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Originally Posted by BleedBurgundy
Who gives a shit? Do we lower our standards because "that's what them damn muslims do..?" Of course not. I don't particularly love any culture that basis itself upon religion, especially when said religion involves placing wholly illogical restrictions and consequences on my favorite 50% of the population, but- This whole "I don't like you so I'll burn something you feel is important" thing is juvenile at best. What adult that you know converses in such a manner? Of course, the undeveloped mind does tend to flock to this sort of thing. It's not like this is a group of Rhodes scholars we are talking about.
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You bring up an interesting point about adults behaving like juveniles, because as it pertains to religion, logic and rationalization tends to be suspended in favor of raw emotions, usually fear and anger, and feelings. There's nothing logical about burning a Quran. And there's nothing sane about running two commercial line planes into the Twin Towers either, although the men who comitted the act were college educated. But Marx was certainly on to something when he said "religion is the opiate of the people".
What we have here is a classic example of extremism vs. absolutism. In both cases, the actions of a fringe element don't properly represent or reflect the values and teachings of the respective religions. Islam has been so westernized and politicized following the events of 9/11 that most Americans really don't know what the Quran actually teaches or to whom it applies. So just as it's wrong to condemn one religion with a vile and dispicable act, I also believe it's wrong to throw out the baby with the bathwater and say that all religion is evil because of the actions of a minority. I guess one could also make an argument about the difference between faith and religion, but I'm not here to fight that battle, nor do I care to.