Even though one may object to burning the Qur’an (I do; I’d rather people read and study it), it is a matter of the freedom of expression. If someone burns the Bible, or the Bhagavad Gita, or The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, or any other book, no one will mind. Burning the Qur’an, however, violates Islamic blasphemy law. By accepting that burning the Qur’an is something that should be restricted and even criminalized, as many in the West have done, Western authorities are opening the door for the establishment of Muslims as a special class that is above the law, and for the introduction of more Sharia into their countries. They’re striking a massive blow against one of the core principles of their society, the freedom of speech.
“Exclusive Interview: Norway Qur’an Burner’s Point Proven; Violence, Threats And Calls To Criminalize Free Speech Result,” by Amy Mek, RAIR Foundation, December 2, 2019:
“If I would go to Pakistan and burn the Qur’an they would definitely kill me, but if I go to Pakistan and burn the Bible they would honor me, they will salute me.“ – Lena Andreassen
An obscure incident in Norway is being seized upon to justify imposing international blasphemy laws.
On November 16, 2019, a violent attack triggered by the burning of a Qur’an in Southern Norway’s capital city of Kristiansand captured the attention of global media outlets. It began when Lars Thorsen, the leader of Stop Islamization of Norway (SIAN) set fire to the Qur’an, Islam’s holy book in an act of protest. Thorsen was immediately assaulted by Umer Ilyas, an Islamic witness to the event, which was meant as a statement against the ongoing assault on free speech in the West.
For his perceived blasphemy, Thorson was violently beaten as police rushed to extinguish and protect the burning Qur’an. In the wake of the incident, Umar Ilyas’ violent response has been celebrated and copy-cat actions have been encouraged.
Lena Andreassen, a photographer and SIAN member, photographed the event. RAIR Foundation USA sat down with Andreassen for an exclusive interview about the organization SIAN and the state of free speech in Norway.
Andreassen sets the stage for the event (see video):
We had four speeches that went very well. The last speech was from the founder of SIAN, Arne Thumyr. He talked about how today was a historic day in Norway, and we should burn the Qur’an. Arne Thumyr threw his copy of the Qur’an into a rubbish box. At the same moment Lars Thorsen put fire at his copy. It was chaos.
Three policemen came running to extinguish the fire. At the same moment Lars was attacked by a violent Muslim. It escalated and several Muslims broke the barriers….
There is much more. Read the rest here.
Philis O'Shaughnessy says
Burn the quran or use it for charmin. Murderous lying evil cult that defies the world with violence.
terry sullivan says
islam is a cancer and must be destroyed
Naildriver says
Actually, I’d be supportive of burning them, as flagrant hate speech and lies, intended to incite public rebellion. Geert Wilders has a similar sentiment in the Netherlands.
Yes, Islam is a special case that finds purchase among ignorant and criminal elements, as black felons in the USA, who reinforce their racism with it.
The Koran is an enemies major source of energy — hope for evil.
mortimer says
No, terry, Islam is a collection of ideas … that are based on a 7th-century hoax. When Muslims see that the Koran is a manmade book, they abandon Islam. That’s what it is … erroneous thinking.
gravenimage says
Yes, it is erroneous thinking–but erroneous thinking that many Muslims are willing to murder for. Most Muslims won’t abandon their vicious creed because Infidels tell them its a good idea. Pious Muslims despise Infidels.
Giacomo Latta says
You are on the right track, Terry. It must be destroyed within our own borders. Once all Christians in Pakistan are killed off, Pakistanis will start killing themselves off.
Shane Gerzon says
don’t burn books in general. don’t burn holy books that will set people off. If you want war, gather a military and put on a uniform. The snivelling little swipes should be passed on.
crawford421 says
It’s just a book. I’m opposed to burning books as a means of censorship, but if some idiot tries to make it illegal in the US to burn a Koran, I’m going to have a bonfire of them.
elee says
+1
Kepha says
I also object to burning books–even Mao’s Little Red Book and Mein Kampf. But I am also against this Leftist-Islamic alliance against free speech.
roberta says
I would have probably said something similar in the past, so no criticism intended toward your comment. But have you ever read the Koran?
Peter35 says
For what it’s worth I’ve read the most pertinent suras and find absolutely nothing positive or uplifting in that publication of pure misogynistic hatred.
