Book-burning: a thought or two
In case there are people out there who see nothing wrong with Pastor Terry Jones' threat to make a bonfire out of the Qu'ran (hmm, another thought - are marshmallows halal? :P), despite all the outcry from various talking heads/religious leaders, consider this: How would you like it if someone was going to burn large piles of your holy book? (Note
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1. Should they be burning copies of the Koran?
Answer: No. It's a deliberate attempt to stir up racial/religious tensions (and in this case, the two are inextricably linked) and as such, is highly irresponsible. The church in particular should be disassociating themselves from him as and I would certainly hope that there would be some form of counter-campaign.
2. Should they be *allowed* to burn copies of the Koran?
Answer: Absolutely yes. People should be allowed to burn any book they feel like, regardless of its status or meaning, assuming they're not contravening any pollution/arson laws and they actually own them. There is not and should not be any law against offending people - the day that happens, we're all in a whole world of shit.
What it comes down to is that if you act within the laws of your country, you should have nothing to fear from the proponents of any religion - I would expect no easier treatment of violence resulting from this than from the shooting of an abortion doctor by fundamentalist christians. We can condemn that actions of the man burning the books, but that doesn't mean it should be legal to stop him and it doesn't mean that any reactionary attacks should be tolerated.
Or the short version: It shouldn't be illegal to be a cunt, but that doesn't mean you should be one.
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On the point of retaliation though - I have a sad suspicion that any retaliation from a hypothetical Qu'ran bonfire would be dealt with far more harshly and in a more high-profile way than your example of a Christian fundie killing an abortion doctor.
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