Why they want to burn the Quran - Joe Conason - Salon.com: Still, most conservatives would no doubt be alarmed by a book-burning, whether of the Koran or any other work. Yet they seem strangely oblivious to the relentless demonizing of Islam by figures in their movement, especially over the Park51 controversy, and how that furious drumbeat would encourage the burning of the Koran. They consistently refuse to take responsibility for their own role in encouraging those rancid emotions.