Islamophobia for Dummies
Burn a Koran Day
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In recent news Islam haters are not only
protesting the so-called " Ground Zero Mosque ", but their religious
intolerance is getting much worse: California : cardboard signs denouncing Islam, they're protesting because the Islamic center wants to build a Mosque right here in the city. New York : Staten Island in a plan to turn a former convent into a Mosque and community center has outraged thousands of residents. Wisconsin : controversy over a Mosque in Sheboygan county. Many people in the area are concerned about having a Mosque in their backyard. Tennessee : hundreds of people in Murfreesboro Tennessee protested against a planned Islamic community center. Jon Stewart, The Daily Show : Haven't any of these people heard of freedom of religion? Lt. Governor of Tennessee, you wanna take this one? Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey : I'm all about freedom of religion. You can even argue whether being a Muslim is actually a religion, or is it a nationality, way of life, or cult, whatever you want to call it. Jon Stewart: I think religion is what they wanna call it. I can see being confused by Scientology, or the thing Madonna does with the red bracelets, but I think 1400 years and over a billion twitter followers, Islam's kind of accepted as a religion now. Let's see who else thinks they know what freedom of religion is all about: Christians : I'm all in favor of freedom of religion and freedom of speech. We have nothing against Moslems, they are welcome in our country, they are welcome to worship. The issue here is not religious freedom and it is not people worshipping God through the Islamic religion, that's wonderful, but, but, but, but Islam is a lie from the pit of hell, Islam is of the devil, (not in the Quran or Sharia) women are stoned to death, the infidel must be converted or killed, Sharia law OKs honor killings, he supports Sharia, it is causing billions of people to go to hell, we're establishing literally a command center for terrorism right at the 9/11 site. Jon Stewart: I'm for freedom of religion, I'm just saying this religion is dominated by women-stoning-suicide-bombers, that's all. Let's try to find a "nice way" to rephrase what these radical Christians truly believe about freedom of religion : Stephen Colbert (MOCKING RADICAL CHRISTIANS), White House Correspondents Dinner : And though I am a committed Christian, I believe that everyone has the right to their own religion, be you Hindu, Jewish or Muslim, I believe there are infinite paths to accepting Jesus Christ as your personal savior. Now we'll see what Islam has to say about freedom of religion and religious tolerance. It is important to point out that Islam recognizes the divine ORIGIN of Judaism & Christianity, but asserts that these Holy Books have been corrupted ( to which the Old and the New Testament AGREE: Jer 8:8, Matt 5:20 and Matt 23:13 ) and we'll see examples of obvious bible corruptions later in this video. Islam's true tolerance of Jews and Christians can be demonstrated by a few verses of the Quran: 1- The Quran 2:256 unequivocally guarantees freedom of religion: { There is NO COMPULSION in religion } 2- The Quran 5:68 guides them to FOLLOW THEIR holy books: { Say: O people of the Scripture! You have naught (of guidance) until you observe the Torah and the Gospel } 3- The Quran 29:46 additionally requires respectful dialogue: { And argue not with the people of the Scripture unless it be in (a way) that is better } 4) The Quran 5:47 does NOT impose Islamic law on them: { Let the People of the GOSPEL JUDGE by that which God has revealed THEREIN } 5) The Quran 3:113 states that there ARE true believers among them: { of the people of the Scripture there is a staunch community who recite the revelations of God in the night season, falling prostrate (before Him). } As a result, Islam is absolutely tolerant to both Jews and Christians. But what can we do about the increasing intolerance towards Muslims? Jon Stewart : This whole thing makes me just very sad. Can't we just have some kind of communal event, where we try and come together. Florida : and that "burning of the Koran" ceremony will take place right here on the Church's front lawn from 6 to 9 on September 11th. Jon Stewart : I was actually thinking more of an interfaith breakfast, but OK. Let's learn more about this Quran burning "ceremony": CNN Kiran Chetry : Why are you gonna burn Qurans? Pastor Terry Jones : We wanted to send a very clear message to the radical element of Islam. CNN Kiran Chetry : When I first read this story, I thought there's no way that this could be as bad as it sounds, it appears that it is. You're saying that you're gonna burn the holy book of another religion to send a message to the radical elements of that religion, with no thought to the fact that you'd obviously be highly offending everyone in that religion. I'm not questioning your intelligence, but I am wondering if you've thought through the consequences of doing this. CNN Rick Sanchez: Why would you want to do this to 1.5 billion people...by burning their most sacred book? That's crazy. Pastor Terry Jones: Well, for one thing, for us