Thursday, September 9, 2010

National Read A Koran Day

So, there's a guy in Florida who is getting a lot of press for a little Koran burning event that he is planning.

As a person who believes in the freedom of speech and expression, I think he should be able to do this without any fear of retribution.

But as a person who believes in the freedom of religious expression, and a freedom from fear of persecution for private, benign beliefs, I think this guy (and the ridiculous amount of press he has received) needs to be countered. This guy in Florida doesn't speak for America. This guy in Florida doesn't speak for Florida.

Because of this, I would like to invite you all to participate in this event. If you have a Koran, on October 2nd, read it. If you don't have a Koran, buy one (or borrow one) and read it on October 2nd. Read it skeptically. Read it searching for truth. Read it anyway you want to. Just read it. And invite as many friends as you can to participate in this event.

Personally, I am an atheist. I have a problem with religion in general. But, I also firmly believe that if there is a book out there that someone or some group wants to burn, then I should be reading that book.

So, please join me. This is the United States Of America. We don't burn books here. We read them.

Please show support for this event by joining us on Facebook. Click here.

5 comments:

  1. Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.

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  2. These pimps of September 11th and Islamic racism are disgusting. The bombers who attacked the Trade Center were no more Muslim than that preacher in Florida is a Christian. All of 'em are nothing but monkeys out for their own self-aggrandizement (sp?) and fame. I include all elements of the media in that category since that Florida chimp (I mean chump) has about 50 people in his congregation,...so why does he even get to be in TV? Oh yeah, media pimps love money!!

    To all you right-wingers who hate the mosque in New York, let me ask you something. Why did the terrorists attack New York City (where's there's a very ethnically mixed population living and working together--including Muslims) as opposed to heavily Christian "Red States" like Texas or Mississippi or Nebraska? The reason, 'cause they hate the fact that we live together here in NYC. The Taliban relate to people in Texas and Mississippi--they're (2) of a kind. Like that simian preacher-thing down in Florida. He'd go over well in Afghanistan.

    "The Muslims" are 1.2 billion people. I find it hard to believe that 1.2 billion people all agree on anything. Or that they have one mindset. The idea that the NYC mosque needs to be moved (its already planned to be 2 blocks from the site) implies that Muslims did something wrong. They didn't. Terrorist animals performed a criminal attack. End of story.

    Speaking of the tie between Republicans and Muslims--have you heard that the Iranians were going to stone a woman for having an adulterous affair? Sounds very Republican to me. Republicans believe a woman should be put to death if she has an abortion. Its true. If you believe a fetus is a full-fledged person (as is in the Republican platform); and if you believe in the death penalty for murderers (which is in the Republican platform); then you have to support the death penalty for women who have abortions. How far is that position from public stoning of women who have an affair?

    One last question to all you right-wingers. You really love New York's Chuck Schumer that much? You really love Charlie Rangel that much? You really like Mike Bloomberg that much? How 'bout all those Wall Street fat cats and traders who bankrupted the banks and the world's economy? You like them? Admit it--you hate New York City and everything it stands for! You're unhappy hypocrites looking to point fingers for your own failures.

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  3. Lodo and Elegant both spoke to some important truths there.

    Regarding this whole 'let's burn the koran thing', you'd think more authoritarian personalities would catch on by now that they're not going about these things the right way. Burning books only makes assholes like me more curious about them.

    Now, if fundamentalist Christians really want to suck some of the air out of Islam, they could take a page from the gnu atheist playbook and actually READ the book, and then apply the weapon of reason and skepticism to it.

    Of course, that would be a very dangerous approach for them to take.

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