Six Englishmen burn Koran, are arrested

Their crime? “Inciting racial hatred.” Now remember that this “crime” only exists outside the United States. In the U.S., to be charged with a hate crime, you have to commit an actual crime, such as physically assaulting a person, and that actual crime has to be determined to have been motivated by “hate.” But in the entire West outside the U.S., a mere expressive act, entirely legal in itself, including mere speech, that is thought to incite “hate” or “discrimination,” is a crime. Moreover, the authorities don’t have to prove that anyone was actually incited to hate or to discriminate against anyone. A country with such non-objective, arbitrary laws against speech and expressive acts is not a free country, which means that the U.S. at present is the only free country in the West.

The U.S. is thus the only country in the West where Koran burning has a chance of being widely adopted, which I devoutly hope happens, not as an end in itself, but as the beginning of widespread open resistance to Islam and its presence in our country. Hats off again to the despised Pastor Terry Jones and his article, “10 Reasons to Burn a Koran,” for giving thousands of people a great idea of how to express in the most forceful and vivid, yet legal, manner our opposition to a religion of war that intends our submission and destruction—a religion that, notwithstanding the supposed differences between its bad “extremists” and its good “moderates,” is a single, unbroken continuum.

And why is this kind of popular symbolic rejection of the enemy ideology of Islam so sorely needed? Because our own government, instead of protecting us from that enemy, which is its primary function, is protecting that enemy from us and so empowering the enemy to continue its aggression against us. My own preference and that of many other people is for legal means of expressing our rejection of Islam. Others may prefer illegal means. But one way or another, the people must take the lead and create a new idea of what are acceptable defensive and pro-active measures to take against Mohammedanism and its followers, because our government and our intellectual elite will not lead—except to lead us into surrender and dhimmitude.

The BBC website for Tyne reports :

23 September 2010
Men arrested in Gateshead over suspected Koran burning

Six Tyneside men have been arrested after filming themselves apparently burning copies of the Koran on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

Police said the men, all from the Gateshead area, were detained after a video appeared on the internet.

They were arrested on suspicion of inciting racial hatred and released on bail pending further inquiries.

Plans by a US preacher to burn copies of the Koran on 11 September resulted in widespread condemnation.

‘Mutual respect’

In a joint statement, Northumbria Police and Gateshead Council said: “The kind of behaviour displayed in this video is not representative of our community as a whole.

“Our community is one of mutual respect and we continue to work together with community leaders, residents and people of all faiths and beliefs to maintain good community relations.”

Two men were arrested on 15 September and a further four on 22 September.

In the video a group of men are seen pouring fuel over what appear to be copies of the Koran and setting light to them.

Plans by a US preacher Terry Jones to burn copies of the Koran, sparked worldwide protests and brought condemnation from American president Barack Obama.

- end of initial entry -

James P. writes:

The police have all the time in the world to investigate “racial hatred”—but no time at all for maintaining basic social order.

LA writes:

In a September 11 entry, “A symbolic act to express our rejection of the dangerous and tyrannical religion of Islam,” I posted photographs of a Koran burning and links to other photos and videos of Koran burnings. In an entry on September 12, “Koran burnings,” I explained why I had not posted Robert B.’s photographic series of the Koran burning he had held in his back yard the previous day, even though the event and the photos were well executed: I felt the inclusion of bacon fat, and of Robert’s dog licking the bacon fat, was gratuitously insulting to Muslims, and I didn’t feel comfortable in having VFR go that far. Today in that entry Robert explains his position. I also reproduce his comment here:

Robert B. writes:

Here was the meaning behind my symbolism with the burning of the Koran.

Pork fat—a substance known to be anathema to Moslems, but a staple of Western food supplies. Europeans did not have the climate restrictions (constant heat) that lead desert dwellers to ban pork due to its possible poisoning effect. Pork is much cheaper than lamb or beef. Its also a good fuel for hastening the burning.

The dog; Moslems consider dogs dirty and are also anathema. Dogs are part of the very fabric of Western society. Nothing could be more Western than an English Springer Spaniel. The dog is seen sniffing the book—the dog itself disdains the Koran—it would not lick it. in point of fact, my dog and I have had encounters with Somali Moslems, they do not like one another and its quite obvious. The dog (and its owner) does not back down—the Somalis do.

David H. in Oregon writes:

I hope this activity spreads like wildfire!

Posted by Lawrence Auster at September 23, 2010 04:04 PM | Send