Special Governmental Protection Of Koran

A student at Pace University has been charged with felony hate crimes for flushing and defecating on a Koran. This is an incident, yet again, where it appears the U.S. Government is two-faced regarding its interpretation of Thomas Jefferson's idea of separation of church and state. Here is a copy of the complaint with which the student has been charged:



If you'll notice, there's no mention of whose Koran it was. It has been my experience that if a crime is committed against someone, the individual against whom the crime was committed must file suit. The charge isn't vandalism nor theft, but criminal mischief. Think about the ramifications -- if ruining a religious book constitutes criminal mischief (in particular, the Koran, as many Bibles are decimated without any criminal charges files, but we'll get into that in a moment), then anything that could be construed as offensive could be such. Thus ends the First Ammendment for all intents and purposes.

What's even more disturbing about this is how the charges were leveled against this individual. It was constant pressure by muslim groups on the university and local authorities that caused this man to be charged, not an obvious infraction of law.

I'd like to quote some of Christopher Hitchens' comments regarding this, because I think he makes some very valid points. If you'd like the full Op/Ed, please visit this link

Before me is a recent report that a student at Pace University in New York City has been arrested for a hate crime in consequence of an alleged dumping of the Quran. Nothing repels me more than the burning or desecration of books, and if, for example, this was a volume from a public or university library, I would hope that its mistreatment would constitute a misdemeanor at the very least. But if I choose to spit on a copy of the writings of Ayn Rand or Karl Marx or James Joyce, that is entirely my business. When I check into a hotel room and send my free and unsolicited copy of the Gideon Bible or the Book of Mormon spinning out of the window, I infringe no law, except perhaps the one concerning litter. Why do we not make this distinction in the case of the Quran? We do so simply out of fear, and because the fanatical believers in that particular holy book have proved time and again that they mean business when it comes to intimidation. Surely that should be to their discredit rather than their credit. Should not the “moderate” imams of On Faith have been asked in direct terms whether they are, or are not, negotiating with a gun on the table?

So what's the deal? Has the US, or at least New York, adopted Islam as an official protected religion catering to whatever Imams say, or is law enforcement now going to evaluate criminal charges being leveled against someone based on the likelihood of the individual filing the complaint to start riots?

For the record, Detective Faisal Khan, the arresting officer, has received an award from CAIR.

See photo and explanation here, 7 pictures down

I don't know what to say... This makes me sick. The whole change of atmosphere around one religion in this world since 9/11 makes me absolutely ill! The power that our government (The US) is handing over to a group of people just because they threaten or pressure us makes me so ashamed. The founding fathers are turning in their graves...

:shk:

This indicates how the whole structure of "hate crimes" is prejudicial in itself! You can throw away a bible, but don't mess with the Quran, because that's a "hate crime"...

Thanks for bringing this up, jj.

Pace University is now saying that the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) had nothing to do with the charges, nor were they ever in contact with CAIR.

Unfortunately, CAIR's website had an action alert in 2006 (as quoted by littlegreenfootballs.com:

CAIR-NY TO TAKE PART IN MTG ON QURAN DESECRATION

(NEW YORK, NY, 10/3/06) - On Tuesday, October 3, the New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-NY) will participate in a town hall meeting at Pace University to discuss a recent incident in which a Quran, Islam’s revealed text, was found in the toilet in a campus men’s room. CAIR-NY is calling on the university to treat the incident as a possible hate crime.

WHAT: Town Hall Meeting at Pace University
WHEN: Tuesday, October 3, 2006, 3:30 p.m.
WHERE: Schimmel Center, Pace University (NYC campus)

CAIR-NY sees this incident as evidence of the growing phenomenon of Islamophobia in the United States and will encourage Pace University to hold more town hall meetings for the student population in order to create a better understanding of Islam.

CONTACT: Afsheen Shamsi, CAIR-NY Communications Director

Now, what's very interesting is, CAIR's website has all of their previous action items archvied...Except this one appears to be missing. It would be expected to be on this page, yet it seems to have vanished. The LittleGreenFootballs entry is dated Tue, Oct 3, 2006. The combination of the University protecting CAIR and CAIR removing any mention of this Town Hall meeting is just screaming conspiracy to me right now...Thankfully, the internet tends to keep records of everything ever on it.

More as further information is uncovered.

Originally posted by junglejake
If you'll notice, there's no mention of whose Koran it was. It has been my experience that if a crime is committed against someone, the individual against whom the crime was committed must file suit.

LGF states that it was a paperback copy from the campus library.

So what's the deal? Has the US, or at least New York, adopted Islam as an official protected religion catering to whatever Imams say, or is law enforcement now going to evaluate criminal charges being leveled against someone based on the likelihood of the individual filing the complaint to start riots?

Let's hope not.

It's a sad day when a crucifix sumberged in urine can be classified as "art" and a book is classified as the victim of a hate crime.:shk:

Double standard all the way, and as has been stated, the death knell for the First Amendment.

well... the person defacted on it and flushed it down the toilet, clearly that was hate speech. hate speech isn't protected by the first amendment, so i don't see what the problem is. if someone had defacted on a campus bible and flushed it down the toilet to piss off christians, i'm sure they'd be in the same load of trouble... and they'd probably get beaten up by some christian students on top of that.