I saw this post on Europe@Lemmy.World: https://lemmy.world/post/2387220

I got me in a philosophical mood.

Is it okay to burn a Koran?

On one hand, a Koran, a Bible or anything else “sacred” literature is paper and ink. And burning them is just disposing of said book. Children are taught at young age not to get provocated by provocators. Adults should be able to live with this principle.

On the other hand, burning is not the main reason people get upset when sacred literature is burnt. The whole burning ordeal is (usually) a symbol for hate. Hate should not be tolerated, and therefore it is wrong to burn a sacred books. It is imporant to make hateful actions illegal to prevent hate from spreading. If hate is allowed, then we are possibly facing hate crimes and violent actions towards minorities.

Burning a sacred book is not always about hate. It can also be a symbolical protest. In sweden, a few weeks ago, Iraqi man burned a Koran. According to news I read at the time of said event, the man justified his actions as a protest against Iraqi government. He was kept prisoner in his homecountry and tortured during his imprisonment.

Iraq is a theocracy. Amputations and even death sentence are used as forms of punishment. People are not equal and theistic law is above other laws. The country does not follow UN’s declaration of human rights. These human rights are recognized all over the globe and should be held as standards for all.

If someone burns a sacred book to protest torture, amputations or death sentences, I think it is not morally wrong, but quite the contrary. Burning a book is a victimless crime. Forementioned actions of Iraqi government however are not.

Thoughts from an European atheist.

Im interested to hear your thoughts on this matter and hoping to understand this question from different perspectives.

  • Selmafudd@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    1 year ago

    Even if for arguments sake we ignore the bigotry of this comment. Would we actually have a reduction in terrorism? Or would the people intent on causing terror do so under a different principle?

      • Selmafudd@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        1 year ago

        Did you even read the article you linked me?

        But we must avoid to identify this terrorism with Islam. It would be as incorrect as to identify the terrorism of E.T.A, fortunately defeated in Spain, with the whole Basque people as “Basque terrorism”. Quite on the contrary, this terrorism only refers to the extremism of few people, seeking false justifications for their folly in one of the great religions of the world.

        • izzent@lemmy.worldEnglish
          0·
          1 year ago

          So your take is that since not all terrorists are islamic, it’s bigotry to be against islamic terrorism? Do you even hear yourself?

          Being against islamic terrorism is not opposed to being against all terrorism, it’s an overlap. The fact that I mentioned islamic terrorism on a post about islamic terrorism does not make me a bigot. In fact, you bringing that up makes me think you’re projecting hard.

          • Selmafudd@lemmy.worldEnglish
            1·
            1 year ago

            Brah your first comment was about removing one specific holy text and that doing so would single handedly reduce terrorism… You brought up terrorism, you associated the Koran with terrorism, OP never mentioned it once.

            I can’t believe you find an article with a juicy headline that fits your narrative, don’t read it yourself and see it’s actually a bait and switch and ends being the opposite of what you’re trying to say, then you downvoted me for quoting part of it back… it’s like I never left Reddit.