Sweden's Freedom Drama and Book Burning
16 July 2023 By Abiodun Kareem Giwa
From Fahrenheit 451 study guide. (Courtesy:ThoughtCo)
A twist on Saturday in the expectation a man would burn the Bible in front of the Israeli Embassy in Stockholm, Sweden. But he instead seized the opportunity to inform Journalists that burning sacred books constitutes a hate crime. News reporters who gathered in front of the Consulate did not have news of the burning of a holy book but what the burning meant. YeniSafak reported Ahmet Allus' decision not to burn but to preserve against what he obtained the police permission for.
Allus, a Syrian, obtained police permission to burn the Bible or Torah like an Iraque had burned the Quran in front of a Mosque. The report about an intent to burn the Bible in front of the Israeli embassy was greeted with public disapproval, just as the Quran burning in front of a Mosque earlier received condemnations. People say freedom dramatization of the Swedish government allowing police permission to burn sacred books was overt.
The first insight from the Sweden events is the book's burning arrival age, regardless of whether sacred or not. Ray Bradbury predicted it in Fahrenheit 451 - a 1953 dystopian novel, Wikipedia. It presents a society where books are personified and outlawed, and firefighters burn any they find. Although Bradbury has an American community in mind, it can apply to any culture, given that the world is now a global village. Why would anyone burn a book? Is it for the lack of love for the book's content or the burner's lack of understanding that every book is a knowledge repository?
Why did the Iraque burn the Quran in Sweden? DW reports the man as a Refugee who wanted the book banned. The irony in the case is he is a Moslem. What could have caused his hate for a book of instruction on which his upbringing depended? Children from Muslim homes receive instructions from the Quran like their Christian counterparts. Could there have been a time the education did not serve his purpose or needs? Could that have been enough reason for burning the book publicly? Only the man can say the exact reason for his act other than madness, making him leave Iraq, where he lacks such freedom, and seizes the opportunity in Sweden for dramatization. It says much about people who misuse freedom.
Fighting against the burning of books, in general, is one thing and another for sacred texts. Some Atheists would have nothing to do with religion and their holy books. Here is a case of an Iraque who just went ahead and burned a sacred book he wanted to be banned and another Syrian Moslem who wished prevalence of knowledge and common sense. Religious adherents would describe the first as anti-God, and the other as an instrument in God's hands. And this would reveal the issue of people who think they can fight for God and those who think no one can and that God fights for himself.
Do you think God can fight for himself and those pretending to fight for God as another problem, like the Iraque Refugee who burned the Quran? A certain man in the Bible, Gamaliel, says God should be allowed to fight for himself. "And now I say unto you, refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to naught: "But if it is of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God." King James, Act 5: 38-39. The story of Saul, who became Paul in the Acts, is another lesson on how God uses men as instruments to achieve his purpose.
Is it any wonder that Allus, a Syrian Moslem, after watching the burning of the Quran by an Iraque Refugee, aware of the implication to the community's peace and love among people of different cultures, applied for police permission to burn the Bible but turned it into a teaching moment for the world to know the insanity of burning sacred books?
Has God not used Allus to diffuse a dangerous situation that has seen some men globally using words to condemn the Iraque Refugees Act and at the same time begin charging Allus, appearing to fight for God, unaware of Allus' intention?
Allus, a Syrian, obtained police permission to burn the Bible or Torah like an Iraque had burned the Quran in front of a Mosque. The report about an intent to burn the Bible in front of the Israeli embassy was greeted with public disapproval, just as the Quran burning in front of a Mosque earlier received condemnations. People say freedom dramatization of the Swedish government allowing police permission to burn sacred books was overt.
The first insight from the Sweden events is the book's burning arrival age, regardless of whether sacred or not. Ray Bradbury predicted it in Fahrenheit 451 - a 1953 dystopian novel, Wikipedia. It presents a society where books are personified and outlawed, and firefighters burn any they find. Although Bradbury has an American community in mind, it can apply to any culture, given that the world is now a global village. Why would anyone burn a book? Is it for the lack of love for the book's content or the burner's lack of understanding that every book is a knowledge repository?
Why did the Iraque burn the Quran in Sweden? DW reports the man as a Refugee who wanted the book banned. The irony in the case is he is a Moslem. What could have caused his hate for a book of instruction on which his upbringing depended? Children from Muslim homes receive instructions from the Quran like their Christian counterparts. Could there have been a time the education did not serve his purpose or needs? Could that have been enough reason for burning the book publicly? Only the man can say the exact reason for his act other than madness, making him leave Iraq, where he lacks such freedom, and seizes the opportunity in Sweden for dramatization. It says much about people who misuse freedom.
Fighting against the burning of books, in general, is one thing and another for sacred texts. Some Atheists would have nothing to do with religion and their holy books. Here is a case of an Iraque who just went ahead and burned a sacred book he wanted to be banned and another Syrian Moslem who wished prevalence of knowledge and common sense. Religious adherents would describe the first as anti-God, and the other as an instrument in God's hands. And this would reveal the issue of people who think they can fight for God and those who think no one can and that God fights for himself.
Do you think God can fight for himself and those pretending to fight for God as another problem, like the Iraque Refugee who burned the Quran? A certain man in the Bible, Gamaliel, says God should be allowed to fight for himself. "And now I say unto you, refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to naught: "But if it is of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God." King James, Act 5: 38-39. The story of Saul, who became Paul in the Acts, is another lesson on how God uses men as instruments to achieve his purpose.
Is it any wonder that Allus, a Syrian Moslem, after watching the burning of the Quran by an Iraque Refugee, aware of the implication to the community's peace and love among people of different cultures, applied for police permission to burn the Bible but turned it into a teaching moment for the world to know the insanity of burning sacred books?
Has God not used Allus to diffuse a dangerous situation that has seen some men globally using words to condemn the Iraque Refugees Act and at the same time begin charging Allus, appearing to fight for God, unaware of Allus' intention?
