The latest news with regard to a plan to burn copies of the Quran, the holy book of Islam, is that the burning was called off after the federal government intruded in what was a private expression of our constitutionally guaranteed freedom of speech. What next?
The proposed book burning has been the hot topic of conversation in the news for days. A tiny church in Gainesville, Florida, planned to burn copies of the Quran as a protest to a plan to build a mosque within the footprint of the 9/11 assault on the United States by Muslim extremists in 2001. The idea that burning someone else’s holy book is a good way to accomplish anything is complete lunacy, but in the USA, our constitution guarantees us the freedom to speak our minds, even if the speech is lunacy. When some demented artist created a “work of art” consisting of a crucifix placed in a beaker of urine, the display was protected in the name of free speech, notwithstanding its outrageous insult to Christians. We have always had a right to free speech, and because our president pledges in his oath of office to “preserve, protect and defend the constitution of the United States,” we expect the federal government to preserve, protect and defend our freedom of speech.
A lot of people who talked about the plan to burn copies of the Quran were diverted from the central issue to the dispute by the fact that Muslims around the world engaged in their own versions of free speech by burning American flags and shouting “Death to America.” Muslims in some places even presumed to threaten American lives if this event took place. While the threats were outrageous and even credible after our experience on September 11, 2001, the threats do not justify trampling on the constitutional right to free speech within the boundaries of the USA.
That being the case, I find it extremely troubling that the FBI showed up in Gainesville and held two meetings with the pastor. The FBI operates under the direction of the president of the United States and represents one of the forces he should bring to bear against assaults on freedom of speech. In this instance, however, the FBI acted in concert with Muslims around the world to restrain free speech. When the federal government behaves as if the constitutional freedoms of citizens take second place to the umbrage of people elsewhere, I am deeply disturbed. Where is the ACLU?
When President Barack Hussein Obama spoke with “Good Morning America” he said, “This country has been built on the notion of freedom and religious tolerance,” as if stopping this Quran-burning event was proper because of that notion. I contend that it is exactly that notion that requires us as a nation to protect the right of this church to burn Qurans if it wants to and to speak out against the proposal to build a mosque at Ground Zero if it wants to. The president is completely on the wrong side of this issue when he is on the side of suppressing free speech.
The president, however, would have us believe that he acted out of concern for our soldiers. We were supposed to believe that there would be attacks on our soldiers and maybe even on private citizens by outraged Muslims if this Quran-burning took place. For starters, our soldiers are at risk of being attacked by outraged Muslims every day in Afghanistan and Iraq, so this event could not be used to justify any concerns about endangering them. As for our private citizens, the might of the federal government is supposed to be used in protection and defense of our private citizens, and we are accustomed to believe that it will use its power against our enemies, not against us.
For the record, I would not choose to use my own freedom of speech to burn a Quran as a way of engaging in discourse about the mosque at Ground Zero. I would not choose to burn anybody’s holy book as an expression of my position in any disagreement. Nevertheless, I contend that in the USA, we know that book-burning is not warfare. It speaks to the warfare of ideas, but that really is the point. Ideas. We don’t expect guns and bombs to be brought to bear against people discussing differences of opinion, and when someone does bring arms forth on one side of the argument, we expect the federal government to defend whoever is attacked that way, not to attack the people engaged in the discussion.
The federal government as administered by Barack Hussein Obama is becoming autocratic and tyrannical and extremely intrusive into our freedoms. This president clearly believes that he was elected dictator, not president. The sooner we remove all the supports for his political power the better. This year we must elect representatives and senators who will reject the Obama agenda that ignores our constitution and tramples our freedoms. In 2012 we must elect a different president, a president who will actually live up to his oath of office and exercise his power against our enemies, not our citizens.