The obscene cult of islam and it’s deluded, backward adherents have nothing positive to offer mankind, and no place in the western world.
roberta says
To me, the study of the koran was like pulling out a hammer and hitting myself on the thumb daily. The dread that I felt as the hour neared for the study was awful. We had dealt with them in the military and I was determined to try and understand how some of them (muslims) could have such a burning, just on fire hatred for us. The koran gave me the answer, it is a terrible thing.
I had decided I would highlight (yellow marker) everything that I found positive in the koran. Sad to say, my yellow marker was pretty much still brand new when I finished the book.
I’d burn them all. I would not even save one in a museum. There is nothing sacred or even half worth while in that hateful book.
gravenimage says
I’ve read the Qur’an now in five different translations, as well as having dipped into it numerous times. I am normally a voracious reader, but reading the vicious, tedious, and badly written Qur’an is a nothing but a chore–albeit I believe a necessary one.
mortimer says
The Koran is being placed in the oven of scholarship and it is not surviving the test. The Koran is coming out singed from modern study of it using modern tools.
Very soon, Muslims who want answers will realize that the Koran’s alleged divine authorship is both preposterous and disproved by scientific research into it.
The Koran says the earth is flat and the sun sets in a muddy spring in the flat earth. The Koran is the literal words of Allah. Even one error means the Koran is false.
The Koran disproves itself.
Save Europe says
Very soon, Muslims who want answers will realize that the Koran’s alleged divine authorship is both preposterous and disproved by scientific research into it.
*******
I like you Mortimer. I do, however, I fear you will be incorrect. Islam is utter supremacism. Supremacist ideology has to be, sadly, attacked hard, from the outside, as it rarely is, from the inside.
gravenimage says
Unfortunately, Mortimer, the implication that no Muslims are familiar with the contents of the violent Qur’an is not borne out.
John says
Muslims who regularly attend Mosque are very familiar with Islam as it taught by the individual imams. In many cases this means that an Imam teaches more about the reason why a Muslim should not believe in other religions instead of why they should believe in Islam. So depending on how much the local imam is a fire-brand, what Muslims are taught is more or less violent and hateful towards Non-Muslims. And usually Muslims are taught to not question what they have have heard from their Imam, which often includes a whole lot of inaccuracies of what Non-Muslims believe and follow. But with the internet more and more Muslims are confronted with other aspects taught in the Quran or how the belief system of Non-Muslims is totally different to what is taught by their local imam. These Muslims are then shocked when they find out that there are mistakes in the Quran, that it teaches that Non-Muslims should be fought which implies killing and that this “peaceful” Quran they believed they are following is actually a book of hatred and violence. So it is most important in my humble opinion that Muslims are confronted with the violence and hatred that is taught in the Quran as well as the many variances of the Quran for sale today and the mistakes therein. Getting Muslims (as well as Non-Muslims) to actually read the Quran and find out what a perverted war-lord Mohammed was will do a lot to reduce the believe and sympathies in Islam.
gravenimage says
John, the idea that most Muslims would be horrified by the contents of the Qur’an is, sadly, not borne out.
John says
According to Islamic tradition Uthman the third righteous Caliph had all the originals of the Quran burnt. So if a Muslim burns a Quran then that is fine, but if a Nob-Muslim burns one it is not? Makes Muslims hypocrites, which apparently is one of the worst crimes in Islam.
LLetto says
Good story and nice to hear from Vlad Tepes
gravenimage says
+1
Crusades Were Right says
There’s a huge difference between a private person burning a book, and the state authorities burning one:
the former is CRITICISM…
…the latter is CENSORSHIP.
somehistory says
And any individual should be allowed to burn one if it belongs to him/her. Without prosecution. And I write that even if someone is going to burn a Bible they own. God’s Word endures, even if someone burns a written copy. If God doesn’t stop him/her from burning the paper, I don’t see that I have a right to do so.
And if I owned a filthy book of islam, I would rid myself of it in some manner. Much as if it was a book of child porn or one advocating child sacrifice. It’s all satanic.
