• frostbiker@lemmy.ca
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    1 year ago

    I do not approve of burning holy books, but I think it should be legal.

    What people shouldn’t do and what should be banned are different things. I don’t want to live in a place where what is not mandatory is banned. There has to be some room for freedom of expression, even for people expressing ideas we dislike.

    • gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      I do not approve of burning books, full stop. I couldn’t care less whose imaginary friend the book is or isn’t about.

      But I completely agree that the government should categorically not be legislating which books you can and cannot burn. Burning a book is a form of free speech. It’s often offensive to many people, but it’s still important - if for no other reason than it lets the people doing the burning show their true colors.

      • frostbiker@lemmy.ca
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        1 year ago

        Burning a book is a form of free speech. It’s often offensive to many people, but it’s still important - if for no other reason than it let’s the people doing the burning show their true colors.

        Yes! That’s something I have also thought about. When some angry folks burned the rainbow flag this summer, I was unhappy that they did, but glad that they showed their intolerance publicly so that we can learn about who they are.

      • Sigmatics@lemmy.ca
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        1 year ago

        Exactly. People can burn anything they want in their backyard. Just keep out of public spaces

    • Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de
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      1 year ago

      And it remains legal, you just can’t do it in public.

      Feel free to buy a cartload of qurans to use for your backyard barbeques.

    • Syndic@feddit.de
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      1 year ago

      There has to be some room for freedom of expression, even for people expressing ideas we dislike.

      And there still is plenty of room of public expression of opinions without burning a book representing a religious group. Seriously there are thousands of ways to do so.

      But European countries did learn some lessons and that’s why some actions such as calling for religious or other minority groups to be killed or to intimindate such groups with displays of violence isn’t allowed in many of them. And burning a religious book in public is such an act of intimidation which serves absolutely no constructive purpose. That’s why many European countries don’t allow such behaviour.

      • CapeWearingAeroplane@sopuli.xyz
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        1 year ago

        You act like there would be less of a reaction if people ripped up, walked on, or in other ways desecrated the Quran. This isn’t about book burning, this is about a group of people not tolerating that on of their symbols is desecrated.

        Imagine if we prosecuted people for burning flags or signs with slogans… but maybe you think that should be illegal as well?

      • Fifteen_Two@lemmy.ca
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        1 year ago

        Doyou care if I burn a stack of paper? Then you shouldn’t care if I burn a fucking book.

        • Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de
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          1 year ago

          I certainly care if you burn a stack of paper in the middle of the street, there’s no good reason to do it and it’s a public danger.

          • frostbiker@lemmy.ca
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            1 year ago

            Okay, people will rip the holy book of the week instead. You may not have a good reason to do it, but others should be free to do so.

      • taladar@feddit.de
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        1 year ago

        that’s why some actions such as calling for religious or other minority groups to be killed or to intimindate such groups with displays of violence isn’t allowed in many of them

        Then why are you giving groups who threaten violence an incentive to do that more often by giving in to their demands?

        • Syndic@feddit.de
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          1 year ago

          So we now should base our laws only on doing the opposite of what a few lunatics demand regardless on how it will affect a lot more people? I really don’t think so.

        • brainrein@feddit.de
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          1 year ago

          Well, rightwing people have proved over and over again that they’re willing to not only burn books but to burn people.

          • taladar@feddit.de
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            1 year ago

            So we should make action A by right-wing people illegal because they are known to do action B?

          • blujan@sopuli.xyz
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            1 year ago

            Buddy, the people getting angry over the quran burnings are also right wing. They indeed have shown they are willing to burn people.

            I just think we shouldn’t tolerate intolerance, from christians or muslims alike.