I know I don’t usually ‘do’ political posts; just a few ideas going around in my brain at the moment:
Is supposed to be the temperature at which paper burns. (it’s 450 °C which is 842 °F) I remember being horrified by the book of the same name. Who in their right mind would want to burn a book, any book?
I’d also like to say that in my opinion God does not dwell just inside churches and holy books. God is around us and in open spaces. Burning books will make matters worse. There is no such thing as a holy war – how can there be?
I own a copy of the Koran, though I’ve read more of the Bible coming from a Christian background. When I opened my Koran to read I was amazed to find the same stories inside…
I found this online this morning, which explains a lot to me as someone living outside the US. What it boils down to is democracy. We’re supposed to be free to have our own ideas and beliefs. Is democracy a good thing? I remember the two weeks of worry I and many of my pupils (all of us immigrants) went through when Jean-Marie Le Pen almost became President of France – the result of democracy.
When I lived in England the Irish conflict/ war was in full swing, but we certainly didn’t think that all Catholics were terrorists.
Fahrenheit 451
Jean-Marie Le Pen
5 comments:
Well said. I think that Democracy is a great thing, but would work so much better if the entire population were educated. Perhaps if Democratic nations made higher education mandatory it might help?
Fortunately, last news item I saw said that that pastor in Florida was calling off the burning and, in fact, meeting with an imam.
Kim: I think that you are right about education. Ignorance brings fear.
Veronica: I hope that it's true, though it seems to change by the hour.
Well, I followed the Fahrenheit 451 link and increased my knowledge. I'd previously been under the impression that this was a police drama about racial hatred set in some 1950s US city. Now I know, which is an advance!
As for democracy - 'people-rule' - I think it's an ideal that human nature defeats. It certainly doesn't permit an individual to do as he or she pleases. Am I not right in supposing that the responsible citizens of ancient Athens (the men, that is, not the women or slaves) would have summoned that pastor to their presence and, having discussed the merits of his attitude and proposed action, might have told him to desist under pain of whatever penalty they thought right?
Lucy
Lucy: Fahrenheit 451 is a great read.
Now I have to find out about the good citizens of Athens.
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