My neighbor burned a Bible in his back yard yesterday

[Keith Bee]

He's the product of two Christian parents, not devout, but I don't think he's an atheist, either.

I was one of seven other people who attendesd the "event."

There was no media coverage whatsoever, despite the fact that one person (not the guy himself) apparently informed the local CBS affiliate ahead of the burning.

[liberal N proud]

1. WHY?

Sounds sensless

[ixion]

2. As is burning any symbol

It is senseless, pointless and ultimately meaningless.

[Bragi]

3. CBS and the MSM also shut out Jones, so don't feel bad

CBS and the other major MSM media refused to cover Jones' Koran burning in March, so at least they're consistent.

[aquart]

4. Well, now those killings have certainly been avenged.

Since when does it help to copy the dumbest kid on the block?

[Uben]

5. How many people died?

It's not about burning a book. HEck, there's probably billions of books that NEED to be burned. We need to take all the bibles and korans in the world and stack them around the nuclear reactors in Japan. At least that way they would actually be doing some good! Nothing good has ever come out of any religion, only death and persecution. Religion is a boon on society. It's a bunch of people trying to make money by controlling large blocks of people and imposing their will on them. Religion is so "last millenia". The only god most people know is on the face of currencies.

You can't please everyone, so ya gotta please yourself!

[mwb970]

7. I agree 100%.

But, you probably don't mean that religion is a "boon on society". A "boon" is defined as "something to be thankful for; blessing; benefit", which is not how I would describe religion!

[Uben]

10. No, I meant it is a pox on society..sorry

nt

[mwb970]

11. That's it!

I tried to think of a word to substitute but came up dry. "Pox" is it.

[Buzz Clik]

6. Some sort of homage to fascism?

Getting a head start on Fahrenheit 451?

I'm not a fan of burning books.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

17. I can think of two good and two bad reasons to burn a book.

1) To prevent other people reading it. This is by far the most common reason for bookburnings, and by far the worst. Anyone trying to gather all the copies of a book and burn them, rather than just one, probably comes under this heading.

2) As a symbolic comment on the content of a book. This is another bad reason, although nowhere near as bad as 1) - the right way to express your disapproval of the content of a book is to read and rebut it. I think this was probably Terry Jones' motivation

3) Because someone is trying to take away your right to do so. This is a good reason to burn a book. It seldom arrises, but it looks like there's a risk it may do so in the future with regards to the Koran.

4) Because you are freezing to death. This is a good reason to burn a book.

[seabeyond]

8. gives me the creeps when people burn any book. nothing admirable. nt

[zabet]

13. +1

It is a form of censorship in my opinion....burning a book so no one will read it. It may not be the only copy in the world but it may be the one copy available to someone that desires to read it. I have no right to tell others, either by words or by actions, what they should or should not read.

[comtec]

26. Incorrect, only the government can Censor, when it's one person it's a protest

or in this case, I imagine a symbolic gesture of separating himself from said religion.

there are plenty of reasons for destroying a book in this fashion.

and it is JUST a book.

words on a page, so much ink and wood pulp.

it burns, causing a release of heat, CO2, and other molecules.

[Zephie]

14. The intention of hurting or making a point to another by destroying something they value

It just doesn't make sense to me. :shrug:

[demmiblue]

9. Sure. n/t

[cali]

12. uh, people burn bibles all the time. check out youtube

[Erose999]

22. So this one time when I was at a hotel and out of rolling papers... I used the blank pages from the

back of the Gideon's Bible. Its the same kind of paper, really. I'm probably going to hell for that aren't I?

[malaise]

15. Did he desecrate any Christian bodies

after shooting them for no reason?

[11 Bravo]

16. How very edgy.

[GTurck]

18. They knew...

that most people would shrug. In other words it wasn't violent or would lead to violence so it wasn't newsworthy or photogenic. We like to think that because we tolerate all religions that we are not bothered by those who provoke the religions in other countries but that cannot be true. Tolerance must meet empathy and understand that we are not all at the same point in this.
Truth be told if a cathedral or synagogue were desecrated by fundamentalists or islamists the story would be huge and the repercussions likely to be as violent. If you think about it the Afghani's were reacting just the way the Maccabees did when the Jerusalem Temple was desecrated.

[Javaman]

19. Meh, he has to have the moronic rhetoric down to go along with the burning...

otherwise it's just a backyard BBQ without the meat.

It's all about followers and showmanship. A handful of people witnessing such an event is really nothing. Did he video tape it and put it on Youtube along with some crazy rant?

Then go on to threaten people?

That's how ridiculous stunts are done this day in age.

[RZM]

20. I'm glad your neighbor has the right to do this

That said, I'm guessing he's a stupid jackass . . .

[JoePhilly]

21. Sounds like a real Mensa Meeting. nt

[sufrommich]

23. What a perfectly ridiculous thing to do. nt

[L. Coyote]

24. This needs to be on Youtube so Al Jazeeria can link it.

Let the Arab world see that Americans are indiscriminately crazy :rofl:

[Nye Bevan]

25. What kind of food is served at a neighborhood Bible burning?

And are you expected to bring a gift? A bottle of wine? Just in case one of my neighbors ever decides to have one.