The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age
    Michael Maiello's picture

    What Is Going On Out There (A Koranamania Post)

    By Michael Maiello on Thu, 09/09/2010 - 3:24pm |

    So I try to take a little break from politics and what happens?  A Radical Christian Cleric decides to throw himself a Koran burning in Gainesville, Florida.  Actually, he announced it a long time ago and when I first saw the headline about it on Gawker I was absolutely livid because I misread it as "Korean Burning."  Burning Koreans is just wrong.

    Burning Korans is wrong to but everybody's got the right to be wrong.  Korans feel no pain.  This would not be news had General Petraeus not addressed the issue, claiming it would put American lives at risk.  Now Interpol says it will raise terror threat levels. The State Department's is begging the guy not to go through with it.  The FBI visited him to tell him it's a bad idea.  Even the President has asked him to reconsider and is considering calling him personally.  What?

    I am also a crazy person, Mr. President.  Call me.  I am at least coherently crazy and I have ideas about the economy that you would enjoy hearing!  Why are you calling the incoherent, Koran-burning preacher-man?

    It's good to be against the Koran burning.  That's the right, thoughtful and sophisticated opinion to hold.  But all of this talk about increased terror levels  and Muslim anger has got to stop.  It's phony and it's a little racist.

    Nobody is going to kill Americans over this.  If anyone attacks American soldiers and civilians and says it was because this small-time cleric in Florida burned the Koran you can bet that person is dangerous, violent and unhinged anyway.  Any excuse would do.

    Let's stop saying the Koran burning will piss off 1.4 billion people.  99.9% of those people are too busy living their lives to care. Muslims are not warlike Star Trek Klingons just waiting for somebody to threaten their honor so they can attack the Enterprise.

    I think we have to realize that this is basically the low brow version of the Danish cartoon debate.  Like all religions and cultures, Islam has a tiny minority of radical adherents who can't be reasoned with.  The rest of them, fortunately, understand that their religion will be subject to the occasional mockery or affront and that the way to deal with that, as always, is to consider the source.

    This preacher dude is a freak.  Having him burn your Holy book should probably be considered an endorsement.  Seriously, are we at the point where we have forgotten that the vast, vast majority of Muslims, to the extent they care about this at all, will either laugh this off or feel sorry for the guy's ignorance?

    Comments

    Thanks for lightening the discussion up. 

     Koranamania. 

    Funny.


    by EmmaZahn on Thu, 09/09/2010 - 3:46pm

    "Burning Koreans is just wrong." Finally, something all sides can agree on.


    by acanuck on Thu, 09/09/2010 - 5:42pm

    North Korea has just announced they disagree with you acanuck.


    by quinn esq on Thu, 09/09/2010 - 7:19pm

    Quornography.

    I'm gonna burn a kitten.

     


    by Rootman on Fri, 09/10/2010 - 12:46pm

    Destor!  It's good to see you here again.  I couldn't agree with you more.  This whole scene is crazy.

    On a Carlin-esque side note, I am continually amazed at how reactionary religious people can be general.  And I'm not talking strictly about Muslims either, but of religious people in general.  Shouldn't the faithful be a little more self-confident?  If I truly believed that I was on the one true path to eternal salvation, I don't think I'd be letting the guy from Cat Ballou ruffle my feathers.  Isn't faith supposed to bring you inner peace and junk?


    by DF on Thu, 09/09/2010 - 4:37pm

    I've missed ya, DF!  I agree entirely.  I'm also really troubled by this notion that practicing Muslims are somehow less capable of controlling themselves. This is a religion that has produced all manner of poetry, philosophy, science and mathematics and yet we talk about its followers as if they're not only irrational but are so downright different than us westerners that you risk their violent reaction if you don't conform to their cultural norms.  Meanwhile the vast majority of them are, just like us, trying to make a living in a world of politics, faith, philosophy and culture. As for the few who would inflict violence outside of the warzones that we created -- they're sociopaths, just like the few Americans out there who commit violent acts against others.


    by Michael Maiello on Thu, 09/09/2010 - 4:44pm

    Turns out it was all a big misunderstanding. He's a fundementalist vegan, they're grilling QUORN.

    Just tweeted by Julian Sanchez

     


    by EmmaZahn on Thu, 09/09/2010 - 4:43pm

    lol


    by Michael Maiello on Thu, 09/09/2010 - 4:45pm

    A warm welcome to you, Destor. Great post. It's sad to me that I'm receiving AP alerts about the decision of some pastor over whether to burn the Koran.


    by Michael Wolraich on Thu, 09/09/2010 - 6:07pm

    good god what a picture.  you are outrageous. 

     

    great post.  and you're in good company.  the pope has come out against these shenanigans.  and when someone with costumes as great as his comes out against something, you know it's important.  they're almost as good as your duds here.  almost but not quite. 


    by anna am on Thu, 09/09/2010 - 7:21pm

    $20 says Destor kicks the Pope's Inquisitorial ass in a throwdown.


    by quinn esq on Thu, 09/09/2010 - 7:35pm

    well i said he has a better costume.


    by anna am on Thu, 09/09/2010 - 7:50pm

    I think the attention bring paid to this is nut, yes. 

    But do I think 99.9% of Muslims will ignore this, or otherwise take it in stride? Ummmmm, no. No chance. We might like to believe that 99.9% of PEOPLE are really balanced and calm and such, but I feel reasonably safe in saying, "there is no evidence of that. At all. In human history." In fact, I'd say there's usually anywhere from 40%-60% of the population who're ready to jump on-board with whatever asinine, other-hating, scapegoating piece of shit idea the bosses/imams/Republicans/royalists/patriots/ come up with.

    This should NOT be read as an attack on Muslims in particular, it isn't. I have yet to see Christianity score much higher than about 40% on this front either. At various stages of my life, I myself have been quite ready and willing to get whooped up about whatever piece of stupidity was being whooped up.

    And in my limited - but fairly educational - direct experience with Muslims, in 1979/80, I found that in fact, significant numbers were entirely ready to join in with mob-type acts of violence, to be committed on young stupid and naive types like myself (ok, in fact, on myself), largely because the imams were whooped up about international events, and found some localized insult or outrage or pretext (dancing) that offended the faith.

    Lots of other people have found the same thing. Salman Rushdie. That van Gogh dude. And many many people who ended up on the wrong side of the discussion in numerous countries.

    Maybe they weren't Klingons. But I've had family and friends who would happily join the Armed Forces to "stop the Muslims" or Commies or whatever... just as I had personal friends and roommate Muslims who were very clear they would join in acts of violence against those they felt had insulted their land, people and faith.

    Much shorter. I believe people such as Destor, DF, and Genghis are in fairly short supply. The world is not 99.9% made up people of reason, or even much tolerance, much less patience.


    by quinn esq on Thu, 09/09/2010 - 7:32pm