Poll: Dilemma Time, would you burn a book ?

[magicmonkeybars]

OH wait, my life is at stake? Burn it, burn it now!
It's always good to save literature of all kinds, but there is a price limit.

But let's up the ante here, would you save a book at the expense of someone elses life?

No, I wouldn't save a book if it would cost someone their life.

 

[kasperbbs]

Die for a book filled with crap that makes people hate one another? It can burn.

 

[shadowslayer81]

I would never burn any book, no matter if my preference prefer some other book.

Religious books make people happy, that should be enough reason to die. Yes people use it as an excuse, but they will always find more excuses to bring suffering, and if a book makes people happy and whole, who am I to deny that?

 

[Kakujin]

Without question. My life is worth considerably more than a book of lies, myths, bland advice and most likely a good amount of petty hatred.

How many of these books have you read ?

yes holy books trend quite thick and can be used as kindling for quite a lot longer than other ones, also if people still follow it then it will be re written or the culture can survive.

Some of what is within will be lost forever, noone can recreate a whole book verbatim.

Your asking a predominantly atheist community if they would burn a religious text to save their life? We all know what most would do, hell some would ask if they could have another to burn.

There wouldn't be another copy for them to burn.

Yes I would, books can be rewritten by those that know and uphold its traditions

Wouldn't that leave the rewrite open to changes both subtle and dramatic ?
The core of the beliefs might be preserved but the whole is always lost.

Isn't the core of the beliefs what is important in a religion. Either way none of the major religions have gone unaltered. Every time a book is translated or just reread things change in the interpretation of the words, and the effects they have on the reader.

Human culture springs from humans, and as long as I don't burn the last human, I have no issues with burning books to stay alive.

True, for religious purposes all you'd really need is the core beliefs but those in most cases can fit on a pamphlet.
A holy book is more than just an outline of beliefs.
They contain stories and poems that have no impact on the faith portion that are just as valuable if not more so.
A wealth of culture would be lost if we'd burn the last Quran for example even if muslims still remembered the basic tenants of their faith.

And how do you think those stories came to be from the start? They did not just spring into life, they came from oral tradition, and that is how they will survive

Some will survive true enough but not all of them, some will be lost and is that loss worth your life ?
Would you burn the Mona Lisa just because we have picture of it or because we can always repaint a similar painting ?

Are a few stories saved worth what I or my descendants might create for mankind?
And yes I would, several of the paintings enjoyed in museums all over the world are copies, for safety reasons. Are they any less enjoyable because of that? Is the imagery depicted any less moving?

Who is to say your children will have children ?
You or your children won't be the last people who can create new culture what makes you so special, so unique ?
What about the brush strokes or the pigments used in the paint do they have no value ?
To you or any random person they subtlety might be lost but to someone who wishes to study the piece it would be tragic not to be able to see it.
How many people would you be willing to kill to save your children ?

Nothing makes me, or my children unique or special at least not by default. But the same thing is true about the stories in religious books. Who is to say that those stories are more special than any other.
I did not say it would not be tragic for some, but how many works of art have not already been lost forever and forgotten about, or never completed at all? Life would go on and new masterpieces would be created and studied for generations to come.
Not that I am sure of what this has to do with anything, but I would never hunt down and kill people for the sake of my children, but I would defend them against any attack, no matter how many I would have to kill. That which is mine will always be more important to me, than anyone else.

 

[Tiger Sora]

I'd burn it. History is ruined anyways once I travel through time after this.

 

[Gincairn]

As an athiest, I'd have no problem with it, you could say it would mean the loss of a religious text that has shaped mankind, but at the same point, all religious texts were written by man, give it enough time and i'm sure another one would get written.

And on that day, I'd have my lighter ready.

 

[shadowslayer81]

As an athiest, I'd have no problem with it, you could say it would mean the loss of a religious text that has shaped mankind, but at the same point, all religious texts were written by man, give it enough time and i'm sure another one would get written.
And on that day, I'd have my lighter ready.

So you would destroy something that makes others happy simply because you don't personally believe in it?

 

[i7omahawki]

The only book I'd really consider saving is Thus Spoke Zarathustra...I wouldn't die for something I didn't believe in, even if it meant a lot to others. If it meant so much, why can't they remember it or save a few copies?

 

[Zarmi]

Of course I would. Preferrably religious books. Maybe humanity could actually start moving a bit forward then.

 

[Biodeamon]

no, i'd eat it! there will be no traces of that thing left! it must be wiped from the earth!
also they're high in fibre

 

[Orpheus III]

Eh. It's probably just the Tome of Eternal Darkness anyways.

 

[magicmonkeybars]

Nothing makes me, or my children unique or special at least not by default. But the same thing is true about the stories in religious books. Who is to say that those stories are more special than any other.
I did not say it would not be tragic for some, but how many works of art have not already been lost forever and forgotten about, or never completed at all? Life would go on and new masterpieces would be created and studied for generations to come.
Not that I am sure of what this has to do with anything, but I would never hunt down and kill people for the sake of my children, but I would defend them against any attack, no matter how many I would have to kill. That which is mine will always be more important to me, than anyone else.

