What is this man's actual crime? We know what this crime is under Islamic law (sharia), "do not insult Islam," but what is the crime in the West? We are not subject to imperatives within the Islamic faith.
Qur'an burning is a stupid idea, of course, but is protected under the laws of free speech. The burning of books is wrong in principle: the antidote to bad speech is not censorship or book-burning, but more speech. Open discussion. Give-and-take. And the truth will out. There is no justification for burning books. If free men are to be free and not live under Islamic law (sharia), then this man can do this if he wants, and his freedom and rights should be protected. Islamic supremacists should not be allowed a victory for their violent intimidation -- if these people want to burn a book, they're free to do so.
"The principle of free speech is not concerned with the content of a man's speech and does not protect only the expression of good ideas, but all ideas. If it were otherwise, who would determine which ideas are good and where forbidden? The government?"
"Once a country accepts censorship of the press and of speech, then nothing can be won without violence. Therefore, so long as you have free speech, protect it. This is the life-and-death issue in this country: do not give up the freedom of the press -- of newspapers, books, magazines, radio, movies, and other forms of presenting ideas. So long as that's free, a peaceful intellectual turn is possible." Ayn Rand.
If this is unlwful, what next? Anything and everything that insults Islam? Then no one will be able to leave their homes eventually, except the truly pious Muslims. That is the eventuality. That is the road we are on. That was the reality for non-Muslims living under Muslim rule for over a millennium. Just look at countries currently living under Islamic law. This is a very slippery slop.
Atlas Shrugs
Showing posts with label Quran. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Quran. Show all posts
Friday, January 21, 2011
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Obama Adviser Decries Anti-Muslim Sentiments
"The things you can say about Islam you can't say about any other faith," Rashad Hussain, Special Envoy to the Organization of the Islamic Conference, said Saturday night at the annual fund-raising dinner of the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, a Muslim-founded think tank based in Clinton Township. "During tough economic times, groups that are seen to be the other ... the scapegoating can increase."
Hussain travels the world on behalf of the U.S. government to improve outreach to the Muslim world. Metro Detroit has a sizeable Muslim population.
Hussain said he's concerned about the increasing vitriol directed at Muslims, which he said may be due to their increasing visibility in the U.S.
It's a "reaction to a lot of progress made by Muslim communities," he said.
It's a reaction to Islamic supremacism, gender apartheid, suppression and oppression.
When he was growing up in the U.S, Hussain recalled that many didn't know too much about Islam. But now, it's more well known, he said.Hussain said that the backlash against Muslim-Americans has precedent in the U.S., as African-Americans, Jewish-Americans, Irish-Americans, Japanese-Americans, and Chinese-Americans have faced similar challenges.
He urged the Muslim-American crowd at the Livonia dinner to form alliances with other groups, noting that Jewish-Americans have been active in fighting for the rights of other groups in American history.
One challenge for Muslim-Americans, said Hussain, is that "Muslims are still seen as an aggressor" because of terrorists like Osama bin Laden and the Times Square bomber.
At one point during his talk, Hussain recited in fluent Arabic a verse from the Quran, Islam's holy book, that says killing one innocent life is like killing all of humanity. He said that there is a consensus of Islamic scholars that terrorism is against their faith, but "we continue to lose people to this ideology" of extremism.
One challenge is the Internet, where young Muslims are enticed to become terrorists, he said.
Hussain also attacked ethnic divisions among Muslim-Americans.
A graduate of Yale Law School, Hussain once worked for U.S. Rep. John Conyers (D-Detroit) on the House Judiciary Committee. He is a hafiz, meaning someone who has memorized the Quran.
He had breakfast Saturday morning at the Islamic Center of America in Dearborn before his talk at the dinner by the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding. The Institute is a think tank founded primarily by South Asian Muslims who hope it one day becomes as noted as think tanks like the Brookings Institution. Other speakers during the dinner noted the importance of think tanks in forming policy in the U.S.
Saturday night's dinner raised about $226,000 for the Institute.
Hussain travels the world on behalf of the U.S. government to improve outreach to the Muslim world. Metro Detroit has a sizeable Muslim population.
Hussain said he's concerned about the increasing vitriol directed at Muslims, which he said may be due to their increasing visibility in the U.S.
It's a "reaction to a lot of progress made by Muslim communities," he said.
It's a reaction to Islamic supremacism, gender apartheid, suppression and oppression.
When he was growing up in the U.S, Hussain recalled that many didn't know too much about Islam. But now, it's more well known, he said.Hussain said that the backlash against Muslim-Americans has precedent in the U.S., as African-Americans, Jewish-Americans, Irish-Americans, Japanese-Americans, and Chinese-Americans have faced similar challenges.
He urged the Muslim-American crowd at the Livonia dinner to form alliances with other groups, noting that Jewish-Americans have been active in fighting for the rights of other groups in American history.
One challenge for Muslim-Americans, said Hussain, is that "Muslims are still seen as an aggressor" because of terrorists like Osama bin Laden and the Times Square bomber.
At one point during his talk, Hussain recited in fluent Arabic a verse from the Quran, Islam's holy book, that says killing one innocent life is like killing all of humanity. He said that there is a consensus of Islamic scholars that terrorism is against their faith, but "we continue to lose people to this ideology" of extremism.
One challenge is the Internet, where young Muslims are enticed to become terrorists, he said.
Hussain also attacked ethnic divisions among Muslim-Americans.
A graduate of Yale Law School, Hussain once worked for U.S. Rep. John Conyers (D-Detroit) on the House Judiciary Committee. He is a hafiz, meaning someone who has memorized the Quran.
He had breakfast Saturday morning at the Islamic Center of America in Dearborn before his talk at the dinner by the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding. The Institute is a think tank founded primarily by South Asian Muslims who hope it one day becomes as noted as think tanks like the Brookings Institution. Other speakers during the dinner noted the importance of think tanks in forming policy in the U.S.
Saturday night's dinner raised about $226,000 for the Institute.
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