Welcome to the blog for the inagural class of the Randall T. Shepard Academy for Law and Social Justice. Contained within you will find discussion boards, surveys, and various links to relavent sites.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Burning the Quran
A Minister in Florida is intending to burn copies of the Quran to mark the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. I would like for you to consider whether or not you believe he has a Constitutional right under the 1st Amendment to proceed with his plans? Please support your answer with logic, reason, and perhaps even legal precedents.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
It is understood that the 1st Amendment gives everyone the freedom of speech and the freedom of religion. However, there are times when it becomes vital that the Amendments come second to the safety of the public and the government. In 1925, Benjamin Gitlow was convicted of criminal anarchy for excercising his freedom of speech in such a way as to advocate for violently overthrowing the government. Justice Edward Stanford stated "Utterances inciting to the overthrow of organized government by unlawful means, present a sufficient danger of substantive evil to bring their punishment within the range of legislative discretion....Such utterances, by their very nature, involve danger to the public peace and to the security of the state."
ReplyDeleteBy Burning copies of the Quran as means of protesting against muslims, the pastor is putting our troops in danger. Anything posted online could potentially be accessed in Afghanistan posing a threat. In the article, it says that there was a facebook post about it meaning that everyone commenting on that post could be associated with the Quran burning. With so many lives at risk and security at stake, I do not feel that the Florida pastor should have the right under any Amendment to go fourth with this sort of ritual.
If he goes through with this, then he will not only put his self in danger, but America. This is not what America has grown to be. Burning the Quran will do nothing but start more problems. Muslims believe in the Quran just like we believe in the bible. It would NOT be right.
ReplyDeleteWhile I do not agree that Pastor Jones is acting with the best judgment, I certainly cannot deny that he has a constitutional right to proceed with his Quran burning. The First Amendment states that the citizens' freedom of speech must not be infringed upon, and preventing this event would certainly be infringing on this individual's freedom of speech. First amendment rights are a valuable asset to any American, and are the basis of what makes America the wonderful place she is. They should in no circumstances be compromised by our government or by threats from terrorists hiding in mountains. After all, these rights are the exact thing these soldiers are risking their lives for in the first place.
ReplyDeleteThis case is very similar to another issue facing America at the present time. Islamic leaders are planning to erect a giant mosque close to Ground Zero, where radical Muslims murdered thousands of American citizens nine years ago. The Islam faith has a long history of building mosques on grounds where they achieved great victories, and many believe that this mosque is a stamp of victory for these radical Muslims. The conflict here is identical to the Quran burning conflict. The Islamic leaders have a right to build this building, but it is obviously in bad taste to do so. The government should not (and is not) step in to deny this group their first amendment right; however, the group should realize that the building is a source of great conflict and animosity, and chose a new site for their project.
In much the same way, no one should deny Pastor Jones his rights, but it would be in everyone's best interests for him to realize that the burning of the Quran will achieve little and it would be tactful to abstain from the act. Our First Amendment rights should be protected at all costs, and if they are denied in this case, it will become easier to lose them in the future. The line between what our rights are and are not will gradually fade, enabling the government to revoke them at any point in the future.
What Pastor Jones wants to do is not right, but it is his right according to the first amendment. Freedom of speech should have been modified as to what is considered free speech. It should have stated that were any immediate danger to be an outcome of 1st Amendment practices, then it should not be considered as free speech at all.
ReplyDeleteI believe he can burn the Quran. It is a freedom of speech. He has the right to do that. It may seem like we are hurting our self but at the same time Muslims would like to build a mosque by ground zero, where the World Trade Center stood. I mean if we went to Iraq or Iran, there would be no way for us to build a church or cathedral and they would probably burn the bible over there. So I don't see a problem with his ways.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteI do believe that Pastor Jones has the right to burn the Quran because of his freedom of speech, but it would certainly not be a smart decision. There will be protests and he will be putting himself in serious danger. The burning of the Quran will provide nothing but trouble.
ReplyDeleteYes, I do believe he has the right to burn the Quran. The 1st amendment allows him the right, he isn't physically doing harm to anyone. So yes he does have the right. But I will say I completely disagree with his burning of the Quran. It's not only disrespectful to other religions, but he is also burning a holy book. Which i personally feel is a crime in its self. And I would also like to repectfully disagree with Tanners statement on the fact that he believes we would'nt be allowed to build a church in Iran. I have just done research and have found that there are 100,000 christian residents in Iran, and various churches there.