the book is not sacred. CNN Rick Sanchez : But it is for them. I don't mean to interrupt, but you just told me something that's ridiculous. There are moderate Muslims sir who live in this country who love America probably every bit as much as you say you do. Pastor Terry Jones: There is moderate Muslims. CNN Rick Sanchez: Why are you insulting them? EVEN Fox News finds this preacher to be a Christian radical (and that's saying a lot) : Fox News : A radical fringe Christian group is planning to burn a bunch of Korans on the anniversary of 9/11. Jon Stewart : Yes, Florida Pastor and civil war mustache collector Terry Jones is hosting the first ever International Burn the Koran day. It's (bleeped) for the whole family. But as you'd expect Islamophobes like Fox News still get it wrong on every other level: Jon Stewart : This is a political no-brainer, so watch how political no-brainers connect it to other Islam related issues: Fox News : This is similar in one way to the Ground Zero Mosque. Rep. John Boehner : To Pastor Jones and those who want to build the Mosque, just because you have a right to do something in America does not mean it is the right thing to do. Fox News : I think about all this in the context of the debate over the Ground Zero Mosque. Jon Stewart : Get it, see the parallel? A Christian is an extremist by burning the Koran, a Muslim is an extremist by reading from it ... It almost makes no sense. What also makes no sense is the fact that Pastor Jones can't see how hateful his attitude truly is: CNN Kiran Chetry : You don't really care if you're offending Muslims by burning the Koran, right? That doesn't bother you. Pastor Terry Jones: We realize that we are definitely offending them...we are against a radical element of Islam even moderate Muslims should be on our side. Pastor Jones seriously expects to offend ALL Muslims by burning the Quran and still have ANY on his side? CNN Kiran Chetry : No moderate Muslim's gonna be on your side when you're burning their holy book. I mean, that just sounds silly. Pastor Terry Jones : It's not, of course it's not silly. CNN Kiran Chetry : You're burning their holy book! Jon Stewart : It's not silly, it's not silly, and I know silly: exhibit A ... A radical Muslim defined by this Pastor is any Muslim who thinks it's not OK for him to burn their holy book. Now let's see what moderate people think about this pastor : CBS : In Washington, religious leaders of all faiths called for an end of what they called religious bigotry, and publicly pressured Jones to back off. Rev. Richard Cizik : to those who do this, I say, you bring dishonor to the name of Jesus Christ. Angelina Jolie : What is my personal opinion about? Reporter : Should he do that? Angelina Jolie : Of course not, of course not. I have hardly the words, that somebody would do that to somebody's religious book, no. John Oliver, The Daily Show : Terry Jones, that radical, hate-spewing extremist does not reflect the views of the vast majority of moderate, peaceful Christians. In fact, this man is (bleeping) crazy. CNN Rick Sanchez: you do Christians in this country a disservice by sounding as hateful as you do, and saying that you're gonna perform hateful acts as you say you are, for people who may not necessarily believe the things that you say they do. So let's examine some of these false beliefs about Islam from Pastor Jones. First, he claims that Islam is a violent religion: Pastor Terry Jones: We're saying stop to Islam, stop to Islamic law, stop to brutality....It is a violent religion. If Pastor Jones thinks Islam is brutal or violent, he must have never read the Quran, or even the Bible for that matter: Jon Stewart : You cannot deny, Christianity is a violent religion. I have your holy book right here. Isaiah 13:16 " Their children shall also be dashed to pieces before their eyes, their houses shall be spoiled, their wives ravished. " Leviticus 20-9 " For everyone that curseth his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. " And let's not forget Numbers 31:17-18 ESV : Kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known man by lying with him But all the young girls...(virgins) keep alive for yourselves Jon Stewart: How are we supposed to feel when we see pastors preaching this type of thing, across our very country. John Oliver, The Daily Show: Hold on a second Jon. That's the Old Testament. Jon Stewart: Yes, that's right. John Oliver: No, no, no. That's your book. Jon Stewart: What? John Oliver: Yeah, that's you. Yeah, yeah, that's yours. Jon Stewart: Are you serious? John Oliver: Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's a Jew manual. We're New Testament, Jon. So putting aside the illogical idea (that God changed personality between the Old & New Testaments), let's see how peaceful the New Testament really is: Matthew 10: 34-36 ESV Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother... And a person's enemies will be those of his own household Luke 19:27 ESV ( in a parable supposedly told by the Messiah Jesus ) But as for these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slaughter them before me. Wow. Jesus came to bring a sword and he wants non-believers slaughtered before him? With passages like these we can