Pastor's plan to burn Koran captivates readers

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Former Terry Jones church in Germany denounces Koran-burning plan

The Koran is not the only book that ought to be burned. I think the human race is enlightened enough to move all the religious books to museums, to the archeological section with Egyptian mummies. -- Paul, Canada

It is my opinion that Terry Jones is simply feeling long overdue for his 15 minutes of fame. He doesn't seem to care that he might bring harm to his countrymen while obtaining it. He has obviously learned that creating an extremely negative, hate-inciting experience and making it public is as good a way to get attention. It's incredibly sad that our belief in basic freedoms can lead us to the dreadful possibility that this action will actually take place. There are no repercussions available to effectively deal with this type of decision made by an egomaniac who can brainwash other human beings into believing his tainted doctrine. -- Pamela, Canada

I am saddened by the news of the so called minister to burn the Koran. I am a Christian and I know Jesus Christ believed in peace and tolerance. We are in a country that is supposed to have respect for all beliefs. This is so wrong! Don't we have enough problems? This isn't what our Lord would want. What's next? Burning up all religious material that isn't in agreement with our own? God help us all. This minister and whoever gets involved will be responsible for many lives here and overseas. -- Maryanna, US

Well, instead of the usual quaking in our boots and bending over backward to appease Muslims and pander to their demands and hurt feelings, perhaps it would be a healthy change to send a "warning" instead as this guy suggests. An interesting idea, that is for sure. What if a warning had been sent to Hitler sooner? There are people in the world, perhaps a majority, who respect strength and a show of force much more than niceness. Besides, a wise old Hindu once taught me that nice is not always good, and good is not always nice. -- Victoria, US

The after-effect of the pastor's action is unimaginable. The tension in Nigeria is high now and the result of this might be so disastrous that we might not be able to recover from it. Although it's happening in the US, there might be crises in Nigeria. All necessary steps should be taken to stop this man. -- Funso, Nigeria

I have to applaud the pastor for his statement. The reason is that both the ground zero mosque and the Koran burning are provocative, yet the government of US is siding with the Muslims in both situations. What is clearly behind it is the desire not to offend Muslims, because if they are offended they take to the streets and commit violence. This proves the pastor's point; that we are afraid of the radical element in Islam and we need to finally say "enough is enough" and call them out and teach them a lesson, which is "we will live our lives as we want and not let your threats control us." If General Petraeus thinks that the only way he can keep his troops safe is by controlling the exercise of legal rights back home among civilians, then there is a huge problem. -- Scott, Canada

As long as we continue to use religion as a tool of hate rather than acceptance we will have insecure fools like Terry Jones. We must not allow fear and ignorance to trump common sense. Either we all learn to coexist or we will continue to have wars and more destruction of our Earth. -- Suzanne, US

Compiled by Stuart Tiffen
Editor: Nancy Isenson