Human Rights First Human Rights First

10 Reasons NOT to Burn a Koran–and How to Fight Bigotry

9-8-2010

Get your free bookmark

Opposition is mounting to the “Burn a Koran Day” scheduled for September 11th in Florida. General David Petraeus said it could harm our troops, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called it unrepresentative of Americans. Attorney General Eric Holder called it “idiotic and dangerous,” and the Vatican has called the planned demonstration “outrageous and grave.”

But the event planners, Terry Jones and the Dove World Outreach Center, are moving forward in spite of the outcry. In fact, they posted five MORE reasons to burn a Koran on their blog just yesterday.

Human Rights First has compiled our own list–we asked our supporters to submit reasons NOT to burn a Koran. We received over 5,000 responses. Below is the Top 10 list:

Ten Reasons NOT to Burn a Koran

  1. Book burning! Do I really need to say why?
  2. By not burning a Koran I’m not burning a bridge to communication.
  3. Burning the Koran because of extremist Taliban and Al-Qaeda terrorists makes no more sense than burning the Bible because of the Ku Klux Klan or Nazis.
  4. Hatred breeds more hatred and that is not going to solve any of our problems.
  5. That type of hate-filled religious intolerance has no place anywhere in the world, and is especially abhorrent in a country where religious freedom is one of the pillars of its foundation.
  6. It’s a sacred book to millions of people. We should respect all people’s beliefs.
  7. It will only inflame. I’d like people to understand each other.
  8. I may not believe in the words of the Koran but I would never burn one out of respect for my fellow humans who do.
  9. Support our troops!
  10. We must learn to coexist. We cannot continue to live in fear and suspicion.

You can make a stand with us. Show the fearmongers and the world that Americans don’t stand for bigotry by ordering your free “Americans Don’t Burn Books” bookmark (you just need to cover shipping and handling).

Help us urge other leaders–including former President George W. Bush–to speak out against bigotry. He and members of his administration spoke out for tolerance and freedom of religion during his presidency. George W. Bush could make a difference by speaking out now.

We need everyone to speak out—Democrats, Republicans, and Independents. Join our efforts–get your bookmark and carry it proudly!


Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Blog | 4 Comments »

  • Stranger

    >I do agree with the points…but how is the world to deal with Islam then? I live in a Muslim country…born and raised as a Muslim (not by choice)..I know the teachings of Islam…have been taught since childhood to hate all non-believers,
    when Muslims say they want peace…what they really mean is they want Islam to rule the world with the sick shariah…only then is thieir notion of peace achieved..
    non-muslims can live as second class citizens, subject to shariah(worse than prison)
    Islamists are using liberty and democracy as a tool to infiltrate ….grow in numbers, spread everywhere with the hope of someday ruling the world………they demand for rights that they themselves do not believe in nor value..ie: freedom of religion, freedom of expression

    ..also Islam promotes warfare, child abuse, slavery, gender apartheid….and death sentece to anyone who denounces Islam or who critisizes it….but its all ok because 1.4 billion people follow it…such a shame

    like I said I do not like the idea of burning books…but untill someone comes up with a better way to deal with Islam …..am not complaining

  • RAM

    >Another reason: because Islam is truly a beautiful religion.

  • Azzat

    >Koran has many stories, about Abraham and Ishmael, about Mouses and how he defeated the pharaoh of Egypt, the virgin Marry, Jesus, Noah and his Ark, Joseph and many many stories all of which are shared across the three religions, Christianity, Judaism and Islam.

  • You-can’t-I-can

    >"Stranger" I am afraid you were raised by the wrong people. You have not looked truly into it and I bet, you have no true understanding of Islam. What promotion of warfare, child abuse, slavery, gender apartheid are you talking about? Who are these cruel people that raised you with these lies (not that they don't exist, but those extremest aren't Islam, and TERRORISM doesn't belong to any religion.) What country were you in? I am sorry because that must have been terrifying, however, you are judging everyone else because of a few around you. Islam was the first in the Arab world to stop the killing of daughters, and Islam was the first movement to freeing slaves. You don't need to deal with Islam, you need to deal with your inner insecurities and fears. I don't know what kind of childhood you had, but you should grow out of it. No offense, but your accusations are baseless and full of anger.

    http://www.facebook.com/pages/If-They-Can-Burn-It-We-Can-Read-It/106141522781077