ReplyDeleteI really do not think it is right. In some people's opinion, they will say he has the freedom to do it, but he also has the safety of our country in his hands. If he burns the Quran, it will put many of our troops in danger along with general Americans. I also believe the building of the Mosque should be allowed near Ground Zero. It is their right of Freedon of Religion and it also was not the muslim religion who attacked America on 9/11, it was Al-Quadai. Before 9/11, the largest terrorism attack on American soil was The Oklahoma City bombing, by Timothy McVeigh who is thought to have been a Christian. Nobody is saying that you can't build a Christian church in Oklahoma City.
ReplyDeleteIt is in my personal opinion that Pastor Jones has the right under the first amendment to burn the Koran as a symbol of expression. While I do believe this is in poor taste, I can not see how we can even begin to question his right to free speech.
ReplyDeleteWhile I do recognize the point of others in this might endanger U.S. troops, If we were to say to Pastor Jones, you can not burn the quran it would infringe on his first amendment right to do so, it would undermine the freedoms and liberties that our troops are fighting for over in Afghanistan.
The first amendment is one of the most important assets of our country. The freedom of speech gives the common person a voice. It was one of the principals our country was founded on that many people have bleed for. To infringe upon the first amendment would not only disgrace our nation but it would disgrace the people who have died for it. A quote that I think sums my point here up is "If all mankind minus one were of one opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind. ~John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, 1859, to me that quote means that If society was to silence one man who does not agree with society then it is no more justified than if that one man was to gain power and silenced mankind.
To me this is more than just some man out to prove a point or gain publicity this is about an idea of free speech. When government has the power to infringe on free speech it is a slippery slope down a broad road of losing our freedom and liberties. If any evidence should be needed we can look at history as our evidence. A voice is powerful thing and that is why when we look back we can see countries that have silenced its citizens so that they may not speak out ageist that country. looking back we can see such examples as Adolf Hitler's German, Joseph Stalin Soviet Union, and The People's Republic of China. The consequence of these actions resulted in the dissolving of 2 of these countries and one that is on a course for destruction.
A legal precedent to this would be Texas. vs Johnson, Where in 1984 Gregory Lee Johnson burned the american flag in front of the Dallas City Hall in protest of the Reagan administration policies. He was tried,convicted, and sentenced to one year in jail and fined 2,000 dollars. After the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals reversed the conviction, the case went to the Supreme Court. The question was whether or not the desecration of the American flag counted as a symbol of expression under the first amendment. The court ruled 5 to 4 that Johnson's burning of the American flag was protected under the constitution. They also ruled that just because society may take offense to certain ideas and expressions this did not justify prohibitions of speech. They also declared that the government did not have the authority to designate symbols to be used to communicate only limited sets of messages. I think this case should set the precedent for this issue and cases in the future that are similar to it.
Lets make this clear I do not support what Pastor Jones plans to do however I will always support his right to do it.I think one quote that pretty much sums my opinion up is "If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter",~George Washington (1732-1799) First President of the USA.
Under the First Amendment the Minister from Florida dose have the right to burn the Quran. He and his followers do have the right to assembly anywhere as long as the are not bothering other people. Sadly, they can burn the Quran if they choose to do so. I say sadly because, he is a Minster! Is burning someone elses book "Christ like?" No!! It is Not!! What man of God would do an act like this? If anything he should be reahing out to the unbelievers. He should be trying to teach them about Jesus and how to get to Christ Jesus.
ReplyDeleteYou know, it's like what I talked about in the seminar on Tuesday. I talked about havind a 'Basic Love' for other people. When you have a Basic Love for other people you repsect them. Even if you don't like a person, even if you don't like what a person may wear, even if a person dose not have the same religion you, you still have repect for them. You do the right thing out of respect for them. That's waht this minister dosen't have.
But, at the end of the day. The Minister from Florida dose have the right to burn the Quran. Is is the right thing to do? No, it is not. It's not 'Basic Love.'
Even though many people don't agree with it, he does have the right to burn the Quran. According to the first amendment, everyone is entitled to the right of free expression, which means that if this guy was punished for burning the Quran, then the statements made in the first amendment would be questionable. I think that this whole idea was blown out of proportion because it is just another act of hate, that I am positive has already happened before.
ReplyDelete