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Obama State Department Official Calls for Criminalization of Burning the Qur’an

Nov 5, 2019 3:30 pm By Robert Spencer

My latest in PJ Media:

The totalitarian tendencies of the Left become more obvious by the day, as the Washington Post continues to cover itself in glory. Richard Stengel is a former editor of Time Magazine and was the State Department’s undersecretary for public diplomacy and public affairs from 2013 to 2016. In this piece, he says the First Amendment is an “outlier” and calls for “hate speech” laws that would criminalize, among other things, the burning of Qur’ans.

Stengel claims that he is a convert to authoritarianism, a former believer in the freedom of speech: “When I was a journalist, I loved Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.’s assertion that the Constitution and the First Amendment are not just about protecting ‘free thought for those who agree with us but freedom for the thought that we hate.’”

His conversion came as a result of his world travel. Travel is supposed to be broadening, but in Stengel’s case it was narrowing. He says that even as he went around the world defending the freedom of speech, he came to despise that freedom: “But as a government official traveling around the world championing the virtues of free speech, I came to see how our First Amendment standard is an outlier.”

Part of his new dislike for this cardinal American freedom, the cornerstone of any free society, apparently came from his own lack of understanding of why it was so important, and inability to defend it in the face of criticism. He recounts that “even the most sophisticated Arab diplomats that I dealt with did not understand why the First Amendment allows someone to burn a Koran. Why, they asked me, would you ever want to protect that?”

Apparently he couldn’t answer, as he now responds in the Post: “It’s a fair question. Yes, the First Amendment protects the ‘thought that we hate,’ but it should not protect hateful speech that can cause violence by one group against another. In an age when everyone has a megaphone, that seems like a design flaw.”

Well, then, by all means, that flaw must be mended, and our benevolent moral superiors on the Left empowered to tell us what we can say and think and what we cannot, on pain of fines and imprisonment – right, Richard?

There is much more. Read the rest here.

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Filed Under: Featured, free speech, Islamic supremacism, Useful idiots Tagged With: Richard Stengel


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Comments

  1. Rev G says

    Nov 5, 2019 at 3:48 pm

    Wow, so burn the flag and it is “free speech”, but not if you burn an evil book? By the way, bacon grease really helps get the paper going.

    • Jim Matters says

      Nov 6, 2019 at 4:01 am

      We burn Korans because Koran worshippers burn humans alive.

  2. James Lincoln says

    Nov 5, 2019 at 4:51 pm

    According to the feature article, Richard Stengel states:

    “… the First Amendment …should not protect hateful speech that can cause violence by one group against another…”

    Let’s unpack this a little bit vis-à-vis Islam…

    Stating the truth about Islam is NOT hateful speech.

    The REAL hateful speech is present in the Islamic source texts – such as the Koran.

    Stating the truth about Islam upsets most Muslims – and it can make some of them violent. That should NOT be a reason to avoid stating the truth about Islam. ALL violent reactions by Muslims should be PROSECUTED.

    And burning a book in a safe and environmentally friendly manner, whether it is a Bible, a copy of “Gulliver’s Travels”, or a Koran, is ALL protected free speech.

    • Wellington says

      Nov 5, 2019 at 4:58 pm

      In agreement with you, James, across the board.

    • gravenimage says

      Nov 5, 2019 at 8:46 pm

      +1

  3. Wellington says

    Nov 5, 2019 at 4:56 pm

    The First Amendment is not an “outlier” but a magnificent testimony to the principle of true freedom, which almost all of the world through almost all of man’s history has been against (never more so than with Islam), and thus illustrating once again the virtual uniqueness (certain ancient Athenians like Solon, Cleisthenes and Pericles must be counted in this select group too) of the Founding Fathers of America—just about the most enlightened group of people in all the world, any time and any place.

