Artful Dodger:

I know that my last post sounds harsh, but I am trying to get a point across. Book burning of any kind is wrong. A person could burn a Bible, a Koran, etc. It is nothing more than ignorance and fear.

>> " But then I think Jesus did not exist, and if he existed, he was a false prophet too ..."

> Utterly false. Jesus DID exist. It's an historical fact.

My point is, calling Mohammad a false prophet might be OK is you don't believe in his teachings, but to somebody who does it is rather insulting. It is like saying that Jesus was a false prophet and did not exist. My sentence questions Christian faith at its core. For most Christians the existence of Jesus is a given and central to their faith. It is immaterial that there is no historical proof of the existence of Jesus outside the Bible (as an aside, there is no historicity to the existence of Jesus and there are no confirmed literary descriptions of Jesus outside the Bible). It is faith that makes Jesus real in the eyes of a Christian believer. Likewise, it is faith that makes Mohammad a prophet in the eyes of Moslems.

> Bibles are burned everyday somewhere. Flag burning bothers me more but I don't take to the street for it.

The answer is that burning the Koran was a symbolic act, just like burning a flag is. In reality burning the Koran makes no damage to Islam, just a burning the flag makes no damage to the country it represents. It is symbolic act of disapproval, anger, defiance, and in some cases even hatred.

> Even atheists are hypocrites.

Hypocrysy is EVERYWHERE. A catholic priest will go and preach on a Sunday to his congregation, then he will go and abuse a child. An evangelical pastor will preach to his congregation, then he will ask them for money and use that wealth to maintain his mistresses. An imam will preach of moslem piety, then send young men and women to die in a suicide attack. A politician will talk of freedom and democracy, then send troops to kill thousands in another country. A communist will talk of equality and the rights of the working class, then arrest his opponents and send them to prison. Humanity is eternally caught in its contradictions and its hypocrysy. That hypocrysy will go from petty, every day acts, to the biggest and most horrendous crimes.

> The actions of ONE man do not reflect on an entire group.

That is the reason why any religion survives. If we were to judge Christianity for the actions of those who do wrong, then Cristianity would fail to pass the test. Chirstianity has been mired in inquisitions, witch hunts, religious wars, hatred, intolerance, etc. People like Terry Jones are passing judgement on Islam based on the actions of what in essence is a very small minority of fanatical terrorists. It would be like passing judgement on Christianity based on the actions of the Borgias or the Holy Inquisition. It would be like passing judgement on all Marxists based on the actions of Joseph Stalin. Or like saying that the criminal jailers in Abu Graib represent ALL the American people. Those generalizations are destructive, and obscure the good things that people have done irrespective of religion or ideology. We insist on passing absolute judgements of good and evil, and we are unbale to acknowledge that there is good in Christianity, as there is good in Islam, Judaism, Capitalism, Socialism, Communism, etc.

> If that is your standard, then you have to accept the fact that you too are a hypocrite.

Nobody is immune from hypocrysy, and I am the first to admit my own failings. I know that in some ways I am good, and in others I am wrong. I am not one to quote the Bible much, but "let he who is free from sin cast the first stone."

In the eyes of the fanatic, his/her actions are ALWAYS right. The hypocrite sees himself as always in the right, and when he doesn't, he doesn't care about the consequences of his actions. When caught doing something bad, the hypocryte will blame somebody else, or blame the circumstances around him. When there is nobody to blame but himself, he will fall down on his knees and beg for forgiveness. He will even try to be sincere in his repentance, but deep inside he will callously ignore that what he did was wrong. He will make excuses and find religious or ideological justifications for his actions, and when that fails, he will call to higher moral principles and impose his views in a rigid, fanatical way. He will exploit fear to promote hatred, and then use that hatred and fear to further his own ambitions and greed. When asked to justify himself, his rethoric will fall on self-righteous ideology and the higher principles that everyone aspires to or admires. Those who believe in him will follow him blindly, because following blindly is easier than accepting that they must use critical thinking and avoid being duped by a fanatical demagogue.