Sooner or later someone who wants to stir the pot will burn a Koran and hoist it up on Youtube, or some like place, and will keep doing it till a reaction is realized.

Bound to happen, people are not going to allow intransigent bullies to rule, they have got away with it so far, but you sense a groundswell of people just aching to tweak their noses.

If they start burning a Koran every day, by the thousand in every non muslim country, then that would be interesting to see what the reaction to that is.

Would they then threaten everyone, more than they do now?

What happens when the threats no longer work?

Will islam then have to confront itself that you actually cannot bully the whole world? Maybe that would be good.

People tweak the noses of western religions people all the time, e.g. The Life of Brian.

Generally though, aside from the odd fanatic, western religions just deal with these things and tend to outlive them, more because there is a tolerance that appears to be missing in islam .. wasn't there a reaction to The Da Vinci code by some over sensitive Christians?

No one died though or threatened death though, Dan Brown and the Monty Python crew do not live with bodyguards or in fear.

Rpg wrote:

"Sooner or later someone who wants to stir the pot will burn a Koran and hoist it up on Youtube, or some like place, and will keep doing it till a reaction is realized."

You got me thinking rpg.

Guess what?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DFZbr5bWrI&skipcontrinter=1

It includes an English translation so it may not be a "real" koran. Perhaps in this case it's the thought that counts. The clip has had over 124,000 hits.

The clip web page also provides the following link:

http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/1798.htm

"In the end people will believe, or not believe, what they choose."

Stephen, although it pains me to admit it, I agree with your statement. Unfortunately it means that humans will drown in their own stupidity or, more correctly, perish in a nuclear war or an evironmental catastrophe.

I have spent a lot of my life trying to point out that we humans are on a course to extinction. I might as well have saved myself lots of stress and taken up knitting.

Humans have such potential too. It was wasted on them!

stevenlmeyer, so that's been on Youtube for 3 years, and so far that's the first I've heard of it - so really the reaction come only when the media draw attention to it.

hmmm, maybe the radical religious types are targeting the wrong people and if they target the media, not to report anything, then will that make everything all right?

I just think some people are going to end up wound too tight about the whole muslim bully boy act and respond - the bullying act has worked so far, but only because most westerners are tolerant and expect some tolerance in return, all we seem to get is yet more intolerance and increased bullying.

It seems to me that that if people of faith want to be upset by insults to their holy book's they should be most offended by those who claim to follow those books yet bring the book and their faiths into disrepute by the way they live.

If Allah existed and does not endorse the barbaric acts committed by some muslims which the author and other shave referred to a far greater offense would be given by those who've carried out those actions in the name of Allah then by a hick preacher from another faith wanting to burn printed (eg man made) copies of a book which can easily be replaced by just printing more.

How about some scene's of community outrage in predominately muslim lands against those who acting in the name of Allah commit atrocities which bring the faith into disrepute.

The same goes for christians who consider the abuse of children by christian's a beat up but who get all bothered by gay's wanting to marry.

R0bert

Dear Steven,

On this one point we agree - that people
will believe what they want to believe.
However, when their individual actions
have the capacity to cause harm to others
(for whatever "silly" reason as you point
out), that's when authorities have the right
to step in and curtail those actions for the
"greater good."

This is a public Forum Steven, and we don't
have to agree - I'm sure that you realize
that. It also doesn't make your opinion (or
mine)the "right" or more valid one. Both, are
merely opinions being expressed.