    Thus, verily and so on, Richard Stengel is a clueless man for what he has stated. He’s the “outlier” and not the First Amendment (just like a Leftist to get things ass-backwards). Profound shame on this person for making a distinction between free speech and hate speech because once this distinction is made and codified it will guarantee that two things occur: 1) the ending of true free speech; and 2) a political police en masse to make sure everyone obeys the Orwellian distinction between these two types of speech.

    There should only be one kind of speech and that is free speech. Get into the hate speech v. free speech nonsense and you can kiss free speech good-bye. Guaranteed.

    • Westman says

      Nov 5, 2019 at 5:28 pm

      Our immigrant ancestors came to the United States to leave the oppression of Europe and have the right to speak their mind and pursue their dreams. They would be appalled to see this greedy denizen of globalization trying to destroy the uniqueness (with his megaphone) that attracts the world to the United States. He needs to spend some time as normal citizen in a Muslim nation, learning about what Islam is bringing to Europe – something he never experienced as a political elite.

      • Wellington says

        Nov 5, 2019 at 6:59 pm

        Yes, Westman, this exceedingly foolish man needs to do what you recommended—but he won’t. Meanwhile, he will live in a secure, gated community and probably die before he realizes how moronic his assessments have been.

    • Rob says

      Nov 5, 2019 at 8:51 pm

      Who said: ‘If you want to know who is really in control, identify those who cannot be criticised’.

    • gravenimage says

      Nov 6, 2019 at 12:32 am

      Yes–the First Amendment, far from being “an outlier”, is the very core of our freedoms, and protection of those freedoms.

      That he looked at the tyranny of unfree nations and came away from that not with an increased appreciation of freedom, but instead a love of authoritarianism, is sickening. That he was unable to explain what the Constitution and First Amendment are and why they are of supreme importance showed that he never belonged with the State Department to begin with. Of course, this *was* under Obama…

  4. Andreas says

    Nov 5, 2019 at 6:15 pm

    Worse in Greece folks . A high profile leftist MP asked today to penalize the eating of pork and the drinking of alcohol next to the areas where the Muslim Invaders , sorry I meant refugees are housed . In housing paid for by the taxes of the Greek people who are going through the worst fiscal and economic crises of the post war era! Right in the parliament !
    Mean while , 40000 Muslims crossed over from Turkey during the last month alone.
    The government is lodging then in army camps and hotels ! The EU has allocated 60 million euros in order to rent entire hotels . Violence is way up .
    Useless to talk with these people.
    I am afraid there will be blood .

    • Wellington says

      Nov 5, 2019 at 6:50 pm

      Yes, there will be blood. When you have Muslims around, the spilling of blood is only a question of time.

    • gravenimage says

      Nov 5, 2019 at 8:57 pm

      Awful–especially given how much Greece has suffered historically at the hands of Islam.

  5. Andreas says

    Nov 5, 2019 at 6:21 pm

    The current mayor of Athens had lodged the invaders in a camp at Thermopylae! Where Leonidas and the 300 fell for the defense of Greece and the whole of the west.
    The army camp at Tripolis, named after Theodoros Kolokotronis , our main hero of the war of Independence (against the Turks) Is now housing 100s of Invaders . The current cuckservative government is nothing less than a government of traitors . Watch Greece , it is exploding

    • Wellington says

      Nov 5, 2019 at 6:51 pm

      So sad to read what you have written. And what a betrayal and waste of Greece at its best.

    • gravenimage says

      Nov 5, 2019 at 8:58 pm

      Insane, Andreas.

  6. Kepha says

    Nov 5, 2019 at 6:57 pm

    This stinks of a State official succumbing to “clientitis”–seing things through the other guy’s eyes. But it is a very bad day for our republic when our diplomats and other government officials believe that the First Amendment is an “outlier”. Perhaps it is for a lot of the world; but for Americans, it ought to be utterly fundamental.

    • gravenimage says

      Nov 6, 2019 at 12:34 am

      Yes–this is “going native” in the worst possible way.