see where the intolerance of radical Christians comes from. Jon Stewart: Where's the money coming from for these extremists? Whose funding these radical Christian clerics? John Oliver: Parishioners, occasional bake sales, nothing nefarious, if that's what you're trying to imply to me. Jon Stewart: Apart from the fact that they have tax exempt status. That means that Pastor Terry Jones is being bank-rolled by the U.S. government. That is state-supported extremism. John Oliver: Yeah, yeah, that's right Jon: our Muslim President is funding Christian extremists. Nice try, please. Next, the Pastor claims that Islam wants to dominate the world. Pastor Terry Jones: I believe it's Islam's mission to dominate the world. While Islam's PROPHECY is that it will be eventually ACCEPTED worldwide, Christianity has similar prophecies, and there is a difference between prophecies and commandments. So how can any Christian attack the Islamic tenet of spreading our religion when their scripture commands them to do the same: Jon Stewart: But even if you go with the New Testament, Christianity is still an expansionist religion, with a core mission to convert the entire world to your way of life. John Oliver: That is a wild misinterpretation of a very complicated text. Jon Stewart: That is not a wild misinterpretation, listen again: (Matt 28:19) "go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father, and of the son and of the Holy Spirit". That doesn't even sound like a religion, that is a blueprint for world domination my friend. John Oliver: Whoa, whoa, you wanna go? Cuz I will go right now! Jon Stewart: No, you will not go! But is Pastor Jones alone in his radical Christian views? Jon Stewart : He is hardly alone, there's Jeremiah Wright (God Damn America), Pat Robertson blamed 9/11 on America's behavior, there's Fred Phelps the Westboro Baptist Church. I'm seeing a pattern now of extremism in Christianity that a lot of Americans are finding very troubling,... John Oliver : OK, Jon, sure, you can cherry pick a few embarrassing lunatics, but to declare them emblematic of the entire faith is simply ridiculous. Indeed it is ridiculous to blame any religion for its most embarrassing lunatics, however, these Christian lunatics do actually represent the intolerance of the New Testament: John 3:18 ESV ... he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only (begotten) Son of God And again, Luke 19:27 ESV But as for these enemies of mine,
who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and
slaughter them before me. |
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In Part 1, we refuted Pastor Terry Jones false
claims about Islam : with 5 verses of the Quran that clearly
demonstrate Islam's religious tolerance, compared to the violent
intolerance of both the Old and New Testaments. Now we'll continue
our analysis of the " International Burn a Koran Day ". Jon Stewart, The Daily Show : Two things, Pastor: Just because you put "International" on the sign, it doesn't really make it an international event, same way the World Series isn't really played with the entire world, and Miss Universe is always from Earth. Number 2, it's only three hours? You're gonna be out by nine? Don't you wanna leave an event like this a little open ended based on things like burning time and amount of Korans that show? 'Look, I hate the Moslems, but Saturday at 9, that's Bones time.' So exactly why do Islam haters like Pastor Jones want to burn the Quran? Pastor Terry Jones : We wanted to send a very clear message to the radical element of Islam. We realize that this action would probably offend Moslems. Of course, it is a radical thing to do. Doesn't he realize the hypocrisy of responding to a radical message with a radical message NBC : Local Muslims say what this Gainesville Church wants to do basically makes them just as extremist as the extremists they are supposedly protesting against. Precisely, they're saying it's a mixed signal to those who are watching. The local Muslim community is still trying to recover from the attempted bombing of the Islamic Center of N.E. Florida just a few months ago. And what's the justification for this radical behavior of burning Qurans (and bombing Mosques)? Pastor Terry Jones : We could not get their attention by just sending some type of message. We thought this is a radical message that will get their attention. Actually, the " radical message " was the invasion of 2 Muslim countries that never attacked the U.S. killing hundreds of thousands of Muslim civilians and creating more so-called " Muslim Radicals " in these invaded countries than there ever were before. Jon Stewart : When we last left you, there was still some uncertainty as to how one American, out of 350 million or so, Terry Jones, Pastor of Gainesville's Dove World Outreach Center and president of Gainesville's upper-lip hair club for men, how he would be observing that day. MSNBC : The drama over a threatened Quran burning in Florida continues. Will he burn the Quran with his followers? CNN Rick Sanchez : Just how kooky is this guy? CBS : He says he feels a real religious calling. Jon Stewart : So, did Yosemite Jones burn the Quran like he promised? Pastor Terry Jones : We feel that God