Working hard to offend someone here

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In addition to igniting a religious book, a north Florida preacher has ignited a global storm about free speech.

Was the preacher engaged in free speech? The Supreme Court has ruled that burning an American Flag as a protest is protected free speech. Is burning a religious text any different?

The idea behind a political protest of burning a flag is to register dissent, illustrate a difference of opinion in graphic images and send a clear message that the flag burners do not approve.

Free speech.

Cause yer gonna need it.

The right to free speech includes protections for speech which some find objectionable. If we are to band speech someone finds objectionable, then we must all be silent. At that, I will be offended because I object to withholding any opinion because someone objects.

Are my feelings less important than yours? Who decides that anyway?

Yassee, no matter what is done, someone will be offended.

As Rowan Atkinson said in arguing for free speech in Great Britain "The right to offend is greater than the right to not be offended."

So I ask again is burning a religious text free speech?

Before you answer that, I point out to you hate speech is protected speech. Racists, bigots and haters on all sides have the right to espouse their views. Point of order yer honor - Would you rather  have these people out in the open where they can be examined, discussed, found wanting and found to be idiots or have them spread their maliciousness in secret where you cannot refute them?

As of the this morning's news, 20 people have died in the riots which resulted from protests over the Koran burning. According to some reports the muslim group Hezbollah has put a $2.4 million bounty on Jones' head.

And the difference?

Is the burning of a book worth killing someone? Why?

If you, like many, put the deaths of those 20 people on Jones head then you must also excuse any other death or atrocity under the Mob Mentality reasoning. Mob Mentality states that people are not and cannot be held responsible for their own actions when in a group.

In other words, if you say Jones is responsible for the deaths, then you grant the right to any mob anywhere to get fired up and rampage for any reason.

Do you really want to go there?

Shifting gears slightly on you -

I tell you this, if Jones is killed by muslim extremists for his burning a Koran, then I'm going to get my lighter out. Interpret that how you will.


Why do I make that statement? For the same reason I once preached to a crowd, threw my Bible on the ground and stood on it.

Listen close all ye Christians, Jews, Muslims and others, that when you attach more significance to a book than to the contents of that book, you have made it a false idol. You have put a work of man, the construction of the book, above the word of God.



In other words if your book is too holy to be burned, then you are worshiping a book and not the reason for the book.

In short - is it OK to burn a religious book?

Regardless of how you answer that I wanna know your reasons.


In closing, let me leave you with some additional images which some find funny, some don't care and some will threaten to riot over. I ask you, what's the difference and why should one religion receive special treatment over another?

The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster - http://www.venganza.org/