Reply #14: I don't understand why book-burning is considered speech. [View All]

[athena]

Books are a form of speech. When you burn a book, you limit other people's speech and imply that you think the book should not be available for anyone to read. I can understand why Germany bans book burning.

Furthermore, it is important to try to understand why Muslims are so outraged by this. This is not to excuse the killings, which are unconscionable, but people should realize how offensive it is to Muslims to burn a Koran. Most Muslims respect each copy of the Koran as if it were handed down directly from heaven. Even moderate Muslims will perform a ritual cleansing before touching a copy of the Koran. They will not place a Koran on the floor, or even on a low table:
http://islam.about.com/od/quran/f/mushaf.htm

I don't think Jones should be arrested, but there should be a strong public condemnation of his actions. Americans cannot allow the Muslim world to think that Jones's actions, which are disrespectful of Islam, represent American values. They should reiterate that Americans respect everyone's religion, and that the U.S. constitution explicitly protects each person's right to practice the religion of his/her choice.

Despite being an atheist, I don't think that it is in any way helpful to insult someone else's religion. We can't control how small numbers of Muslims might react to a public insult against Islam. We can only control our own actions. Burning a Koran is as ill-advised as provoking a mentally unstable person. (This is not to suggest that Muslims are mentally unstable, but there are over a billion Muslims in the world, and a small fraction of all people are mentally unstable.)