Save Europe says
Superb point ???
gravenimage says
Norway Qur’an-burning is being seized upon to justify imposing international blasphemy laws
………………
Muslims have been trying to force the West to impose Shari’ah “blasphemy” laws for years. Norway arresting this man was not enough for them.
somehistory says
The police rush to protect the filthy book…of which there are millions of copies, and duplicates are easily printed.
The police do not rush to protect the life and limb of the guy who burned the book…there was only one of him.
If the book burner had been setting fire to a Bible, the police would not have rushed to protect it…because Christians don’t riot, engage in violence against others, or in any way endanger those who choose to burn the Holy Bible. Not to say we like it or approve. But acting in that way over a book burning is not something Christ commanded.
And the moslims and their pet peeves and widdle feelings are oh-so-important in these last days in which we live. The devil is angry and so are his many children. There is nothing that pacifies them. Anything done in this regard is never enough…never enough to arrest a book burner, or make someone apologize, or put in prison someone who puts bacon at a moslim barracks, or banned from sports arenas. It’s just never enough…even if the man had been killed by the moslim mob right in the presence of the police…it would not have been enough.
tim gallagher says
It would probably be better if we could get people to read the vile, hate-filled Koran and be woken up about the evil nature of Islam and the menace it is to all non-Muslims. But, I like to see people fighting back and disrespecting Islam, which what it deserves, so I applaud the burning of the Koran. Off this topic, but out here in Australia, we had yet another Muslim arrested yesterday on terrorist charges, in Riverwood, a suburb of Sydney. His name was Youssef Uweinat, 21 year old man, who had pledged his support for Islamic State. Apparently, he had been on the authorities’ radar for 6 months, but, the TV news reports said the police decided to arrest him because, after the recent Muslim terrorist attack in London, they thought this man might decide to carry out some type of attack. On and on it goes. So much trouble. Where is the positive in Muslim migration into any non-Muslim country? I know I can’t see it.
Save Europe says
There is NO positive. Agree ,Tim ?
DHazard says
I hate that people who have been getting along with each other for generations now have to deal with new neighbors who came in hating everybody. Expecting to be dealing with adults who have some degree of gratitude, they instead found themselves being intimidated, threatened and attacked for just being normal, in their OWN HOME. What a surprise to learn that these intimidating, threatening Muslims believe, and therefore act as if, they already own the World.
Wellington says
Yes, per Muslimthink, they do own all the world; they’re entitled to all the world. Only the time frame is in question.
And this is thus, verily and so on why it needs to be understood by mankind as a whole that, while it was not a given, it was probable that mankind would get a major religion that stinks to high heaven.
It happened. Mankind “got” Islam.
Wellington says
A la Orwell, all religions are treated equally, but one religion (guess which one) is treated more equally than others.
Battle says
+100
Ren says
All that is related to islam must be destroyed and burned.
Wellington says
Respectfully, no. Anymore than what is related to Marxism or Nazism should be destroyed and burned.
Metaphorical sunlight is the best disinfectant. If only more would read the turgid, despicable Koran and Islam’s equally disgusting ancillary texts, i.e., the hadiths and sira. And then there is the historical record of the worst religion of all time which should be known to far more people than it is to date (Robert Spencer’s The History of Jihad would be a good start here).
I don’t want the Communist Manifesto, Mein Kampf and the Koran destroyed and burned. I want them read and seen for the pernicious nonsense that resides within them. Proceed from this starting point I would vigorously argue.
James Lincoln says
Wellington says,
“I don’t want the Communist Manifesto, Mein Kampf and the Koran destroyed and burned. I want them read and seen for the pernicious nonsense that resides within them.”
Absolutely true…
I have always found it interesting that a normal, psychologically sound, well-adjusted person can read the three works that you have referenced above and have nothing but DISGUST for the writings.
Best wishes to you and yours. Keep posting, I read all of your posts – they are always of high quality.
Wellington says
My sassy, talented, immensely loveable wife thinks you too kind, James, but thank you much nonetheless.
gravenimage says
Agreed, Wellington and James.
somehistory says
Part of what makes these books so terrible is the fact that some so-called “professor,” “learned person,” “academic expert,” etc. praises the work, glorifies the ideas, encourages young and inexperienced ones to admire the writers, the ideas, and denounces those who disagree; denounces and insults with harsh and lying words…and the young and inexperienced and those who wish to have the smile of approval from the “teachers” of these vile writings, lap it up and proceed to expound on the non-existent virtues, looking down their noses at any who aren’t “enlightened.”
