A penny candle, you know

The pastor from Florida burnt the Koran, and the Muslim-world exploded in riots and revolts.

It reminds me of this quote, from Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev:

"A penny candle, you know, was enough to burn the whole city of Moscow."

Many people are killed, in attacks on UN officials in Afghanistan, UN officials who were there to help them rebuild the country.

Was it worth it Mr.Pastor? Probably not. Burning a book is a very stupid act. You should rather read it. Maybe you will learn something.

But there's more to it. The Muslims must learn that the right to commit blasphemy is an important part of the freedom of speech. What's sacred to you is nonsense to me. The Christians have learnt to accept this (not without pain), and the Muslims need to learn it as well.

I respect anyone's right to choose their religion, but I don't respect their Gods. None of them. Actually, I have read quite alot in the scriptures, The Bible, The Koran, The Book of Mormon.

The more I read, the less I believe >:)

(I will not burn my copy. The picture above is from the bookshelf in my office. Can you see the Koran, between math and physics books? And next to it is Pretty is as Pretty Dies by Elizabeth Spann Craig)

Burning the Koran

I read in the news about a minister who wants to burn the Koran. I think that's a very stupid and childish thing to do. There are Muslims around the world who burn stuff, like American and Israeli flags, Salman Rushdie's book and sometimes the Bible.

There are many things in Islamic theory and practice that should be, and need to be debated and criticized; womens rights, sharia laws, violent attacks as response to critique. But burning the Koran means that we step down to the same low level of primitive outrageous action. Burning books is just a stupid thing to do.

I bought the Koran some time ago (and wrote a blogpost about it). I'm not gonna burn my copy. I rather read it. How about you?