  7. Alexious Comnenus says

    Nov 5, 2019 at 7:06 pm

    It is hard to admit that the situation in Greece is so dramatic. But this is miserable reality. Their politicians are in fat destroying the country. I don’t know how Bulgaria deals with the muslim invasion. Serbia is still strong but has the other pro or muslim small countries around. It seems Greece have not learned from its 500 years of Othman total suppression. Turkey is a very dangerous nation which tends to annihilate any Christian presence within and without their boundary.

    • GreekEmpress says

      Nov 5, 2019 at 7:39 pm

      I fear for my relatives on Cyprus and in Athens.
      Greece is a victim of geography—too close to the bloodthirsty Turks. Lesbos is overrun. Samos overrun. I had hoped for better from the new government, but I guess the more things change, the more they stay the same.

      • gravenimage says

        Nov 6, 2019 at 12:34 am

        Yes–terrifying.

      • Heidi says

        Nov 6, 2019 at 9:46 am

        Merkel is helping them along as she helped her Italian admirers to get rid of Salvini. If they keep supporting the Dems you all are going to end up like this https://www.dw.com/en/opinion-freedom-of-speech-in-germany-be-mainstream-or-be-quiet/a-51086715

  8. gravenimage says

    Nov 5, 2019 at 7:27 pm

    Obama State Department Official Calls for Criminalization of Burning the Qur’an
    ………………..

    Just repulsive. You can burn the American flag, the Bible, a copy of the Constitution–as is your right–but won’t be able to burn the vicious Qur’an? This shows what Stengel’s values are.

    More:

    Stengel claims that he is a convert to authoritarianism, a former believer in the freedom of speech: “When I was a journalist, I loved Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.’s assertion that the Constitution and the First Amendment are not just about protecting ‘free thought for those who agree with us but freedom for the thought that we hate.’”

    His conversion came as a result of his world travel. Travel is supposed to be broadening, but in Stengel’s case it was narrowing. He says that even as he went around the world defending the freedom of speech, he came to despise that freedom: “But as a government official traveling around the world championing the virtues of free speech, I came to see how our First Amendment standard is an outlier.”
    ……………….

    In other words, far from seeing how unique a safeguard of freedom the First Amendment is, Stengel decided he prefers the crushing of freedom you find in so many sh*tholes around the world. *Ugh*.

  9. peter says

    Nov 5, 2019 at 9:20 pm

    Nothing good or sensible comes out of Washington Compost !

  10. notnolib says

    Nov 5, 2019 at 11:02 pm

    Richard,
    I burned one for you tonite. But don’t worry…..I wrapped it in greasy bacon so the flame was more even.

  11. DC says

    Nov 6, 2019 at 4:30 am

    “even the most sophisticated Arab diplomats that I dealt with did not understand why the First Amendment allows someone to burn a Koran. Why, they asked me, would you ever want to protect that?” I appreciate Richard Stengel’s embarrassment in the moment, being uncomfortable not wanting to answer – but his inability to answer? Poor guy, shows how unintelligent he is. Anyone who burns books is truly an idiot, it is shameful – I would agree. But let each person damn themselves. A book may be burned in a society with free speech. If the Muslim argument is that the words within are sacred, then in response burning an effigy of the latest US President – the image of a man being sacred to many primitive religions – is harmful to the victim. “But burning the Koran causes hate.” So does burning the US flag, or any effigy. Meanwhile, the US has invented how many things in its short history to become the richest country the world has ever known, while Saudi Arabia’s track record in this regard is…? The First Amendment – repeat, the 1st Amendment – play a fundamental part coming from the people and emanating to the people in a society completely that has no foundations in Islamic tradition. Finally, note how the Arabs’ only concern is the burning of their book, and not any other aspect of the rights the First Amendment covers? Oh Richard Stengel, not the brightest bunny to have ever been lucky enough to be part of the US Establishment. Be aware Americans, the Left are coming for your Constitution.

