Before reading the title and sending me hate mail, let me make my position clear from the outset: I’m a proud Muslim and I don’t support the burning of the Koran. In fact I explained my position in a previous post.
In this post, I just want to talk a little bit about why it would be a bad idea, from a pragmatic point of view, to prevent determined Koran burners from doing their thing by force.
If for some reason the American authorities decided to ban one man and a handful of his supporters from physically burning the Koran, the reaction to the ban will be worse than the burning itself, especially in today’s Internet and media landscape.
Hundreds of hooded people would make anonymous home-made Koran-burning videos in protest and upload them on Youtube, complete with dramatic graphics about “Evil Islam” and the like. That would create an online viral sensation that will generate millions and millions of international views.
In other words, the net effect of a ban would be an increase in the amount of people in Pakistan and Egypt who witness the blasphemous bonfire. We don’t want that. So if the crazy pastor can’t be persuaded amicably from stopping, just hold your noses and let him do his thing..
Update: Fortunately, the event was cancelled. But I don’t expect this to go away.
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Note: Posts with titles starting with an ❊ (asterisk) are my opinion posts. I used this system to separate long posts from quick links and comments.
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=- It’s a good thought, Mustapha.
=- They won’t ban the burning. It’s constitutional; this is considered speech, and speech is protected. A few years ago there were people burning American flags, and it could not be stopped lawfully without a constitutional amendment. Speech and freedom of religion are protected.
=- When there is freedom of speech, the solution to bad speech is more good speech. We have seen a tremendous outrage at this event, and hundreds of people speaking out against it. They remind us that putting up with speech we don’t agree with, is part of having freedom: the price is, we will have speech we don’t agree with. They remind us that this is a lone nutcase sect in Florida, and doesn’t represent who we are as Americans.
=- So the whole thing has had a unifying effect on Americans, as we all pretty much agree how stupid it all is.
“If for some reason the American authorities decided to ban one man and a handful of his supporters from physically burning the Koran, the reaction to the ban will be worse than the burning itself, especially in today’s Internet and media landscape.”
I am afraid it will happen one way or the other. Damage is done already. Too much attention by irresponsible MSMs to insignificant event created enough tensions to last for decades.
Mustapha. I applaud your stand on this. I am not a religious person. However some Muslims over-sensitivity to criticism or ridicule is way irrational. If this Koran-burning event is canceled then what’s next. Are we going to raise hell every time some attention-seeking anti-muslim crazy person threatens to do so.
I think the muslim’s community at large is to blame, particularly the so-called moderates for remaining silent and letting their religious ideals get hijacked by some over-zealous individuals.