book to be an attention whore and wants his 15min; which the M$M is more than happy to give him.

All religious texts to me are meaningless and void of any thing benefical to society, all they do is divide people and encourage ignorance. It is the 21st century and we are still dealing with bronze age desert nonsense.

People are more than able to express themselves as they see fit, and when some one decides to have a Torah burning or bible burning party, none of them follows of the invisible sky wizard better bitch...freedom of expression is a two way street and that xtian has just decided to display his ignorance to the entire country. I am quite sure that the Nazis did such things, so now this book burning clown is no better than a Nazi.

[Ezlivin]

97. I'd rather them be read aloud without any explanation or histrionics

In the clear light of day most religious books sound very irrational.

For instance, Ezekiel 23:20: "There she lusted after her lovers, whose genitals were like those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of horses."

Can you imagine teaching this to a group of youngsters? I believe you could get arrested.

[Vinca]

98. As an atheist, I think what other people believe should be respected

(generally speaking) and symbols of what they believe in are part of that. The current Koran burning brouhaha has more to do with a dipshit wanting to emulate Jim Jones for fun and profit. Mostly profit, I suspect.

[activa8tr]

100. As an atheist, I recognize that people hold irrational beliefs closely to

their hearts, their identity. Therefore, it is only fair to engage in respectful rational dialog with them, not to insult them, not to persecute them, certainly NOT to burn their holy books, their churches, their other symbols.

It's just provocation, and only inflicts hurt and hard feeling, only encourages escalation of violent fantasies and actual violence, too.

There is no point in burning anyone's books, end of thought on this issue.

[stuntcat]

103. PROUD Atheist, Militant Atheist :D and also petrified of End Timesers

I have to live probably 40 more years, watching the Earth-raping/animal-extincting/holy-warring get worse every decade.
Religion is why we have the most wars and why we think we can use up the Earth and why we don't respect the animals.. OR each other! Heck, religion is a way for humans to look down at other humans.
It's nothing but an EVIL disease of the mind from this point on.

LOOK at all the ruckus these assholes are causing, around the world!, for wanting to light up this paper, thread, ink symbol of someone else's religion.

Honestly, the sooner humans burn themselves out the better for the planet, maybe it's a good thing if dumbasses like this get World war 3 started.

I feel like I'm watching a bunch of retarded clowns fight to the death, only they're taking me with them.

[Iggo]

104. It's a symptom of a much deeper problem.

A constitutionally protected symptom.

[Vickers]

105. Doesn't matter to me, although I wouldn't do it. n/t

[Swamp Rat]

106. It depends

Do we get to roast marshmallows? :9

[Common Sense Party]

107. I'll burn a copy of "Origin of the Species" if you want.

[lumberjack_jeff]

110. Close up. Not much btu value in a book. n/t

[Rex]

118. Any book that gets burned for ideological reasons is pointless

and the person doing it is stupid imo. Jones is crazy and stupid and dangerous...what more do we need to know?

Idiots burn books, smart people read them.

[Fuzz]

121. If the government was doing it, I'd be concerned. But it's a fuckwad and his cult so

I don't give a fuck other than the fact that the media is giving this asshole attention. They can make more books, "holy" or not.

Frankly, I wouldn't mind if all the crazy idiots who want to fight in the name of their 'god' were put on an island surrounded by electrified razor wire and let them kill each other so the rest of us can just go on with our lives.

[JoeyT]

126. I don't like the burning of any books, no matter what's in them.

But I recognize that it's protected speech, and wouldn't do a thing to change that. That goes for non-religious books, flags, XBox 360s, bras, draft cards, etc. As long as the people own what they're burning and own where they're burning it, it falls well within the 1st Amendment.

[Touchdown]

127. I generally take a dim view of any book being burned. It's the action of a closed mind.

Decidedly un-atheist like.I think most atheists would agree with me.

[immoderate]

131. I agree.

Burning books is symbolic of curtailing free thought.

--imm

[Solly Mack]

128. I'm not comfortable with book burning.

At all.

I happen to agree with the thinking that it's a short walk from burning books to burning people. A book can contain ideas...a certain way of thinking...and no matter how many books you burn, you still can't kill an idea. Sooner or later the fanatical figure that out and start burning the people that hold to those ideas.

I'm just not comfortable with that. (understatement)

Do "holy" books mean anything to me? No

But burning a book to rid yourself of an idea you don't share or a way of thinking you don't share is - well...just not rational.

[hiskooldropout]

129. How important is it to make your point?

Sure, burning a book may just be the loss of some wood pulp product with writing on it. But if for some nutty reason having to do with how irrationally psycho humans can be, the book burn raises the possibility of some people getting killed, is it that important to you to make a point about burning something that is meaningful to people whose beliefs you probably don't care that much about? Seems to me you're fine with burning them but then you should also be fine with not burning them and use the danger it could create as the deciding factor.

[Warren Stupidity]

135. burn baby burn

if it is your book and you are not a government agency, have at it. It is paper and ink. Any literature of value (of which there is scarcely any in either the koran or the bible) is safe from the fires.

[Froward69]

136. It is BENEATH any American Patriot to burn ANY book.

I do care about burning/banning books. it is censorship and flat out wrong to burn any book intentionally.

[Zhade]

137. It wouldn't make me sad if every religion vanished off the face of the Earth.

But in my world, that happens because humanity grows up and moves on, discarding unsupported belief in mythology because it's unnecessary and indeed quite often counterproductive to living as a decent human being -- not because its ideas have been eradicated through violence or destruction. I mean, religion is laughable enough to do itself in, why degrade yourself by trying to stamp out its ideas?

Reason defeats mysticism every time, and I welcome the debate. Those who burn books are afraid of the ideas within them. There's no need to be afraid of superstition when it's so easily debunked and put away with the rest of humanity's toys.

[Norrin Radd]

140. Bookstores destroy mass market paperbacks and magazines,

daily. They tear off the covers to be sent back, and trash the interiors (rarely are they recycled). Hardcovers or trade paperbacks/quality paperbacks will get trashed eventually, those that don't make it to bargain bins or are purchased in library sales. Widescale tossing of books into dumps occurs daily.

I think making a public display of it as a threatening gesture is what is repugnant.

[mr blur]

141. I don't like burning any books, but -

religious books would be a great place to start.