Reply #18: I think that's a good point [View All]

[Ratty]

And it would have been a fine thing for the president to point out. Personally, I take a bit stronger view. I'm sure this Terry Jones fellow is a reprehensible human being and stands for everything I despise. And as somebody who has worked in libraries all my life I take a dim view of all book burning. The act carries with it an unfortunate history and usually expresses the view that some knowledge should be forbidden, which I do not agree with. Yet I have enthusiastically supported the Draw Mohammad Day protest because nobody ought to think they have some right not to be offended and that their right trumps my right of artistic, religious, and political expression. And isn't this the same thing? They plan to desecrate something most Muslims consider sacred to make a point. I may not agree with that point - which is, I presume, Islam is evil and Christianity is superior - but I can't make myself get worked up about the way they're going about it.

I do see a bit of a double standard here. As much as I hate to parrot RW talking points it's true that you wouldn't see the same outcry over, say, some gay rights group "desecrating" a church by staging a kiss-in or even burning the Bible or the Book of Mormon to protest some institutions' histories of active repression and intolerance.