Seems logical considering that people who burn it aren’t doing it without knowing the repercussions. Not saying the reaction it gets is correct or anything, it just seems to me that it is something being used to trigger reactions while putting other people’s lifes at risk.
I agree. However how do we explain people that are most likely burning books for hate speech/xenophobic reasons that they should stop doing that? This is a really hard subject and I completely agree that passing laws for this can be a slippery slope for other things.
Hate Speech laws get an L from me. Hate crime laws where a crime motivated by prejudice awards extra jail time is just a better solution. Think about what this is really saying - if you burn the Quran, muslims will riot… in Iraq. And the Iraqi government will condemn you. Really?
To the people defending this proposed law - hypothetically, if I were to set up a white board outside a mosque and draw the prophet, would you also be in favor of the police arresting me for … drawing?
I think this may already be illegal. You would be inciting and degrading members of a legal religion in Denmark, which has been against the law there since 1939. Blasphemy Laws were taken off the books in 2017, but this is a step back in that same direction. But then there is amendments to the constitution, I don’t fully understand.
Hinduism often has a belief in, “sanctity of the cow, … the belief that the cow is representative of divine and natural beneficence and should therefore be protected and venerated” (Brittanica).
One could argue that eating beef is inciting and degrading to [probably a select few] members of Hinduism.
I think there’s a difference between eating beef in a place where that’s the norm and eating beef at a group of people to make them angry or mock them.
I’m asking what your intentions are behind drawing on a whiteboard outside a mosque in the scenario not what your intentions were behind posing this hypothetical scenario. That part is obvious.
Sure it is. Intent is what separates murder from manslaughter for instance. Intent definitely matters here. Why are you having trouble elaborating on that aspect of your hypothetical scenario.
Fine, two scenarios: first, I’m doing it because I’m Islamophobic. Second, I’m doing it to test the limits of free speech. Can you tell the difference? No. That’s why it’s not relevant.
What you’re saying here doesn’t make any sense. What you said previously made sense but lacked nuance or any deeper understanding of the situation you proposed yourself.
Perhaps you think blatant, ignorant bigotry and “testing freedom of speech” are the same thing, which explains your response, and shows you the reasoning behind mine.
Oh boy. No, I don’t think they are the “same thing” I’m saying you can’t infer motivation just by observing therefore the motivation isn’t relevant. Try and keep up, or don’t.
You’re discussing the law and being arrested. Intent absolutely matters in this context which is why I brought up other examples of where intent matters as murder/manslaughter, hate crimes, assault versus self defense, etc. You seem quite confused about a topic that you brought up on your own…
But you defined the intent in your previous comment and laws/courts take intent into account when determining whether they’ve been violated or not.
If it can’t be known then your entire question/scenario is irrelevant and pointless because it could never apply to the real world. For someone who keeps talking about confusion and not following the conversation, you seem to lack even a basic understanding of what’s being talked about.
Burn whatever you want, hate whoever you please. It is unpleasant however better than the thought police sending you to the ice prisons for ungood ideas. This idea that censorship stops anything but innovation and creativity is ludicrous.
I agree…civil society should be intolerant of hate and its idols. The state, however, as a control structure, is a terrible judge of whom to hate and whom to love; Danes should be proud their government has done better than most…and strive to keep it that way.
The state must protect all its inhabitants from physical harm, educate on tolerance and empathy, and from there, abdicate who to love and hate to its citizens.
But if it’s outlawing book burning in general, that’s quite another story.
“The law, in its majestic equality, forbids rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal their bread.” The intended target of this law is crystal clear.
Why not just make a law against inciting acts of aggression? Filming yourself burning religious texts is purposely trying to piss people off. That way it would cover anything that has the same goal without being just about religion. Freedom of expression, unless it’s just trying to make others angry.
How about we strive for a society where people can burn their own property without having to worry about violence?
The islamists that react violently are only proving the point of the people burning the books. Tbh if you try to hurt someone for just burning SOMETHING THEY OWN, maybe you don’t deserve to live in a first world country.
And if you purposely antagonize people who are known for killing people who disagree with them, you don’t either. It’s like yelling fire in a crowded room, for any reason other than there being a fire.
Yeah it’s ridiculous, but they aren’t just burning their own property. They are filming it with the purpose of causing problems. And it did. They can’t do whatever they want if it endangers others. In an ideal world no one would react with physical violence to words. But we don’t live in that world.
I’m not a fan of that law existing, but I can see why they would want it.
The burners are not causing problems. They’re exposing a sickness that these individual people have in their minds. A healthy person doesn’t try to hurt someone just because they’re offended.
These sick people who would hurt someone for burning a book are the same sort that would throw acid on a woman for some bullshit medieval family honor, for example.
Better to incite them and get them arrested and perhaps even deported before they’re allowed to hurt anyone. It shows you won’t tolerate it in your society.