Any person then, be it a parent or other, who tries to open the eyes of these who have been brain-dirtied with the evil, twisted writings expounded upon by the “experts,” are mocked as not being “progressive.”
If each person reading those books had the mental and emotional maturity to read for himself, reason on the words and intentions, and see from history and the experiences of others, how very foul these really are, then there would be less of a problem overall. At least, that is my opinion.
gravenimage says
True, Somehistory.
John says
Most people who agree with communism, naziisim, or islam have not read the works of the founders of that ideology, but just believe the positive aspects presented by people who actually benefit by those ideologies at the expense of others.
Save Europe says
Fantastic post?
Anything that is vile that contains ‘hate speech’ should never be burned, so there is lasting proof, first hand, of its terrible mantra. People who are unaware, should have access to these works, to see for themselves.
Kirsch says
The devil doesn’t like to be mocked.
Allah is a very insecure little demon indeed.
Dark forces feel off the low vibrational energy of anxiety, fear, depression and hate.
What a feast he has with Muslims.
Kirsch says
Feed not feel
John says
Hitler and Stalin (or Erdogan and Putin) could not take being mocked either and killed millions to rule through fear and oppression. Islam is a totalitarian ideology who’s followers will also kill and oppress to gain power. They are actually just only as powerful as we allow them to be. So mocking the ideology of Islam (not the people) and putting pressure on people in power to allow this will get many Muslims to leave Islam as they will realize that there is no power to be had in Islam. The issue being that politicians and other people of influence have to be shown up as supporters of a totalitarian ideology that is as bad if not worse than nazism or communism.
Lydia Church says
If they can confiscate and destroy Bibles in the muslim world, then we can burn korans in the Western world.
And we will, regardless of how many retarded tantrums they throw!
Lydia Church says
And no one will silence my speech either.
In order to do that, they will have to kill me.
And I don’t want to live in a world where I have no freedom of speech.
So many are bullied and cower into silence.
They have muzzled themselves.
They have already rolled over and died in order to ‘survive.’
What can I say…. that’s not for me.
I will not be silenced.
Save Europe says
I’ve now thought about it. Really, it’s quite obvious. If you burn a copy of a Koran, they’re likely to be put off invading/entering your country.
Sure, the ones who are already there will kick up a massive fuss, but it’s now obvious. Play a ‘hard hand’, and they won’t come, because they would realise their ideology isn’t accepted.
eduardo odraude says
Key distinction: should be legal to burn the qur’an, provided the copy you burn is your property and not someone else’s. Burning your own can be a form of speech, a statement. Burning someone else’s is criminal.
WPM says
The Moslems do not want anyone to burn a Koran ,the irony is the Moslems get upset if anyone discusses what is written in the Koran .It is the only book in the world that not only can,t you burn it you can not talk about what is written in it .If you cannot discuss or question what is written in a book of idolatry “religious ideas” ,that its followers must defend it violently should be call a cult. The west appeasing these bullies of the cult of Islam will not end well.
gravenimage says
Muslims do not accept even the mildest criticism or even questioning of Islam.
John says
And that is why Islam, Mohammed and the Quran should be questioned and criticized whenever possible.
gravenimage says
+1
Walter Sieruk says
There is an old saying .Which is that “Evil is always looking for an excuse” So what better an “excuse” have such an absurd thing as “blasphemy laws” enacted in international law as that Qur’ ‘an burning incident in Norway.
Furthermore the original reason is that “blasphemy laws” had already been set up in many Middle Eastern Islamic nations is because Islam is actually such a weak and fragile religion that is can’t hold up or stand up to criticism of any kind, no matter how mild that criticism might be.
gravenimage says
+1
OLD GUY says
Burn every Qur’an and remove this evil book from the world.
John says
Nice thought, but not practical. Better to force everyone to read the Quran (that is punishment enough) and then explain what a pervert and evil war-lord Mohammed was. If the Germans had been forced to read Mein Kampf they would never have voted Hitler into power.
gravenimage says
I don’t think it should be forced–but Infidels *should* read the Qur’an to see what w eare up against.