AP: We Will Not Distribute Photos of Burning Korans

My God, it's full of pussy, as LauraW. said of me recently.

As much as I buy into the idea that we don't want to "enrage the Arab street" and put our boys' lives in elevated danger...

...we cannot keep matching each of the demands of expansionist, murderous Islam and giving it a special place as the de facto national religion, the single religion for which the legal penalty of blasphemy exists.

I should note that AP had no trouble whatsoever in running obviously-staged propaganda pictures of Burning Korans during the Israel-Lebanon war of 2006. Then, the picture was intended as an incitement of Muslims against the Israelis, and obviously was a Hezballah-approved propaganda shot.

But now? Nope, can't do that.

If a Muslim burns the Koran in order to blame it on Israelis and incite Muslims into warfare, run the shot.

If a Christian burns the Koran to make a point about Islam not in fact being this country's official, obligatory sate religion, don't run the shot.

Via JimmieBJR's twitter feed. He calls it "cowardly." I'm not sure there's another word for it.

On that point -- this very good (as usual) essay by Christopher Hitchens. There he notes we have demanded that every other religion be "domesticated," which, dogged metaphor aside, means that we have demanded that other religions fall into compliance with civil law -- even where (as with Christian Science) the illegal aspect of the religion is a truly important part of the religion.

And yet we don't similarly insist on this with Islam. Islam is apparently a special religion in that it trumps civil law.

Again, another badge of Islam's supremacy over other religions -- and all governments -- which is precisely what they're killing for.

Other people have remarked upon the perverse incentives here: If Christians want their faith taken seriously, and respected by institutions and the government, apparently they'll just have to start bombing and beheading and they'll have that.

Furthermore, we continue to encourage Islamist killers. Every time they kill, what message does the nation and its communicative institutions parrot over and over?

1) Islam is a religion of peace.

2) Islam is one of the world's "great religions."

3) The overwhelming majority of Islam's faithful are good, pious people.

Every time they murder in the name of Allah, then, we all collectively begin shouting how fucking wonderful Allah is.

Is it any surprise they continue to murder us then? They kill us, and we then proselytize on their behalf.

posted by Ace at 01:09 PM

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