A quirky Florida sect has finally carried out its threat to burn the Quran. Once again the obscure sect was rewarded with worldwide attention.
The absurdly named Dove Outreach Center in Gainesville, Fla., claims that burning the Quran is an act of freedom of expression articulating the view that Islam is evil. Moreover, the virulent animosity stirred up in the Muslim world by the Quran burning only proves their point.
They accept no responsibility for ensuing riots in Afghanistan that resulted in many deaths, including nine rioters in the Taliban hotbed of Kandahar, Afghanistan, and 11 deaths in an insurgent-organized attack on the U.N. compound in the northern city of Mazar-I-Sharif.
What is expression?
Burning books is a strange way of promoting freedom of expression, but there is a precedent for burning flags and burning political leaders in effigy as a form of legitimate political expression. The Quran is a symbol of the religion: hence the burning.
The World Trade Center was also a symbol -- of American imperialism -- and thus targeted for destruction by al Qaeda. If burning books is "expression," how about burning office towers with workers in them? We are much more upset at the idea of homicidal self expression than at the burning of books.
The Muslim world, however, seems to be much more incensed by the burning of their religious text than they are by arbitrary destruction of human life, whether by suicide bombers, American drone attacks or religious stonings.
What is freedom?
Lawyers have an old saying that one must not yell "Fire!" in a crowded theater. Freedom of expression is contingent on responsible assessment of possible harm arising from one's actions. Or, as John Stewart Mill expressed it, "The right to swing one's fist ends with one's neighbor's nose."
Unlike the Florida sect, the Dutch really care about freedom of expression and felt that it was being seriously eroded by conservative Muslims among them. Hence the publication of cartoons portraying Mohammed as a terrorist and other depictions that proved deeply offensive to Muslims around the world, inciting protests and riots in which about 100 people died.
The newspaper putting out these cartoons, Jyllands-Posten, may not have accurately predicted the consequences, at least for the first printing. In effect, this was exactly like crying "Fire!" in the crowded theater and many innocent people died in the ensuing stampede. Knowing the likely consequence means that burning Qurans in Gainesville, or anywhere else, is an act of criminal mischief.
Should we respect religion?
There is no need to respect any particular religion, such as Islam, or all religions. Religious people often claim high ground for themselves and their faiths but are not particularly ethical in their conduct.
With freedom of expression comes responsibility -- in this case, to avoid needless bloodshed by pointless burning of qurans. Does this mean that the terrorists have won and that they are enforcing sharia throughout the world and denying us of free speech by censoring opportunities to criticize Islam? Not really. There are other, less inflammatory, less deadly, ways of criticizing Islam.
Under our system of government, no one is obliged to respect any particular religion. What we do respect is another person's freedom of thought. That means that if someone is an atheist, they are entitled to express the opinion that all religions are substantially works of fiction.
How about respecting people?
We do not need to respect either Christianity or Islam, as belief systems, just the right of individuals to believe them. We do, however, need to recognize that religious identity and symbols are important for many people throughout the world.
The Dutch cartoons were inflammatory, not because they depicted the face of Mohammad but because they depicted him in an unflattering way that was perceived as deliberately insulting. Burning the Quran is viewed similarly except that this is also considered an unspeakable blasphemy in a part of the world that does not guarantee freedom of religion, much less freedom of expression.
Instead of respecting religion, we need to respect people. We can begin by respecting their right to life.
Paul Brandeis Raushenbush: How the Quran Burning Threat Showed What Is Good About America
Terry Jones - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Who Is Terry Jones? Pastor Behind 'Burn a Koran Day' - ABC News
Why Terry Jones Quran burning spurred two days of deadly Afghan ...
Afghan Violence Spreads Over Terry Jones' Quran Burning - ABC News
Rev. Terry Jones: Quran Burning "Very Necessary" - The Early Show ...
Terry Jones Finally Got That Koran-Burning Out of His System ...
It wasn't a stampede, it was murder. This argument wouldn't pass muster in even a introductory ethics class.
You cannot hold someone responsible for the violence committed intentionally by other people. If that were true, I could hold you responsible for the deaths of those U.N. workers, since you're giving legitimacy to the actions of these extremists by arguing we should squelch free speech. When someone hears that all they need to do to get what they want is threaten to kill someone, what do you think they're going to do?
I will take my First Amendment freedoms over their "holy" book any day.
Maybe atheists should get out there on the hustings with one of the two new Atheist Bibles that have just been released, and maybe even do some door knocking. If churchies think they are being unfairly impacted now, let them be at the end of this sort of proselytizing for a little while; oh how they would whinge and wouldn't even realize the hypocrisy. We have no obligation to respect grown individuals who cannot see what a ten year old can see if that ten year old has not been indoctrinated since birth.
And, you know what? No one would die...
"Our response to Muslim violence in Afghanistan, supposedly touched off by a Koran burning in Florida, uses that same canine logic. The Muslims are dangerous and violent, so whoever provokes them is held accountable for what they do. Don't tease a doberman on the other side of a chain link fence and don't tease Muslims on the other side of the border or the world. That's the takeaway from our elected and unelected officials."
