September 4, 2010
About 3,000 Muslims marched Saturday through Indonesia’s capital to the U.S. Embassy to protest plans by a Florida church to burn the Quran on Sept. 11.
Protesters from the hard-line Islamic group Hizb ut-Tahrir marched with banners and placards denouncing the burning set for Wednesday. Similar rallies were held in five other cities across Indonesia.
The Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Fla., said it will burn the Islamic holy book to mark the ninth anniversary of the 2001 terror attacks. Local officials have denied a permit for a bonfire on the church’s grounds. But the center — which made headlines last year by distributing T-shirts that said “Islam is of the Devil” — insists it will go ahead with the plan.
Religious leaders in Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim nation, have appealed to U.S authorities to stop the event.
With reporting from Aubrey Belford. Material from The Associated Press was used in this report.
How soon we forget. It was the Arabian interest in Aristotle that enlighted the West who, in the Dark Ages, had forgotten their classical heritage. Edward Fitgerald gave most of us in the West our first taste of “The Rubiat (SIC)” of Omar Khayyam (SIC) as well as translations of Sufi mysticism. We were raised on “The Thousand and One Nights” (The Arabian Nights tales of Ali Baba, etc.
Despite all we owe to the Arabs, some folks still believe that Islam caused 911. Well, these folks have stopped lynching blacks. Now they feel justified in terrifying American Muslims, some of whom died in the Towers, many of whom have served in our military. This sort of hatred and bigotry is America at its worst and may be the only America people in Arabian countries are allowed to see.
Wow, the irony! Muslim Indonesia protesting… They must have forgotten their atrocities in catholic East Timor where they did more than burn a few books. That aside, the idiots in Florida continue to alienate all who look to a religion for peace. If anything is dominate in religion today, it is the extremism of hatred borne of fear.
Some “Christians” have conflated the OT god with Jesus. This god carries the shadow of fear, distrust, and hate. The god of goodness and light is overshadowed by the Senex, in other words. In the Islamic world, though, it’s just Allah without a trinitarian family and the mother is enshrined as a pure projection to be protected at all costs. But where there is any projection, there is also a shadow and that’s when we see mothers and children blown up burning in the streets. Unconsciousness on such a group level can really suck.
The “Christians” as you put are not Christians. Christians are a people that should accept differences , tolerate that which they do not understand or believe, to love those around them as family , to build not destroy, to give not take. I see few true Christians. Jesus is probably sucking down a bottle of wine declaring all “Christians” as blasphemers… His Daddy God, is probably saying “See I told you so”
This event would seem to be a spin-off of the Mosque at ground zero controversy. But I must admit, although I could drive to this church in a few hours, I would not have known they were planning to burn the Quran if it were not for the Indonesians. That’s kind of a circuitous route for this information to be traveling to me. If a bunch of people in Indonesia ready to jump into the streets every time people in Florida do something stupid, we’re in big trouble.
Notice that I put “Christians” in quotation marks. Those book burners are very confused people. It’s that old Senex archetype rearing its ugly head and superimposing itself on Jesus. Jesus, of course, wouldn’t even recognize himself like that.
Felix, that is how this small world works now thanks to the abilty to communicate via the net and TV. Your business is not your own, it now belongs to the world.
jonquil I did notice how you put it but, I include those and many others. .As felix noted those that have issues about the mosque, there are many so called Christians that believe every other religion is wrong even fellow “Christians” that belong to differing sects. Its not just Christians either it does include, other religions and even a massive amount of “Atheists”. We all speak of fellowship, brotherly love, peace, but what does anyone really feel in their hearts? Difference is feared , hated and totally rejected by most. Differnce is the mother of bigotry and hate, when it should be the mother of love and tolerance. Our own siblings are always different from us yet we love them right? Should that not be the primal thought and primary lesson in our hearts and souls?
The question of who the real Christians are is unsettled. There are a range of Christian beliefs as there are a range of Muslim ones. Which version one thinks is the true Christian or Muslim is determined by one’s perspective. For, me it varies depending which side of the bed I get up in the morning. I’ve decided to stop worrying and embrace my perplexity.
The Religion of Perplexity by Felix. I like it.
I see that the religious texts are all to blame, they all have the most ambigous writings that leave much up to interpretation.
I suggest a slight modification to the first amendment:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of unambiguous religion, or prohibiting the consistent exercise thereof. That should greatly clean up a vastly muddy situation.
I think the thing to note here is that God doesn’t care about is man’s religious politicizations. God is more interested where ALL men’s hearts and minds lay. People acting from their own estimation of what is being violated will more than likely not be want God expects from us.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of our religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. All other religions are banned from our shores. We are a Christian nation. Hallelujah!
Local religious leaders in Gainesville are reportedly joining the growing international chorus condemning a small Gainesville church’s plan to burn copies of the Quran on Saturday to commemorate the ninth anniversary of 9/11.
Felix, that is how this small world works now thanks to the abilty to communicate via the net and TV. Your business is not your own, it now belongs to the world.
The Religion of Perplexity by Felix. I like it.