Koran Burning and American Media Hypocrisy

I just love when events like the upcoming Koran burning in Florida expose the hypocrisy of the American media. An event that would be a non-issue if it were the book of any other religion in the world has suddenly become a major event because some wacko decided to burn some copies of the Koran (or Qu'ran, etc.) Is this event really about how offensive this is to the Muslim world, or is simply a chance for the media to score points against fundamentalist Christians and cater to the Muslim world? I decided to do a little research on Youtube as to just how prevalent the burning of the holy books of different religions is. This is what I found.

1. Christian Bible: Not surprisingly, lots of videos of burning the Christian Bible exist on Youtube; and they don't seem to have generated much of a reaction from the media. Could it be that the media doesn't care as long as the beliefs being picked on are those of the Western world? I'll let you be the judge.

Burning the Bible: Okay on Youtube

2. American Flag: But, maybe this is only a discourtesy extended to religion. Surely, the outcry from the media would be much greater if people were burning the flags of the United States of America, the beacon of democracy and science for much of the world . . .  or not.

American Flag Burning Also Okay on Youtube

3. Book of Mormon: Maybe I've been looking in the wrong direction here. After all, both Americans and Christians hold a lot of power in the world, particularly in the United States. Perhaps if it was the holy book of a minor Christian sect, the Mormons perhaps, the outrage would be greater. I mean, after all, both Mormons and Muslims comprise a small minority of the population of the United States (~5 million or so). Both routinely have their beliefs misrepresented in public, are made pariahs by the public, and get blamed for things collectively that individuals in each group my privately oppose. Surely, a higher standard of scrutiny will exist if someone tries to burn the holy book of those poor Mormons. Eh, not so much.

Marilyn Manson Burns Book of Mormon: Where is The Outrage?

4. Burning Gross Stuff: My final idea was that maybe the media outrage was so great in this case because it was just nasty, kind of like burning old underwear of fecal matter. Unfortunately, my theory failed yet again. Both of those types of videos exist in abundance on Youtube.

Burning Underwear on Youtube

The video of burning poop wont load for some reason, but just search "burn poop" on Youtube.


5. Burning Koran: Finally, I come to the acme of the article. This is what I got when I searched "burning Koran" on Youtube. Notice anything absent -- like a pertinent search result?

Even though only the first three search terms are present, a video of an actual Koran burning is equally hard to find if you scroll down the first, second, or even third pages. Youtube: censor much?

I did finally manage to find a video of a Koran burning, which will be the final thing I include in my post. So, in summary, the media doesn't mind if people make fun of religion or culture -- as long as it's of the Western flavor.





Hot Muslim Chick (she's not saving herself for Allah in the afterlife):

Hot Muslim Chick: Allah Who?

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• Will YouTube Censor "Burn A Koran Day"? And Should It? (blogs.forbes.com)
• Associated Press Orders No Pictures Shown of Burned Korans; Burned Christian Bibles, Not So Much (michellemalkin.com)
• Why Did the Media Make Such a Big Deal About Burning the Koran (themoderatevoice.com)