    • Joe says

      Nov 6, 2019 at 6:23 am

      I would answer, “Burning the Koran definitely doesn’t cause hate, but it might unveil the hate that is brewing in your midst. As Carl Jung said, ‘If you don’t deal with the problem, it will deal with you’. With Islam there is a huge amount of hate in society. Are you going to address that hate or let it fester into violence?”

      If you make me choose between freedom and authority, I’m going to choose freedom every time. Authoritarianism means that every must obey a lazy idiot who brings nothing but misery.

  12. Tuvia Fogel says

    Nov 6, 2019 at 7:18 am

    This kind of thing often happens to people who served under Hussein Obama.

  13. no one says

    Nov 6, 2019 at 7:57 am

    Learn from it then burn it you choose, Islam would destroy every book on the planet save for the Koran.

  14. Capitalist-Dad says

    Nov 6, 2019 at 9:02 am

    He came to dislike free speech because he was unable to defend it against criticism [by authoritarians if not despots]? So, typical of Democrats, normal Americans are to give of their unalienable rights because one of our garbage elite is too ignorant to explain its connection to individual liberty.

  15. CTTV15@Hotmail.com says

    Nov 6, 2019 at 11:01 am

    Sounds familiar to me. FORMER MN (c)ongressman Keith Ellison proposed and drafted H. Res. 569 to accomplish this very same scheme. It failed however.

    NOW, as the MN Attorney General he is attempting thew very same slick scheme in Minnesota by fiat, and his ‘Shame & Blame Minnesotans Tour’ all around the State… ..trying to convince Minnesotans that We are guilty of ‘Hate Crimes and Hate Speech’ for the crime of ‘NOTICING’ all the horrible Somali & Black ‘community’ linked crimes and violence occurring with increasing regularity throughout the once great State of Minnesota.

    In short, according to Ellison, WE are the bigots, racists, Islamophobic, xenophobic, culprits, and haters, who must be destroyed by Ellison and his sidekicks (MN Governor – MN Secretary of State – CAIR Minnesota) – in order to combat the invisible and unreported, and ‘under-reported’ epidemic of crimes of hatred against the people Mr. Ellison truly represents in Minnesota, along with Ilhan Omar and company.

    Minnesota needs FEDERAL INTERVENTION NOW!

  16. FYI says

    Nov 6, 2019 at 11:32 am

    Burning qurans?

    Better to RECYCLE them.

    We don’t want to upset certain folk do we?

    “This is all wrong. I shouldn’t be here.I should be back in School in Swedenistan on the other side of the ocean..how dare you,how DARE YOU!..you have stolen my dreams and my childhood…. by failing to recycle stuff..like they do diligently in the Leftard-islamic Globalist-sponsored paradise of Swedenistan…”

    • gravenimage says

      Nov 6, 2019 at 11:09 pm

      Best all for Infidels to read them, and see what horrors Islam demands of its followers.

  17. Dr. Doom says

    Nov 6, 2019 at 12:09 pm

    So, would the same thing hold true for the Bible, or the texts of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism? How about the Jewish texts? Just more crackpot nonsense from another leftist screwball.

    • gravenimage says

      Nov 6, 2019 at 11:10 pm

      Spot on.

  18. Angemon says

    Nov 6, 2019 at 2:03 pm

    He recounts that “even the most sophisticated Arab diplomats that I dealt with did not understand why the First Amendment allows someone to burn a Koran. Why, they asked me, would you ever want to protect that?”

    If they really don’t understand the value of freedom of speech then they are not “sophisticated”. If they do, they’re duplicitous. In any case, they’re not to be trusted, or taken as friends or allies…

    • gravenimage says

      Nov 6, 2019 at 11:11 pm

      +1

  19. az says

    Nov 7, 2019 at 6:49 am

    This time the level of idiocy/stupidity is so high, that I cannot find a single leftist comment on that piece, support it.

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