I’m not in favor of burning the Qur’an. I believe people should read it and understand its contents rather than burn it. But in a free society, book-burning is not or should not be illegal. It is part of the freedom of expression; we may dislike it, but to outlaw it would restrict the freedom of expression in ways that would have negative consequences for society in other ways: the group that was prevented by law from being criticized or insulted, including having its holy book burned, would be free from all restraints and able to work its will unchallenged and unopposed. If Rasmus Paludin had intended to travel to Sweden to burn a Bible, would anyone have cared? Would he have been banned from the country or arrested? Police spokesman Calle Peresson said: “We suspect that he was going to break the law in Sweden.” What law? Is burning a Qur’an against the law in Sweden? Is Sweden under Sharia now?
Persson added: “There was also a risk that his behaviour would pose a threat to society.” Note that this is the same sleight-of-hand British officials employed when they banned Pamela Geller and me from entering that country. Just as in our case, Paludin does not actually pose a threat to society. The people who were going to react violently and irrationally to his behavior pose a threat to society, and the Swedes lack the will to act against them, so they act against Paludin instead.
And now Muslims are rioting despite the Swedish authorities’ best efforts to prevent it from happening. The police did not burn the Qur’an, but they’re the ones getting stones thrown at them. The property destroyed and people injured in the riots likely had nothing to do with the people responsible for the Qur’an burning, but that is the deadly illogic of riots everywhere. We’re seeing the same thing now all over the United States.
The rioters are, of course, screaming “Allahu akbar.”
“Riots in Sweden’s Malmo after anti-Muslim Danish leader blocked from ‘Quran-burning rally’, given two-year ban,” Agence France-Presse, August 29, 2020:
Stockholm: Protesters threw stones at police and burned tyres in southern Sweden late on Friday, authorities said, hours after an anti-Muslim Danish politician was blocked from attending a Quran-burning rally nearby.
About 300 people were on the streets of Malmo with violence escalating as the evening wore on….
The demonstration was connected to an incident earlier in the day in which protesters burned a copy of the Islamic holy book, police spokesman Rickard Lundqvist told Swedish tabloid Expressen.
Rasmus Paludan, who leads the far-right Danish anti-immigration party Hard Line, was due to travel to Malmo to speak at that event….
But authorities pre-empted Paludan’s arrival by announcing he had been banned from entering Sweden for two years. He was later arrested near Malmo.
“We suspect that he was going to break the law in Sweden,” Calle Persson, spokesman for the police in Malmo told AFP.
“There was also a risk that his behaviour would pose a threat to society.”
But his supporters went ahead with the rally, and three people were then arrested for inciting racial hatred.
Paludan later put up a scathing message on Facebook. “Sent back and banned from Sweden for two years. However, rapists and murderers are always welcome!” he wrote.
Paludan last year attracted media attention for burning a Quran wrapped in bacon – a meat that is anathema for Muslims.
Persson added: “There was also a risk that his behaviour would pose a threat to society.” Note that this is the same sleight-of-hand British officials employed when they banned Pamela Geller and me from entering that country. Just as in our case, Paludin does not actually pose a threat to society. The people who were going to react violently and irrationally to his behavior pose a threat to society, and the Swedes lack the will to act against them, so they act against Paludin instead.
And now Muslims are rioting despite the Swedish authorities’ best efforts to prevent it from happening. The police did not burn the Qur’an, but they’re the ones getting stones thrown at them. The property destroyed and people injured in the riots likely had nothing to do with the people responsible for the Qur’an burning, but that is the deadly illogic of riots everywhere. We’re seeing the same thing now all over the United States.
The rioters are, of course, screaming “Allahu akbar.”
“Riots in Sweden’s Malmo after anti-Muslim Danish leader blocked from ‘Quran-burning rally’, given two-year ban,” Agence France-Presse, August 29, 2020:
Stockholm: Protesters threw stones at police and burned tyres in southern Sweden late on Friday, authorities said, hours after an anti-Muslim Danish politician was blocked from attending a Quran-burning rally nearby.
About 300 people were on the streets of Malmo with violence escalating as the evening wore on….
The demonstration was connected to an incident earlier in the day in which protesters burned a copy of the Islamic holy book, police spokesman Rickard Lundqvist told Swedish tabloid Expressen.
Rasmus Paludan, who leads the far-right Danish anti-immigration party Hard Line, was due to travel to Malmo to speak at that event….
But authorities pre-empted Paludan’s arrival by announcing he had been banned from entering Sweden for two years. He was later arrested near Malmo.
“We suspect that he was going to break the law in Sweden,” Calle Persson, spokesman for the police in Malmo told AFP.
“There was also a risk that his behaviour would pose a threat to society.”
But his supporters went ahead with the rally, and three people were then arrested for inciting racial hatred.
Paludan later put up a scathing message on Facebook. “Sent back and banned from Sweden for two years. However, rapists and murderers are always welcome!” he wrote.
Paludan last year attracted media attention for burning a Quran wrapped in bacon – a meat that is anathema for Muslims.
