Kuwait announced this week that it will print thousands of copies of the Quran in Swedish to be distributed in the Nordic country, calling it an effort to educate the Swedish people on Islamic "values of coexistence." The plan was announced after the desecration of a Quran during a one-man anti-Islam protest that Swedish police authorized in Stockholm last month.
Kuwaiti Prime Minister Sheikh Ahmad Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah said the Public Authority for Public Care would print and distribute 100,000 translated copies of the Muslim holy book in Sweden, to "affirm the tolerance of the Islamic religion and promote values of coexistence among all human beings," according to the country's state news agency Kuna.
On June 28, Salwan Momika, a 37-year-old Iraqi Christian who had sought asylum in Sweden on religious grounds, stood outside the Stockholm Central Mosque and threw a copy of the Quran into the air and burned some of its pages.
The stunt came on the first day of Eid-al-Adha, one of the most important festivals on the Islamic calendar, and it triggered anger among Muslims worldwide. Protests were held in many Muslim nations, including Iraq, where hundreds of angry demonstrators stormed the Swedish embassy compound.
CBS News sought comment from the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the Kuwaiti government's announcement, but did not receive a reply by the time of publication.
The U.S. State Department condemned the desecration of the Quran in Stockholm, but said Swedish authorities were right to authorize the small protest where it occurred.
"We believe that demonstration creates an environment of fear that will impact the ability of Muslims and members of other religious minority groups from freely exercising their right to freedom of religion or belief in Sweden," State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said. "We also believe that issuing the permit for this demonstration supports freedom of expression and is not an endorsement of the demonstration's actions."
The United Nations Human Rights Council adopted a resolution Wednesday condemning the burning of the Quran as an act of religious hatred. The U.S. and a handful of European nations voted against the resolution, which was introduced by Pakistan on behalf of the 57-nation Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), arguing that it contradicts their perspectives on human rights and freedom of expression.
There shouldn't be freedom of religion. I'd interpret this as a hostile action by Kuwait to try and encourage the growth of a hate group.
Every religion has extremists. Every single one. Even Hindus and Sikhs have idiots that commit atrocities in the name of religion. Doesn't make the religions themselves hateful.
I dunno dude if every single religion has a problem with, your words, committing atrocities, maybe we just shouldn't allow religion.
Really its just every big group of humans.
Cool, let's ban them all! Grown up men and women have no place believing in magical sky daddies.
You are correct, however, I'll offer this counterpoint:
If you believe in an imaginary man in the sky as an adult, it's not different than an adult believing in Santa or the Easter Bunny. You'd look at that person as mentally ill... yet we give religion a pass for some reason?
No... we should be treating these people as mentally ill, because that's what they are. They have full fledged delusions and need help. They shouldn't be allowed to own firearms, hold public office, be in any position of authority, vote, etc... until they are cured. Allowing mentally ill people to run society is madness, yet here we are.
Good to know the /r/atheist edgelords came over from reddit too.
Nah, c'mon, it's disingenuous to make that comparison.
Every rational believer will more or less tell you the same thing. They don't believe the holy texts word for word. The whole man/woman/being in the sky. They take them as teachings and whatnot and will tell you that they don't know what's out there, just that they believe there's more to life than we know. And that's okay. That's not mental illness. Some people just need to believe there's more out there in order to have a purpose and whatnot.
As for the fanatics, it doesn't matter if you take religion away. They'll find different reasons to hate. Race, nationality, wealth, etc.
What do you call kidnapping and killing entire generations of indigenous populations in order to get them to convert to Christianity? Or all of the right wingers shooting up places in the western version of suicide bombing?
Wow bots got here fast
You also mistake the religion to be a problem when it’s the most powerful and wealthiest countries that back theocracies like the Saudis and Isreel that actually fund wahabhism and induce acts of terror.
Money is the problem.
People have been beating each other to death with rocks over gods & demons since we used barter, my guy. It's a problem inherent to tribalism. "Big money" doesn't get people burning their daughters and sisters as witches.