Oh my God! Now a copy of the Koran has been found lying in a drain! (via)

At least 3,000 protesters enraged by the alleged desecration of the Koran clashed with police and torched two cinemas in Pakistan’s second largest city Lahore, police said on Wednesday.

The city, was tense after the mob rampaged through a poor neighbourhood overnight and also smashed up dozens of vehicles, local police officer Mohammad Abbas said.

The trouble erupted late on Tuesday when copies of the Muslim holy book were found lying in a drain in the Bhatta chowk area on the fringes of the sprawling city.

“The news of the desecration of the Koran spread quickly in the neighbourhood and within no time some three to four thousand people took to the streets shouting slogans against the desecration,” Abbas said.

He said the crowd armed with bamboo sticks turned violent, setting fire to two cinema houses and attacking public and private properties.

“Police used a mild baton charge to restore order, but the situation is very tense,” he said.

What was it Christopher Hitchens said?

The babyish rumor-fueled tantrums that erupt all the time, especially in the Islamic world, show yet again that faith belongs to the spoiled and selfish childhood of our species.

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One response to “More Horror”

  1. Andres Kupfer Avatar

    Hi Mick
    I would argue that the Hitch’s statement is true only when it comes to the personal dimension of religion. However, there are also social, cultural, political dimensions of religion. And in a social sense it’s not difficult to argue that religion can be a social illness: what else can we call a force that drives to violence perpetrated by a people against itself, not to mention the destruction of communal spaces? This could be read as a form of social self-harming.
    Your post reminded me that earlier this week The Times’ front page informed us that the our government is going to start giving blades to self-harmers. I guess it wouldn’t be difficult to build an argument around the idea that governments that promote religion (in the form of supporting religious schools, for instance, as our government does) are giving their peoples a rather sharp tool for self-harm.
    Best,
    Andres

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