Disturbing.

[Joe Wordsworth]

I saw a chap burning a Bible, today. I confess it was one of the more disturbing things I've ever seen, personally. Such people...

 

[doormouse]

I'm not religious, but still respect other people's beliefs.

I'd find it disturbing too.

 

[Clare Quilty]

Not I, said the atheist.

 

[pop_54]

Sorry Joe... but someone should burn them all... whether they be Christian... Islamic... Jewish... Alien or whatever.

Far too much death and destruction over the years in the name of bloody religion.

 

[Clare Quilty]

Sorry Joe... but someone should burn them all... whether they be Christian... Islamic... Jewish... Alien or whatever.

Far too much death and destruction over the years in the name of bloody religion.

I was going to say something to this effect. However, in a rare instance of self-control, I held back.

 

[pop_54]

I was going to say something to this effect. However, in a rare instance of self-control, I held back.

I always have problem holding back CQ... always cum to quick

 

[boxofrocks]

OMG OMG OMG OMG My first story is listed WoooohOooooooooooooooo!!!!

http://www.literotica.com/stories/showstory.php?id=157048

 

[Guest]

I always have problem holding back CQ... always cum to quick

Oh, somehow I doubt that!

 

[rgraham666]

Sorry, not religious, but there's this really important thing called 'freedom of speech'.

It wouldn't matter to me is it's the Bible, the Q'uran, Atlas Shrugged, Das Kapital, or Mein Kampf.

You don't burn books, any books in my presence.

I would be most displeased (said in my best Klingon manner).

 

[pop_54]

Sorry, not religious, but there's this really important thing called 'freedom of speech'.

It wouldn't matter to me is it's the Bible, the Q'uran, Atlas Shrugged, Das Kapital, or Mein Kampf.

You don't burn books, any books in my presence.

I would be most displeased (said in my best Klingon manner).

Didn't know you could speak Klingon rg

 

[cookiejar]

It disturbs me too, maybe because my brother is thinking of going into the ministry. I also remember my deceased grandmother reading her Bible every night and the loving way she held it. Such a wonderful memory.

 

[Remec]

I saw a chap burning a Bible, today. I confess it was one of the more disturbing things I've ever seen, personally. Such people...

Not as disturbing as it might be with more details.

Was it his bible?
Was this in a public venue of some sort? With witnesses other than yourself?
Was he taunting said witnesses about what he was doing?

The simple reality of burning a book, any book, is putting paper to flame. It's the larger picture of why, how, and where that puts the burning into context and provides the actual imagery that...for me...makes something move from distasteful to disturbing.

 

[Boota]

Sorry, not religious, but there's this really important thing called 'freedom of speech'.

It wouldn't matter to me is it's the Bible, the Q'uran, Atlas Shrugged, Das Kapital, or Mein Kampf.

You don't burn books, any books in my presence.

I would be most displeased (said in my best Klingon manner).

But burning books is a form of freedom of speech. If you're going to truly be for freedom of speech you have to allow it. It is part of the definition.

I'm not for burning anything as a form of protest, whether it's a flag or a bible. That is a half-assed, moronic way to protest. Especially considering that in order to do it you had to purchase the item that you are going to burn, thereby supporting it commercially. Still, a person, at least in free country, has the right to do it.

 

[R. Richard]

Sorry Joe... but someone should burn them all... whether they be Christian... Islamic... Jewish... Alien or whatever.

Far too much death and destruction over the years in the name of bloody religion.

I must politely disagree. It is true that there has been WAY too much death and destruction over the years in the name of religion. However, you do not accomplish anything positive by insulting someone's religion. Burning a holy book is just the kind of insult that sparks yet more religious violence.

 

[English Lady]

R.Richard is right. Burning any kind of Holy book is bound to cause more upset.


I myself think its a sin to burn any book...in fact I can't throw books away. they stay in my home, get sold or taken to a charity shop.


I am a Christian and so the idea of someone burning a Bible is extra horrific to me as those words in that book are very precious to me personally.

However..like Remec...I'd "like" more details.

 

[Guest]

I'd be more interested in what edition he burned. English literature wouldn't be the same without the King James bible.

Perdita

 

[dr_mabeuse]

I burned a bible when I was about eleven. Actually, it wasn't a bible, it was a little Torah my folks had gotten when they got married, and I burned it because I had to know one way or the other whether God existed. I was very serious about my religion.

I put it in an empty coffee can and drenched it with lighter fluid, took it out in the alley behind the house and told God what I intended to do.

He didn't seem to care much.

Jewish tradition says that the ten commandments were written in black fire on red fire.

---dr.M.

 

[Guest]

OMG OMG OMG OMG My first story is listed WoooohOooooooooooooooo!!!!

http://www.literotica.com/stories/showstory.php?id=157048

Calm down, or you'll pee in your pants.

 

[shereads]

I burned a bible when I was about eleven. Actually, it wasn't a bible, it was a little Torah my folks had gotten when they got married, and I burned it because I had to know one way or the other whether God existed. I was very serious about my religion.

