The First Step is Admitting You Have a Problem

A while back, some internet-ly person linked The Council on American-Islamic Relations on their blog, and noted that they offer free copies of the Qur'an to those who would like a better understanding of Islam. Now, if you know me, you know I signed up faster than you can say "religious tolerance." First off, I love learning about religions. Second, I want primary source ammo to use against bastards who think "muslim" is a synonym for "terrorist." But the final, deal-sealing reason that I ordered it is that I am powerless in the face of free books. Seriously. I have numerous pocket-sized New Testaments; I came home from Russia with a suitcase that almost surpassed the international weight limits because the city we stayed in gave us so many free books; and when I was in High School I acquired Homophobia: A Weapon of Sexism well before knowing that I would one day find it referenced in one of my grad school classes.

But it takes a few weeks for CAIR to process orders for free Qur'ans, so I kind of forgot that I ordered it... until today. My mother called down to me that I had a book in the mail, and I was stumped. I couldn't remember buying any books lately (alas, I am also powerless in the face of not-so-free books), and I haven't yet talked to any of the text-book reps whoo will soon become like drug dealers to me. So I went upstairs, looked at the package, and started to laugh. I said to my mom, "You'll love this" and opened it up. There was my beautiful, hard-cover, embossed, FREE copy of The Holy Qur'an (in both Arabic and English).

Mom thinks this is pretty cool, until she finds out I got it free off the internet:

Mom: Wait, we're now on some FBI watch list because you wanted a copy of the Qur'an?
Me: (slightly sheepish) I'm powerless in the face of free books.