is telling us to stop. Jon Stewart : Um, when God told you to do it originally, He hadn't anticipated the backlash, is that it? God never saw that one comin, is that what you're sayin? You might be confusing God with everybody else in the world. When God told you not to burn the Koran, did it sound something like this: 'Don't be a (bleeping) idiot dude' cuz that's not God, that's everybody. Hillary Clinton: I am heartened by the clear, unequivocal condemnation of this disrespectful, disgraceful act, that has come from American religious leaders of all faiths, from Evangelical Christians to Jewish Rabbis, as well as secular U.S. leaders and opinion makers. Stephen Colbert, The Colbert Report : I am so mad at Florida Pastor Terry Jones. As you may recall, this madman threatened to burn Islam's holiest book, the Quran. And as if that wasn't bad enough (joking) he didn't do it. Pastor Terry Jones : We will definitely not burn the Quran, no. Not today, not ever. Stephen Colbert : (joking) We all felt duped. It was as if Jones had shown up with Rick Astley and sung "Never Gonna Burn You Up". Importantly, Pastor Jones admits that he's never even read the Quran ! It's no wonder most Christians don't realize how much the Quran reveres the Messiah Jesus : Michael Moore : The Koran has 25 different mentions of Jesus in that Holy Book. 25. They consider Jesus a messenger of God. Why would you burn a book that beautifully mentions Jesus at least 2 dozen times. I mean, how many Americans even know that? Stephen Colbert : Now, I wanna go on record as saying that the Quran is the revealed word of God given to his last Prophet Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him. And burning it would be wrong, but he just threatened to burn the Quran. And threatening to burn stuff, that's just negotiating. That's how I got such a great deal on my Audi. You see, Pastor Jones threatened to burn the Quran only to stop the construction of the Ground Zero Mosque. Pastor Terry Jones : The American people do not want the Mosque there, and of course Moslems do not want us to burn the Koran. Stephen Colbert : Exactly, destroying a religious symbol, and building a religious center, are really the same thing, if you don't think about it. And, I'll tell you who really hasn't thought about it... First, there's Fox News: Fox O'reilly Factor : I think about all of this in the context of the debate over the Ground Zero Mosque. And second, there's: Stephen Colbert : Sarah Palin's Facebook page. It wrote: People have a constitutional right to burn a Koran if they want to, but doing so is insensitive and an unnecessary provocation, much like building a Mosque at Ground Zero. Let's remember that the controversial site: is 2 full city blocks away from the World Trade Center complex, and there is ALREADY a Mosque there that is planned to be rebuilt. Stephen Colbert : Yes, Ground Zero is a sacred site, how dare they build a house of worship there. You see, it is disrespectful ...to the patrons of the nearby New York Dolls strip club. How do you think customers will feel knowing that Muslims are praying just blocks away from their erections. ... The thing is folks, we were so close to a solution. Last Thursday, Jones announced he had struck a deal with the Ground Zero Mosque Imam. Pastor Terry Jones : The Imam has agreed to move the Mosque. We have agreed to cancel our event on Saturday. Stephen Colbert : Turns out, Jones had never spoken to Imam Rauf. Evidently, Jones conjured the agreement out of thin air. Fox News : This is Imam Rauf: he's glad the Pastor Jones has decided not to burn any Korans however I have not spoken with him. Fox Charles Krauthammer: And obviously delusional. He needs counseling and not the spiritual sort, I say this as a medical authority on these conditions, and I think he's gotten infinitely more attention than he deserves. And while the " Quran burning " was called " radical " by Fox News, Fox News : Some kooks in Florida are plotting a very insulting display against Muslims. Terry Jones, an anti-Muslim bigot. The man is a kook and a crank. but the Pastor's "kooky" MESSAGE is actually identical to that of Fox News : Pastor Terry Jones : I believe that we are dealing with an element that you cannot talk to. Sean Hannity : If we buy into this notion that through accommodation, capitulation, that America's gonna buy favor from radical Jihadists, there's only one answer to this. Pastor Terry Jones : They must be shown a certain amount of force, a certain amount of determination, and putting a stop to it. Sean Hannity : To beat them, destroy them, confront them. Pastor Terry Jones : Why don't we send a warning to radical Islam, and say 'Look, don't do it. If you attack us, we will attack you'. Sean Hannity : If you acquiesce and capitulate you will embolden them. Colbert: Sean Hannity is so terrified, he bought a thesaurus. Clearly, no matter what we do, they're going to attack us. Apparently Fox is too stupid to realize that it is their own bigoted message that has escalated the hateful intolerance against Muslims. But did this controversy show a good side to the media? Jon Stewart : Of course, the media was very circumspect about whether or not they should even be covering these