Last fall, Ayaan Hirsi Ali was a guest on "Real Time with Bill Maher." She was promoting her memoir,
Infidel, and I found her to be an eloquent and intelligent speaker -- especially considering that English is one of her six languages. This evening, I looked at the
Amazon.com listing for
Infidel to read some reviews. As I scrolled through the comments, one of the subject headings for a customer discussion caught my eye: "Please Sign Today: Ban the Koran." The poster links to
an online petition to, well, ban the Qur'an. The message?
To: To All Humanity
The Koran (or Qur'an) is a book which inspires and incites hatred and violence against non-Muslims. The book should be banned in non-Muslim countries.
Sincerely,
The Undersigned
And now, a few of the comments from the 1,603 signatures. (Sorry about the formatting -- I just copy/pasted from the petition.)
| 1588. | Jill Michelle Miller | Islam is sickening death cult. I hate Islam and think it should be erradicated... it is worse than it's vile cousin, Nazism. Islam and it's sick followers are ruining everything good in this world. The world would be a much better place without it. Islam and it's followers are the true source of all the most horrible things happening on every continent right now. |
| 1494. | yeoh tom | Unless Koran is not banned there will be hatred, division in socieity, terrorism, child molestation and disaster. This is an evil book that billions are following, Koran should be banned in non muslim countries, immigration should be banned for muslims to non muslims counties, |
| 1399. | Monica K | I wanted to put my last name but I don't want some sick fanatic to call all the people in the phone book with my last name with death threats. I am disgusted by all Muslims that preach this violent garbage and live by this evil book. Shame on all Muslims for not discarding this sickass "religion". |
| 1358. | Blaine Grant | I don't want islam in America at all |
| 1157. | No mo man ! | Long over due for Islam to get a good kick in the teeth and for it to perish !! |
| 1117. | fred | Glad to see someone making sense. How about a ban on Muslims too? |
| 1054. | Peter Baran | Islam, the biggest danger in this century. |
| 1002. | Hadi Aman | Allah sucks cock |
| 947. | Andrew Snader | Any American who converts to Islam should be stripped of his American citizenship. |
| 694. | Larry Mitchell | Islam is dedicated to the destruction of America, the West in general, and NO MUSLIM should be allowed to hold public offices--especially as President of the U.S.! |
| 413. | T Reid | it's good toilet paper |
| 238. | bob | the quran sucks and all muslims suck cock |
| 57. | Don Brookover | Deport to Iran those who violate the ban. |
| 1. | T Schell | High time people read the book and realized that it is a terrorist manual. |
Thankfully, there are a handful of thoughtful comments among the hate. Here's one such comment.
| 1143. | Max Kirkman | I bet half of you haven't even read the Qu' ran. Does the Bible not say to judge not your brothers. Doesn't Jesus love all, not just Christians. I want you to know that muslims do belive in Jesus as a Prophet. So to say that Muslims worship the devil is the same as saying you, worship the devil. Because we recognize the same prophets as you. Insha Allah you will see the truth. You should all take the time to actually read the Qu'ran, and not base your principles on the ideas of others. Form your own opinions, so you do not lose your minds to the modern day babylon, which is the west. God loves us all equally. May allah's blessing be upon you all, for you have all been led astray. |
| 1146. | james david mark | the koran is a pile of crap. max is mad and just another murdering muslim posting under a civilised name as he's too embarrassed to use his paedophile following real name (which is probably mohammed because muslims don't have a creative brain cell in their empty indoctrinated heads). |
2 comments:
are these postings real? people are crazy...
I believe that the original petitioner is bringing up two issues.
The first issue is that the Koran inspires and incites hatred and violence against non-Muslims. The second issue is banning the book in non-Muslim countries.
I don't think that there is anything "crazy" or even incredibly off about the first issue. It is true that the Koran incites hatred and violence against non-Muslims. It also promotes violence and hatred towards Muslims (just take the way that Muslim women are treated in some areas). It is hard to argue that the Koran doesn't inspire and incite hatred and violence. Many religious books, as well as many books of other stripes, do the same thing. Not all Muslims believe the passages about struggle (jihad) refers to a war against non-believers. And not all Muslims believe the passages about peace refer to peace with all people.
In a society that often distorts issues and purposefully misses the point, it is not surprising to see that people, under the shield of anonymous comment, would say such passionate things. The people who comment are just as uninformed about the people they are commenting about, and they don't often have the time to become informed. I think that it should be a goal of those with a calmer mind not to address either side as crazy or even stupid.
The second issue, that of banning the book in non-Muslim countries is a misguided argument. What "The Undersigned" are trying to do is ban something they feel creates an evil in the world. However, banning that evil in places where evil doesn't have a foothold only serves to anger this "evil" as well as promote our own ignorance. Banning a Muslim book in a non-Muslim country is about the same as banning hamburgers in India. Yes, some people eat them, but for the most part it's a regulation that has no merit.
Feel free to share your thoughts. Feedback is always appreciated.
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