I put it in an empty coffee can and drenched it with lighter fluid, took it out in the alley behind the house and told God what I intended to do.

He didn't seem to care much.

He probably shook His head and said, "Kids these days!"

Originally posted by Pops54

Sorry Joe... but someone should burn them all... whether they be Christian... Islamic... Jewish... Alien or whatever.

Pops, I agree that most of the awful events in human history - at least in the western world - have been in the name of God and religion. But I think the leaders who use the Bible or the Koran as a tool to gather their armies, would find some other way if religion didn't exist.

Look around you at the crowd, when you're watching a football game between bitter rivals. You'll see sparks of hatred that have nothing to do with logic or reason - I mean, what real good comes from being a fan of a winning team? You aren't going to get a multi-million-dollar contract because your team won; they'll be the ones to benefit, not you. All you get is the visceral pleasure of having defeated someone else, and making them feel miserable instead of you.

We don't need the Bible or any other book, or song, or movie or skinhead neo-Nazi website to bring out our worst; we just need leaders who know how to focus our worst instincts on someone who's in their way.

Edited to add: I'm not religious; that's not why I find Bible-burning abhorrent. I find it tragic when any book or symbol is used that way, to insult a group of people who cherish it. It's not the fault of the Bible or the American flag that some people use it to divide us into Believers vs. Heretics, Patriots vs. Traitors. It's our fault for taking the bait.

People who burn books sicken me, because they blame the evils of the world on the freedom to express ideas. But I believe in their absolute right of free expression, for the same reasons I'm against an amendment to outlaw burning the flag: free speech is meaningless if it doesn't include speech that offends the majority of people. There's no value at all in being guaranteed the freedom to say the politically correct thing. As long as no one infringes on my right to ignore the book-burning, or on the publishers' right to produce more Bibles to replace the burned ones, the act itself is nothing but a test to see if people can become more divided and angry than they already are.

Let them burn, Joe. The best weapon you have against what they made you feel is to give them no importance at all. When the day comes that books are censored at the point of publication - when a book is burned that you can't replace at the nearest Barnes & Noble - then you'll have reason to worry.

 

[pop_54]

I must politely disagree. It is true that there has been WAY too much death and destruction over the years in the name of religion. However, you do not accomplish anything positive by insulting someone's religion. Burning a holy book is just the kind of insult that sparks yet more religious violence.

I was speaking metaphorically friend Richard... burning anything whether it be bibles flags or whatever is a sensless act and total waste of time usually carried out by the mentally challenged and ill educated among us... I wouldn't advocate burning anything, if nothing else it's hazardous to health... I'd rather such religions didn't exist, period, if they do nothing but stir up hatred and suffering.

As Sher says there would always be a powerful despot running round imposing their will on folks... but at least they'd be honest about their intentions... not hiding behind some unseen false God, who nobody ever sees, but strangely enough manages spread the word to impose their will and kill any poor bugger who disagrees.

Now this is the crunch of it all... I'm sure most religions began with good intent thousands of years ago... but they've been hi-jacked by power crazy humans along the way.

pops.........

 

[shereads]

I'm sure most religions began with good intent thousands of years ago... but they've been hi-jacked by power crazy humans along the way.

Leaping to the other side of the argument, just for the exercise, I disagree that most religions began with good intent. I'll bet the earliest forms of organized religion began when the most shrewd person in the tribe realized he could take advantage of everyone else's fear of the unknown.

He was probably the first astronomer:

"Give me half of your wealth or I'll make the sun disappear."

Eventually, he'd get the idea that it was better to blame the gods and just be their messenger, than to have everybody hate him for being so nasty.

"God wants one-tenth of your income as a sign of faith...What do you mean, that sucks? At least you're not the one who has to collect it for him!"

 

[Lucifer_Carroll]

Book burners must die <period>





And unfortunately that's not the sickest thing I have seen. There was a big book bonfire in one of the southern states a while back that was being filmed and when the camera zoomed in on one of the books, it turned out to be Bradbury's Farenheit 451. The bitter irony of that shot helped design a bit of my current despair over the overwhelming stupidity of mankind.





Did I mention book burners should die? Books are holy and equally holy.

 

[shereads]

Did I mention book burners should die? Books are holy and equally holy. [/B]

Luc, that's as dangerous as believing that the flag is holy.

 

[Lucifer_Carroll]

Luc, that's as dangerous as believing that the flag is holy.

I'm sorry. I'm a convicted bibliophile on a training program to make me like TV like all good normal people.

The thing is, I have a very Bradbury outlook on books similar to that which he held in the novel Farenheit 451. There is something in how much they say, what worlds they unlock, and everything, that makes them feel more worthwhile of existing than most things on this world. And I mean existing in their original form, just how the author conceived them (though I'll admit to devouring translations of the Ancient Greek texts I read).

Besides I'm dangerous. Everyone knows that. And Evil. Can't forget Evil. Overflowing with Evil dangerousness and stuff.

 

[Guest]

Books are holy and equally holy.

That is such crappola. You sound like a fundamentalist.

Perdita