Six Men Arrested for Burning Koran. So much for free speech in the UK!

It's kind of the same way here, Taskr36, only people won't get arrested, more like Muslims will just get really angry at them and threaten them. Personally, I think that book burning is ridiculous. I wouldn't do it, but I am going to stop people who do. Today is "Banned Books" month, and the book of the month is also "Fahrenheit 451", and us book lovers are kindly asking people not burn books, instead have intelligent conversation on the content in the books. I think that having a debate is better than burning a book.

They were not speaking,therefore it can not be classified as freedom of speech.It was an action that could be used to stir racial hatred.They were rightfully arrested.Plus in some places they can also be charged for starting a fire. I live in the state of Virginia in the United States and when I was a kid my grandfather used to burn leaves in an old small paint can outside.But,by the time I became a teenager it became against the law in this state to have a fire in anything that it is not meant to be in.You can have a fire in,for example,a fireplace,grill and those things you can have on your patio that are made to have a fire in.If you are out at a campground you can have a campfire that is controlled,like with rocks around it.

Well, Americans are a little more privileged than other countries...in most cases. In America you can burn a flag, bible, or Koran, and as long as you aren't violating fire codes, the authorities can't stop you or punish you. Of course, that's not to say we have totally free speech here. After all, we have a congressionally sanctioned group of people who can and do limit what we say in a public forum. You know the group I'm talking about. Britain does not have what we have in personal rights. If I recall, hate speech is illegal there, and burning a Koran is definitely a form of hate speech. We think it's crazy because we don't have such limits here. However, I haven't met many UK residents who disagree with the hate speech law.

Actually if I remember correctly even here in the US there are limits on free speech like: yelling fire in and incited panic, threatening people with harm, inciting riots... This story is actually old news and I was very surprised to see it posted here.

as a moslem i regret this case... for us Alquran (many forigner says koran) is holy books.. if christian think bibble as holy book, so thats our mind to Al Quran.. whats the matter of Alquran?? we never burn the bibble...but why many people in western always hate our holy book??

no country, including yours taskr, has completely free speech. and most have laws against inciting hatred. some 'free' (as opposed to repressive) countries have even stricter laws but you wouldn't (well i wouldn't) say they were suppressing free speech. try and deny the holocaust in germany, publically, and you are facing arrest. and they have an extremely good reason for doing this. same goes for stirring up racial hated, which is illegal in the uk. no, i don't have a problem with it.

So they burnt the Koran, I can understand why. Should they be arrested - of course not. Is is a hate crime? Only if we also agree that making Christians remove the ten commandments from public display is a hate crime against Christians. Otherwise, it is just freedom of expression. I would like to hear from the UK, but in the US we cannot promote the Muslim faith above others.

If I burn the flag that is OK even though it upset some people but if I burn a religious or publish a cartoon that a certain group finds offensive that is wrong and I can be arrested. Why is that? Maybe because the people who are offended will riot and destroy property and kill people. This is very similar to what the radicals were doing in the 60's in the US with Civil Rights. Militant Black leaders were talking hate and violence toward the establishment (white culture) and communities were giving into the demands to try to prevent riots and violence. In the riots in Cleveland, Ohio, after the first night of rioting the Mayor issued an order to shoot looters. The next night things seemed to quiet down until some people spoke out against order saying it was too harsh and that the looters were felt that they were only getting what was due them from years of overcharging of the residents. After that the order was lifted and it took several more days to stop the rioting and restore order. You can not give into the threat of violence. Sooner or later you will have to face them and defeat them or be defeated by them. In almost every case in a conflict that was stopped before one side was victorious what you were left with was a festering situation that sooner or later would erupt again with more and more people dying and suffering as a result.

No, they shouldn't be jailing people for burning a book. Let's see now, I burning a book is a hate crime, then what is it called when Muslims burn Christians for not converting to Islam? I see stories about this practice fairly often.... and it isn't limited to Christians either... anyone who isn't Muslim is far game to these people. So which practice is the real hate crime?

I am torn on this one. I am all for free speech but when your free speech has no other intent then to provoke hate toward a certain group...well, where do we draw the line? I mean that was their purpose in taking the time to video tape it and air it on the internet...right? Here in the states we had a minister that was intending to hold a Koran burning Day. It was heavily broadcast. While not "legally" wrong, seriously it had the potential to cause a lot of trouble for others like our soldiers overseas who may or may not feel the same. Luckily he was talked out of this. I do see what you are saying here...we are all entitled to our own opinions. I think the media and the internet make it easier to spread these hateful messages and incite extremists giving their hateful message all that much more power and steam.

Search "burning bible" on youtube and see how many videos come up. There are all sorts of people out there burning the Christian Bible, from Marilyn Manson to a bible burning with a song for Satan, billed under "Satanic Relaxation". There's even one video that works at being equally offensive to Christians and Muslims by burning a Koran and a Bible together. Where are the police? Well, they're busy with real criminals, not with people who make a political or cultural statement with a match and some lighter fluid. Because it's freedom of expression and that ought to be expressly the law in every nation. Laws that prohibit this kind of freedom of speech are in place because of fear. They don't fear to offend as much as they fear what the offended will do about it. That's why burning a Bible is not a hate crime, but burning a Koran is a hate crime. Christians won't kill you for burning a Bible, so there's no law against it. Is it "racial hatred" they are really worried about, or violent repercussions? No law should be established out of fear of allowing people their basic human right to self-expression.

The more they make of this kind of thing, the worse it will get. I have yet to see anyone arrested for burning the Torah and yet it is done. I have see Torah scrolls burned and no one has done anything. I have seen Synagogues defaced and nothing was done. A Rabbi was attacked in Cocoa Bch. Fl. and nothing was done. His daughter was stripped and tossed into assembly in the basketball auditorium and nothing was done. They were Hasidim and she dressed in long skirt and long sleeves. They were different and therefore provoked attack....It was their fault.... The burning of a Quran is not going to incite any more hatred than is already there. Just as a girl wearing a long skirt is not going to incite any more hatred than is already there. Constant PUBLICITY and STUPID LAWS WILL continue the problem however. Just keep stirring the pot people.... Shalom~Adoniah

I find it interesting that any burning of a religious book would be consider freedom speech. In the Qur'an a Muslim does not have the right to insult other peoples Gods or relgion, nor destroy their places of worship. So we muslims don't share the rights as non-muslims. Anyone who is proud that their documents protects them to destroy something that is dear to another people while that people are citizens in that country is failure on the part of the government to protect is citizens. And it a black mark upon the citizens.

It's just a damn book. But the Muslim community has significant symbol into it. so, i think it's just a waste of time to burn such. it's not really degrading free speech, but is already an act of hate, something that terrorist do and not some ordinary people. I am a Christian and this is wrong as far as am concerned. this isn't the time to hate but a time to unite and heal. we are not these fanatics, therefore we shouldn't act like one. we are educated for petes sake.