Would Jesus burn a Koran?

[AnArmyVeteran]

Poll question: Would Jesus burn a Koran?

Would Jesus be so filled with hatred he would burn the Koran and condemn entire groups of people for the actions of some? Would he reject everything he taught about loving one's neighbors and enemies and support acts of hatred?

[HopeHoops]

1. And neither would Flying Spaghetti Monster.

[AnArmyVeteran]

6. Thanks for that very in depth theological response.

You prove my point that no two Biblical scholars can agree on everything in the Bible because it is so complex and riddled with fables.

[Name removed]

2. Deleted message

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[mikeytherat]

3. Since The Koran didn't exist at the time, I'm gonna have to go with "No."

Or as one poster put it the other day, "Would he light it with his Zippo? Because that didn't exist at the time, either."

mikey_the_rat

[AnArmyVeteran]

5. Well Mikey, it's better to be a smart ass than a dumb ass :)

And I know Jesus wouldn't burn a Koran with a toaster oven too because they weren't invented yet either. But my obvious intent was to get people to imagine Jesus burning another religion's holy book, but my bet is he wouldn't because it was an act of hate and intolerance. The only time in the Bible where Jesus displayed anger was at the money lenderers ( big business at the time ) and he made a lot of negative references about the rich who right wing Christians seem to worship.

[El Supremo]

4. I doubt it. He is mentioned in it 25 times. n/m

[dimbear]

7. Right. And very favorably. His Mom too. n/t

[DeSwiss]

8. Absolutely not!

- Jesus and Mo was tight....

[golddigger]

9. The people who helped invent Jesus would and did.

[brendan120678]

10. Probably not, because....

they didn't exist when he was supposed to be around.

[peopleb4money]

11. Jesus said to love other's as you love yourself, even your enemies

When you disrespect the beliefs of another person, even if you think its the beliefs of your enemy, you're not loving them as you'd love yourself. A Christian wouldn't burn their own Bible, so they shouldn't burn a Quran. It violates the golden rule. The Apostle Paul taught to the Corinthians that unconditional love (agape) is greater than the gift of prophecy and unconditional faith. You can have prophecy that reveals all mysteries and all knowledge and faith that can move mountains, Paul said, but if its not done through love, its meaningless.

I don't remember anywhere in the Gospels where Jesus burned the idols of common people, many of whom were probably pagans and not Jewish. The only institution he desecrated was that of the exploitative money changers, who were profiting off of the spirituality of worshipers at the temple, and he'd do the same thing today to televangelist, super churches. He approached people with respect, whether they were prostitutes, beggars, Centurions, politicians, crooked tax collectors,etc etc. He'd also give the same respect to Muslims.

Also, if Christians believe that their mission in life is to prevent other people from going to hell for not believing what they believe, I don't see how intentionally alienating the Muslim community is accomplishing anything for the salvation of Muslims.

I, myself, think Christ was a wise teacher who was crucified for being a threat to the general power structure in his region and had a personality cult develop around him centuries after his death. I believe people should focus less on his divinity and more on his teachings of compassion and peace.

[cleanhippie]

12. Kinda difficult for a fictional character to burn anything.

[Igel]

13. Ah. You know the same trick I used to use on my kid.

He'd have gone from one extreme to another when neither was true.

So I'd give him something that's blue and something that's red, and tell him he had to say whether the next thing I show him is blue or red. Then I'd hand him a sheet of white paper. He'd be confused. Then I'd hand him a yellow toy car. "Is it red or blue? C'mon, doesn't it have to be one or the other?"

He's still learning that he's not either brilliant or an idiot, the strongest kid on earth or the weakest, the best reader on earth or the worst. That, for every set of opposites, he's in with the overwhelming majority.

Note that the NT narrative has Jesus calling out Pharisees as hypocrites and liars, condemning their actions in public and saying that if they don't get their act together their end will be bad. This is love, as usually described?

Was pitching over the money changer tables in the temple to restore the sanctity of a place love for mankind? I mean, the moneychangers did an important service. Did Jesus "love" his enemies at that time?

Or is "love" in these instances telling somebody that they're utterly wrong, condemning their wrong acts and beliefs, and even preventing them from doing something wrong? Note that I don't consider the Florida pastor to be Xian, but Koran burning isn't either necessary or sufficient for that. That's an utter irrelevancy, as far as I'm concerned, and foolishly wrongheaded if proselytizing is his goal.

I'd note that while the Florida fruitcake is reviled, not everything he said supports the "condemning entire groups of people" idea. Far from it, but the distinction between "loving the person and hating the sin" is a fine hair to split sometimes--and he doesn't always succeed at it.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

14. How about "the Koran didn't exist at that time"?

There's no record of Jesus bashing the religions that did exist in the first century, though.