Wednesday, October 20, 2010

When is it Okay/Not Okay to Burn a Holy Book?

Here is an overview of last week's meeting (held on 10/11), thanks to our secretary Sarah Imbesi:

Introduction
  • Rev. Terry Jones planned to burn the Qur'an on 9/11 as an anti-Islam protest. He never followed through with this plan, but the story was still greatly publicized.
  • Burning the Qur'an is a heavy theological insult because the Qur'an is not just a book to the Muslims; it is more like how Jesus is to Christians.
Guest Speaker: Dr. Rasor
  • Dr. Rasor used the question we asked, "When is it okay/not okay to burn a holy book?", to gain insight into more questions within the question: 
1. What do we mean by "okay"?
    -Legally? Morally?
    -Even though it is legally okay to burn a holy book, should there be limitations?
    -Why would it be morally wrong?
        i. Symbolic Violence- creates fear and poses a threat
        ii. Over Publicized- would it have even posed a threat if it wasn't public?
    -When would it be okay to burn a holy book?
        i. Fuel for a fire if there's nothing left to keep you warm from the cold?
2. Why "burn"? Is burning different from other forms of symbolic protest?
3. What is "holy"? Holy to whom?
4. Who do we want to protect from this book burning? Whose interests?
5. What do we expect of people in a democratic society? Do we expect them to be tolerant of all religions?
Snyder v. Phelps- Protesting at Military Funerals
  • The Phelps have been protesting the "don't ask, don't tell" policy of the military, but in the opposite way it is usually protested. They are protesting for gays to be removed from the military, not to be tolerated. At the funerals they protest to say that the gays in the military are the cause of death for all the soldiers that die.
-What are the restrictions for these types of protests?
-Are the funerals on public property, thus making the protests legal?

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