One cannot hope to have a stable society -- or a prosperous one -- where such lethal explosions of rage are so easily sparked, or seen as justified.
We're often told, despite innumerable counter-examples, that poverty causes jihadist terrorism. But stories like this demonstrate that jihad, along with the attitudes within its ideology concerning supremacism, revenge, and the use of violence to impose its goals, certainly does its part to create and maintain poverty.
"Afghan officials: 6 killed in Quran protest," by Amir Shah for the Associated Press, January 12:
KABUL - Protesters claiming that international troops destroyed copies of the Quran clashed with Afghan and foreign security forces on Tuesday, leaving six people dead, Afghan officials said.
Also in the south, 13 insurgents were killed by a missile that international forces fired from an unmanned drone, NATO said.
A protest of about 2,000 people in Helmand province's Garmsir district turned violent as demonstrators fought with security forces, leaving six civilians dead, according to the top official in the province, Abdullah Barak. Provincial spokesman Daoud Ahmadi confirmed six dead but did not say if they were civilians.
NATO said only one person was killed during the protest -- an insurgent sniper who allegedly shot at an Afghan official and was killed by NATO troops.
A NATO spokesman denied that the foreign troops desecrated any copies of Islam's holy book in Sunday's operation with Afghan forces in Garmsir. Lt. Nico Melendez said no shots were fired, and no property was damaged.
"We take such allegations very seriously and would support a combined investigation with local Afghan authorities," he said.
Afghanistan is a Muslim nation where blasphemy of Muhammad and the Quran is considered a serious crime that is punishable by death....
where blasphemy of muhammad and the quran is considered a serious crime that is punishable by death
That should probably read rumors of blasphemy of muhammad and the quran etc.
Blasphemy - Victimless crime.
This is why the Westergaard cartoon is so true -- it depicts the nasty-tempered, short-fused founder of a nasty-tempered, short-fused creed.
To varying degrees, all Islamic countries are beset with violence, poverty and despotism; these are not independent phenomena, but the main cause of all three is Islam. It's been tempting to ascribe the violence to poverty or despotism, as there is a certain truth in that, but Islam is the real culprit.
What that means is that any efforts to fix these ills will only be temporary as long as Islam remains as a major social force.
How many Afghans can actually read the Qur'an? I mean, how many can tell the difference between the Qur'an and a copy of Ayesha's Favorite Recipes in Arabic?
It's not like there's a shortage of Qur'ans............
I've read the Qur'an, Afghans, you are not missing anything. Really, Allah did this, Allah did that, you better obey Allah 'cause Mohammed is his puppet master. Wait, Mohammed is his prophet. Sorry, my taquiyya slipped.
Really, as religious books go, the Qur'an is boring. Even in Arabic.
We have to get out of that hell hole. The Afghans want to be ignoble savages - so let them.
KABUL - Protesters claiming that international troops destroyed copies of the Quran clashed with Afghan and foreign security forces on Tuesday, leaving six people dead, Afghan officials said.
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This is the equivalent, write large, of "I heard you were talking about my mama" used by any bully on the playground. It is the all-purpose occasion of outrage—against foreign troops, against non-Muslim minorities, against anyone Muslim mobs want to target.
more:
"We take such allegations very seriously and would support a combined investigation with local Afghan authorities," he said.
..................
Why? This is just more of the exaggerated "respect" shown by well-meaning Infidels everywhere to the Qu'ran and other symbols of Islamic supremacism, like the grotesque spectacle of American guards at Guantanimo handling Qu'rans with gloves, lest it be defiled by contact with "filthy kufr". We shouldn't do *anything* to enable this sort of thing.
Our sensitivity doesn't garner us any respect from the Ummah—it just convinces them that we either hold the symbols of Islam in respect because we believe in Muslim supremacy ourselves, or that we are simply scared of them.
more:
Afghanistan is a Muslim nation where blasphemy of Muhammad and the Quran is considered a serious crime that is punishable by death....
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This is what we have wasted almost nine years of allied blood and treasure on—a Shari'ah state where "blasphemy" is punishable by death. Insanity.
So, what we see here, in this country awash with blood, are protesters sufficiently enraged by the the alleged destruction of some books that they demonstrated to the point that six lives were lost.
Yet, in this very same country, awash as ever with blood, I recall no demonstrations to protest the beheading of schoolteachers, the bombing of girls schools, the street murders of journalists, the death penalty imposed for leaving Islam, and jail time imposed for advocating for the rights of women.
But a damaged book ... with paper pages, and words written in Arabic -- Well, I guess that is worth protesting and dying for.
Can one imagine what it would be like if Christians started trashing things every time a Muslim burned the Bible and Churches?
Numerous Christians over the centuries have given their livies to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
While Mohammedians have since the 7th century, and still do today, take lives, that is murder and slaughter non-Muslims to promote their wicked and demonic ideology.
If our government had any sense, any clever people, it would strategically use this tendency on the part of Muslims to react this way. Where non-Muslims would not be involved to the greatest extent possible, either just rumors or actual damage to Korans or other so-called holy objects would keep the "Muslim world" in a perpetual state of riot. Have them freaking out, literally just going bonkers, all of the time. One could even "tune" this as necessary, allowing them to begin to calm down and then bam, hitting them with another incident to get them going again. They would either play themselves out, or kill one another out, or burn their entire cities down, or they would finally get to the point that they just don't have the ability to react any more to yet another "desecration" except to merely raise their head and grunt.
Reading this it suddenly struck me in a new way how ignorant and backward these people truly are, and how sad that really is.
I am a Christian. I have no desire to see anyone destroy a Bible for any reason. But if they did, I wouldn't go killing them or creating a situation where other people are killed! Christians hold it to be the Word of God, but the actual book itself is just a book. It's not like destroying the book itself destroys God. Bibles get destroyed by accident all the time - fire, flood, the wear and tear of time, etc. Bibles can be replaced. Human beings cannot.
That this simple fact is lost on Muslims is truly disturbing and bothersome. May Jesus Christ release these people from their enslavement to this ideology. The only thing it brings to the world is suffering and death.
"...according to the top official in the province, Abdullah Barak".
Ummm...like Barak Obama? I'm just saying...
I heard Infidels are not to touch the Koran,,God if they only knew I kept a copy beside the toilet just in case I ran out of toilet paper. I'm sure they would have a stroke...LOL
I think you are on to something...you mean, if folks in general began to desecrate any/all things Islamic..just for the H of it, yeah, they'ed be freaking out 24/7.
Sounds like fun.