Hell, it may even encourage more moderate Muslims to move to that country if they know that the society doesn’t tolerate the actions of the small, insane minority. The Muslims that believe in liberal ideals like freedom of expression are exactly the type of immigrants that make a society stronger and we should encourage them.
All this law will do is allow that unhinged mental illness to rest, in secret, before coming out in some other toxic way.
I’m not saying that the book burners are being entirely altruistic here. I wouldn’t be surprised if they honestly hated all Muslims. But it is their right to express it without hurting anyone. This feels more like a “broken clock is right twice a day” sort of situation.
They can be arrested or just refused entry if they are known to be connected to extremist groups. They should be screened as any other person traveling to Denmark.
If we let them, especially external actors, influence our domestic policy, then they win. Look at what happened to the USA after 9/11. The terrorists won and it’s proof that terrorism works. Not only do the people capitulate to the terrorists, but bad domestic actors use it as a means to push some other (anti freedom) agenda.
The alternative is just laying down and letting medeival assholes decide domestic policies of the secular world. Don’t let terrorism win.
They’re exposing a sickness that these individual people have in their minds. A healthy person doesn’t try to hurt someone just because they’re offended.
Exposing and healing are not the same thing. They are fanning the flames, reducing neither the behaviour nor its causes. They’re handing out meth to junkies.
Not necessarily, if I were to burn a Bible and no one cares but they still continue revoking abortion access (and further bigotry) then I will probably keep burning bibles ib protest of the christofascists.
Yeah, but it’s making other people aggressive outside of the country. So its not very helpful, you can’t police people in other countries. This whole thing is like pedestrians walking in a crosswalk without looking for cars. Yes, the pedestrian has the right way, and the car should stop. But being right doesn’t really matter if you’re dead.
OK I sort of get it, not that I agree with it, but 2 years in jail? That’s absurd.
I’m from a conservative area and have heard countless stories of people who were traumatized in the name of Christianity. If one of those people feels like desecrating the Bible then it’s just a form of personal expression. If that upsets you well then start a conversation with them and learn from each other. Putting someone in jail is not the solution.
I’m just saying Christianity has a broad spectrum and has changed a lot over time. Even from a Christian point of view you must value criticism in order to find the way forward. That counts for all religions. And if you don’t think so, you’re just arrogant.
If one of those people feels like desecrating the Bible then it’s just a form of personal expression.
If the planned Danish law is anything like the German ones (age-old, introduced after the 30years war) then that’s absolutely fine. You can even do it publicly on SatanCon. Ritual blasphemy is just as much a protected religious expression as religious reverence, meaning that Christians aren’t even allowed to revile you for it in a manner suitable to disturb the public peace.
Where things get iffy is doing it in front of a Church just to piss them off. Rule of thumb: If you’re protesting a religious institution, keep religion out of it. E.g. back in the 60s people were protesting against the Churches’ backwards sexual morals by kissing in front of churches. Much more effective than burning the Malleus Maleficarum. That’s more suitable for an inquisitor to do in private to cleanse themselves.
Jews are an odd outlier as it’s both an ethnicity and a religion and one doesn’t automatically indicate the other. You can have people with no ethnic link who are Jewish by dint of conversation to the religon, and ethnicly Jewish people who are entirely athiest. anti-Semitism is about racism against ethnicly Jewish people, not criticism of the religion.
Or maybe you (and others here) need to re-read my response to understand what the point of it was. I understand what the person was saying, just don’t think bickering over how the Jewish people are a “multinational ethnic group” is relevant to the discussion.
Not really true, but I guess it depends on the country.
In the United States at least, burning your own book, flag, or whatever is legally protected free speech. Just as long as you aren’t destroying someone else’s property.
Context also matters. Burning bibles during a religious service is probably a thin line.
Everything is important to someone, why do particular groups get privilege just because they’re a religion. Should we ban the burning of Star Wars DVDs as that’s a huge franchise with lots of hardcore fans who may get upset? Should it be illegal for me to burn a copy of Action Comics #1 because it’s important to comic fans?
To answer your rhetoric question: Because people believe in it for some reason. If millions of people were crazy enough to think Star Wars happened and molded their lives after it, and you started burning Star Wars DVDs because you despise Star Warite refugees, yes, people would be very upset at you for doing that.
People are clearly burning religious text to demonstrate their contempt to a group of people, it’s the definition of a hate crime.
The uncomfortable truth is that it matters whether the group in question contains enough people willing to kill indiscriminately if you upset them too much.
How about no burning anything in public? It’s a stupid thing to do and proves nothing, risks starting unintended fires, or people injuring themselves, etc.
Burning stuff is a classic protest move though, and that shouldn’t be restricted either - within safety limits of course; i.e. Don’t leave your burning flag, book, bra, whatever where it might destroy unrelated stuff.
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