provocative acts perpetrated by propagandizing pyromaniac proselytizers. Perhaps they shouldn't. Hillary Clinton : We are hoping that the Pastor decides not to do this. We're hoping against hope that if he does, it won't be covered. Jon Stewart : But this next clip exemplifies how often the medias better angels get the (bleep) kicked out of them. Cenk Uygur : This whole situation is terribly messed up. I mean this guy is clown of the earth, and we shouldn't be having a conversation about what he is or he isn't gonna do. Certainly the President shouldn't be talking about it. It's comical, I mean there are wackos like this all across the country. So now do we have to address every single one of them? But there's a second side to this, Chris, that's really important... MSNBC : Cenk, I'm gonna, I've gotta, I've gotta interrupt you, because here's the Pastor. Let's here what he has to say: Jon Stewart : Poor media, they can't help themselves, they're not bad people. You know what the media is, they're the dog from the movie " Up ". Dog: My master made me this collar. He is a good and smart master and he made me this collar so that I may talk. Squirrel ! Jon Stewart : That's what they are. 'You're right, we should not be following Pastor Jones. Pastor Jones ! And what's worse is that the Islamophobic media would question whether Muslims are even justified to be upset by such hateful behavior: Fox Eric Bolling : Why is it that Muslims are in such an uproar about burning the Koran? How about: because the so called "uproar" started against the U.S. is killing hundreds of thousands of Muslim civilians and continues to support the occupation of Gaza? Don't these Fox morons watch the News? MSNBC : Is he gonna start burning the Torah next? Jon Stewart : Wha? Aargh! No! No! Torah Burn Bad ! Should Muslims find burning the Quran as funny as Jon Stewart finds burning the Torah? The answer is YES, for 2 reasons, First: BonsaiSky : Burning the Quran is one of the (Islamically) permissible methods in which to dispose of said Qurans. So, I mean, if you're gonna do it, at least you're burning them. Thank you for doing it the Islamic way. And the 2nd reason, is that the more the media tries to vilify Islam, the more that rational people are finding out the truth for themselves: RT : Around the world since 9/11, Muslims have battled bans of their religious clothing, profiling in airports, and discrimination in their everyday lives. Katelynn Billings : I was 14 when September 11 happened, so I didn't really know what was going on, if that really was Islam, you know people said it was, so I believed it just like everybody else. RT : But as Billings got older, she decided to find out for herself. After joining a class to learn more about Islam, Carl Dodge also decided to become a Muslim. Carl Dodge : Before I actually sat down in the class and opened my Quran, everything I knew about Islam, I had learned from CNN. RT : And for many American Muslims, the portrayal of converts is disturbing. Carl Dodge : It does upset me a little bit because there's a lot of preconceptions people have, and until I actually took the time to open a Quran and see what was written, you know, that was my only impression of Islam is what I had seen on TV. NBC George Lewis : Julia Roach converted to Islam after being introduced to the religion by her husband, Chris. They weren't married at the time. He is also an American. She was raised a Christian and said she converted after she was able to see past the stereotypes and learned about the values of Islam. There are an estimated 1.3 billion Muslims worldwide, and most are not Arabs. Here in the United States, while the Muslim contingent numbers an estimated 7 to 8 million, it's growing rapidly: 20,000 new converts each year, 4 times as many women as men. RT : A new poll found that almost 40% of Americans believe that Muslims should carry identification cards. Despite that, 20,000 Americans every year decide to convert to Islam. On the other hand, the poor Pastor has lost half of his congregation: CBS : Jones says he's lost about 30 members of his Church since this all began. Now let's take a look at some reactions to Pastor Jones' decision: Asif Mandvi, The Daily Show : I'm surprised, I mean he's showing incredible restraint. Muslims did threaten to build a Mosque in lower Manhattan, and that is only 5 Terry Jones mustache lengths away from his congregation in Florida. Wyatt Cenac, The Daily Show : Asif, you're being very understanding. The truth is, Pastor Jones isn't going to burn the Quran, but one of us will, and soon. And I think the Islamic world has every reason to react forcefully and violently. I think you're patient to a fault on this one. I mean WWJD ( What Would Jesus Do ), Jesus always didn't turn the other cheek. Asif Mandvi : Look at my " What Would Muhammad Do " bracelet. WMD is right there in it, we are dangerous. WWMD ...lucky for Muslims George Bush didn't here that one, or else he would have used it as evidence to invade a 3rd Muslim country. In conclusion, with all the prejudice and hate speech against Muslims, rational people are ignoring the media distortions & accepting Islam in record numbers. |
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