Quran Burning – A book is not a person

September 10th, 2010 Can a book feel pain? Does a book have an existence independent of its owner? These are questions we need to ask when we decide whether the US government should stop Terry Jones from burning Qurans. Now there’s no doubt in my mind that the guy’s a jerk. An offensive and insensitive fellow who’s only too happy to separate his world into black and white sections with “us” on one side and “them” on the other. So would I want to meet him and shake his hand? Not a chance. Jerk? Definitely. Criminal? No. But this is a matter in which the government shouldn’t get involved. After all, who is Jones harming? A book is an inanimate object and can’t feel pain. So he’s not “harming” the books. Is he harming people? Not really. Anyone can just ignore him and not watch it on TV, Youtube, or whatever. So if anyone is offended, it’s because they choose to be offended. And that doesn’t qualify as real harm. This is just like M F Husain’s paintings. One has no right to remain unoffended in a free country. The right to Freedom of expression is more important than someone’s feelings. Because anyone can choose to be offended by anything. According to US law, a person can be charged for inciting violence. But it has to be a direct call to violence – not something like burning a book. So the US government has no authority to stop him. In fact, if it tried to use force, the pastor could take the government to court for damages! Politicians realize this and so no one has threatened him with legal action. As long as no person is being hurt and no one is being asked to commit acts of violence, there’s no harm done. Just like the “Everybody draw Mohammed” campaign which was insensitive and stupid, but also legal. It’s quite funny to see Indian politicians instructing the US government to “stop” him. As if the government can do something without the express sanction of law. There are many things I don’t like about the US, but freedom of expression is not one of them. I love the way that people focus on the law which is meant to protect people and not their “sentiments.” We’re all adults here and we’re capable of taking care of our own feelings thank you very much. For the government to stop something saying that it’ll hurt my feelings is insulting and implies that I’m not strong enough be offended. So why don’t people get a handle on this and just ignore this jerk instead of asking the government to make him stop?