"If a Christian had torched a mosque in response to the Muslim arson of churches in Africa-- is there any liberal columnist or pundit who would have directed the lion's share of the blame at the original Muslim arsonists? No. The mosque burning would be treated as an independent act with no linkage to the church arsons. That is the attitude of Western jurisprudence which does not allow one crime to justify another, let alone one provocation to justify a crime. Individuals are treated as responsible moral actors-- not shooting balls in a pinball machine. Why then does this standard fly out the window when it comes to Muslims? Why does the press so easily sink into the rhetoric of 'retaliation and 'provocation', treating Muslim terrorism as a reflex, rather than a chosen act."
http://sultanknish.blogspot.com/2011/04/muslims-and-moral-handicaps.html
Yes. That absolutely is a form of expression and I think we *should be* more upset about homicide than burning books especially in a time when so much is digital. I think that we have our priorities right in outlawing homicidal self expression.
"Speech is powerful. It can stir people to action, move them to tears of both joy and sorrow, and -- as it did here -- inflict great pain. On the facts before us, we cannot react to that pain by punishing the speaker. As a nation we have chosen a different course -- to protect even hurtful speech on public issues to ensure that we do not stifle public debate."
Before the inevitable "just because you can doesn't mean you should" comment arrives, just let me say that that isn't relevant. The author says that Terry is guilty of a crime. He isn't.
Not really surprising given that the intent was control, or if you prefer submission. I'm not trying to be provocative here. Someday, someone will have the balls to write a serious critic of the text from a psycological and neurlogical point of view.
Until we step up and get adult about the text we will continue to play timidly in the corner with our scrabble pieces.
"The Evolution and Origin of the Language of the Koran"
http://gatesofvienna.blogspot.com/2011/04/god-does-not-speak-arabic-part-1.html#more
NJ dealer who gave pastor car denounces Quran burn
http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/04/01/2146087/dealer-who-gave-pastor-car-denounces.html
Curiously, the types of people that are trotting out this old chestnut in order to frame a peaceful protester (burning a book is a peaceful protest) as a murderer seem to be the same types of people that would happily hand out fliers protesting a military draft YET the purpose of the Schenck case was to PREVENT people from protesting the draft during times of war.
see for yourself:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shouting_fire_in_a_crowded_theater
So, by bringing up "shouting "fire" in a crowded theater" you are all solidly on the side of extreme conservatives who wish to ban all forms of protest against the government.
As far as moral guilt, you are trying to pile onto Jones, a simple idiot, the moral guilt of more than 3 decades of killing in Afghanistan that primed the event. He is guilty of nothing but poor taste.
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I respect people who respect me. Don't you?
I don't respect religious bullies who demand respect for their ideas and customs. This is especially true of religious bullies who issue threats.
There is a bad name for those who respond to disrespect with an imitation of respect.
It is no accident that the first attack on the U.N. compound happened Friday, right after the prayers.
If you backtrack to the date of Karzai "notifying" the country regarding the Qur'an burning; there was more than ample time to write and practice a fiery semon; to get your "ward heelers," potential "martyrs," etc. together and to select local targets.
The UN compound was chosen because some of the locals worked there. The soldiers were chosen because they were at that place at that time of day. Others were also targeted.
Members of your salivating mob, injured or killed = collateral damage.
"Martyr(s)" ? Another chance to relieve local tensions by a loud demonstration
and a new cycle out outrage.
The truth is; those people don't want the TAPI pipeline (they won't be benefiting from it). They don't want "foreigners" in their country and they're sick and tired of war and disruption!
Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and the generals messed this one up big time for America. But Cheney, et. al. have profited; so by their standards they're doing "ok".
Now....if they convince Obama to stay there until the Pashtuns/Taliban are killed off....they might get their pipeline built! /s
At least Bush didn't have so many troops in Afghanistan.
I wish we would all be out of there tomorrow. Let the Taliban have them. They can live in caves like Mohamed did, heck that's what Osama is doing.
America shouldn't put one dime into that country or Pakistan.
PS: the Mohammed cartoon was in Denmark, not the Netherlands.
I'll bet you want to be able to say so if you hate something--even if someone might not like your saying it.
That said: I hate cilantro, darn it. It is like fingernails on a blackboard, or a fork raked across teeth, or someone chewing with their mouth open, slobbering and lip smacking.
That I hate it doesn't mean that I want to destroy it, nor harm it, nor the person who chews with their mouth open, or break the blackboard, or the fingernails that made the screech. I don't want to stab the person with the fork, who raked the fork against their teeth. That is the blessing of Western Civilization and it's suffrage movement away from tyranny.
My answer for cilantro would be, "I would that thou were parsely or basil, but since thou art cilantro, I will spew you from my mouth." LOL Gotta keep a sense of humor about these things.
I am sure I can find just as rational a solution regarding other irritations. Catering to the irratation, or angst, isn't going to work, because it shows no respect for me.
What Mr. Jones did was utterly irrational, but what Karzi and the protestors did was utterly incomprehensible.
Mr. Jones has become a pariah and harshly condemned. What about the others?