So to be harsh, ultimately the only thing of value to you is your own life and that of your family.
Fair enough, it's hard to argue with that reasoning.

 

[funguy2121]

I know this is already a thread but it got me to think.
Would you burn the last copy of a holy book to save your own life or die knowing that you saved a part of human culture and history from being lost forever ?

It shouldn't matter which religion you save, one religion has just as much right to endure as the next.

Funny. After the Muslim fundie lunatics murdered those people in retaliation for the Christian fundie lunatic in Florida burning a copy of the Koran, some douche talking head on a radio show asked a similar question: is a book worth more than a human life?

I would take issue with your last assertion: Shintoism, Buddhism and the Hare Krishna faith do not have a thorough history of war and civil rights violations, whereas Christianity and Islam do. Though I am aware that much of these offenses involved humankind's interpretation of these these religions, based on this more eastern religions have a greater right to be here.

I would absolutely not die for a religious book. Maybe something of greater value, such as The Republic, (my dying words would be "You have to tough it out at first...it gets better) but never a work of mysticism / epistemological nihilism.

 

[Kakujin]

Nothing makes me, or my children unique or special at least not by default. But the same thing is true about the stories in religious books. Who is to say that those stories are more special than any other.
I did not say it would not be tragic for some, but how many works of art have not already been lost forever and forgotten about, or never completed at all? Life would go on and new masterpieces would be created and studied for generations to come.
Not that I am sure of what this has to do with anything, but I would never hunt down and kill people for the sake of my children, but I would defend them against any attack, no matter how many I would have to kill. That which is mine will always be more important to me, than anyone else.

So to be harsh, ultimately the only thing of value to you is your own life and that of your family.
Fair enough, it's hard to argue with that reasoning.

I find it interesting that that side of the story, which you brought in all on your own, is now the only argument that gets a response. Then let me ask you something back, would you kill everyone you love and care about to save the Mona Lisa?

 

[hipster666]

It's an interesting question although the poll could have been made clearer that your LIFE is at risk. Still, I don't think intellectual property of any kind should be destroyed. Look at China who systematically destroyed centuries of their own culture because it wasn't in keeping with the politics of the ruling party. They have since tried to piece things back together, much have others on this thread have suggested, from word of mouth and surviving records, however there is so much lost to them forever which cover the detail of what went before. It's all well and good getting the broad strokes of your culture's history but the lessons often come from the detail.

I think people on this thread should carefully consider what the question implicates when it means burning the LAST copy of a religious text. Heck, almost any book really deserves to be preserved as a moment in our culture's evolution. Losing that could have disasterous consequences...

 

[somonels]

Yes. Can I haz more bible, plz? Howz abuut a q-ran? [...]
Going to draw the line there, before calling money the jewish holy book. Capitalists would have me assassinated for that.

 

[magicmonkeybars]

Nothing makes me, or my children unique or special at least not by default. But the same thing is true about the stories in religious books. Who is to say that those stories are more special than any other.
I did not say it would not be tragic for some, but how many works of art have not already been lost forever and forgotten about, or never completed at all? Life would go on and new masterpieces would be created and studied for generations to come.
Not that I am sure of what this has to do with anything, but I would never hunt down and kill people for the sake of my children, but I would defend them against any attack, no matter how many I would have to kill. That which is mine will always be more important to me, than anyone else.

So to be harsh, ultimately the only thing of value to you is your own life and that of your family.
Fair enough, it's hard to argue with that reasoning.

I find it interesting that that side of the story, which you brought in all on your own, is now the only argument that gets a response. Then let me ask you something back, would you kill everyone you love and care about to save the Mona Lisa?

That's assuming I have loved ones or people I care about.
No, I would happily burn the Mona Lisa.
You should know that I was the first "yes I would burn the book" vote in my poll.
I just argued with you to understand your value system better.
You don't care about people over culture, you care about your life over culture.
Would you still burn the book if it was a stranger's life you'd save ?

 

[rokkolpo]

Unless the book is my religion.

Note that I don't have a religion but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't destroy something I believed in.

 

[magicmonkeybars]

Without question. My life is worth considerably more than a book of lies, myths, bland advice and most likely a good amount of petty hatred.

How many of these books have you read ?

3

The Bible, The Qur'an and the Bhagavad Gita.

Sorry if you were expecting me to go "Herp derp, I skimmed through the old testament once".

And honestly my point still stands affirmed if these books were nothing but loving grace, wisdom and truth - My life is worth more. Pity that no holy book i've ever read could be described thusly.

May I suggest the Tao te Ching, I hear good things about it.

 

[Mark Hardigan]

I am against burning any type of book, whether you agree with its message or not. I would be a hypocrite if I burned a book just to save my own life. Unless it was Twilight. In which case, **** my principles.