Elf Sternberg

It's not that I'm an insensitive bastard, really I have some cultural sensitivity.

But whenever I hear this story discussed, I have trouble not laughing. Maybe it's the imagery of someone trying to flush a book down a toilet. And the book not actually going down the pipes, but just hanging there in the bowl, swirling around in the water.

The way I see it, *anyone* who is going to get bent over someone else's actions, actions which don't directly hurt any other person or animal, but theoretically may hurt some metaphysical being's feelings (who won't show themselves to register a complaint), is a sad, sad person. That folks throw tantrums over what others do is pathetic. Each individual is responsible for his or her own actions, not the actions of others, and it's foolish to take offense at whatever tasteless things someone else might do. Such things only reflect badly on the person doing them, not on anyone else. If interrogators actually did such things, it just reflects on their stunning stupidity if they actually believed that seeing one's holy book desecrated was going to cause them to have a faith crisis. Come on...if anything, such behavior would justify the perceived evil and heighten their resolve as martyrs and protectors of their faith against the infidels.