Fighting Fire with Free Speech: ALA Will Protest Book Burning with 9/11 Qur'an Reading
PrintBook burning is the most insidious form of book banning, and just as the American Library Association is preparing to celebrate the freedom to read during Banned Books Week, along comes one Rev. Terry Jones of the 50-member Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida. The good reverend’s idea of world outreach is to commemorate the 9/11 terrorist attacks of 2001 with a public burning of the Qur’an, the Muslim holy book.
The mind-boggling logic behind Jones’s plan has attracted the attention of Muslims and media around the world, and this morning, news sources reported that Gen. David Petraeus had personally pleaded with the reverend to restrain himself because of the potential for retaliatory violence against U.S. troops and citizens overseas that the book burning could provoke.
The Islamic Society of North America issued a statement September 7 condemning Jones’s comments about Islam and other slurs: “The threatened burning of copies of the Holy Qur’an this Saturday is a particularly egregious offense that demands the strongest possible condemnation by all who value civility in public life and seek to honor the sacred memory of those who lost their lives on September 11.” Some 60 Muslims were among the 2,977 innocent victims who died in the terrorist attacks that day.
Garnering a spot on Tuesday on CNN’s American Morning show, Jones said, “We have firmly made up our mind, but at the same time, we are definitely praying about it.” Petraeus said Monday that images of burning Qur’ans “would undoubtedly be used by exremists in Afghanistan—and around the world—to inflame public opinion and incite violence.”
Meanwhile, the American Library Association and librarians across the country will move the Qur’an to the top of the Banned Books Week agenda. (Leading the way by modeling tolerance, an Oklahoma public library has been hosting an exhibit of artwork inspired by Muslim tradition.)
“Free people read freely,” says Barbara Jones, director of the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom. “That is a fundamental principle of the American Constitution and a basic mission of public libraries. We don’t burn books, we read them.”
Whether or not the Rev. Jones (who is no relation to ALA’s OIF director) proceeds with his plan, librarians and library advocates will assemble on the steps of the American Library Association headquarters in Chicago this Saturday at 1 p.m. for a public reading from the Qur’an to counteract the burning in Gainesville, and Banned Books Week will launch on September 25 with readings from the Qur’an.
“The librarians of America will not stand by and let ignorance rule,” says ALA Executive Director Keith Michael Fiels. “For every would-be book burner, there are thousands of readers who will speak out for the freedom to peaceably assemble and read whatever they choose.”
The reverend would do well to use his matches to ignite the pilot light in his brain. Have you ever actually read the Qur’an, Rev. Jones? If you really want illumination, I respectfully suggest you spend Saturday reading instead of burning.
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Comments
Book burning in Cuba
Good for the ALA in protesting this planned book burning, which fortunately did not take place (at least not yet).
But I wish the ALA had also protested the book burnings which did take place in Cuba after the 2003 political crackdown, which included the arrest of those involved in the independent library movement. In the sentencing documents from these trials the courts ordered that the confiscated books and other materials should be destroyed by means of incineration. Given that ALA leaders had been to Cuba in recent years and had forged relations with the leaders of the Cuban library system at the time, their protests might have had some leverage.
Alachua County Library District joins A Day of Peace and Unity
http://www.aclib.us/about/blog/september-11th-day-peace-and-unity
Gainesville, Florida is helping celebrate freedom of speech and religious diversity with A Day of Peace and Unity on September 11th in downtown Gainesville.
The Library District will be accepting book and multi-media donations for titles representing a variety of religious views and cultural backgrounds.
Recommended titles being collected in support of A Day of Peace and Unity during the downtown event are included in the link above. It is unfortunate that such a minute portion of our community is receiving national attention while the remainder of our community struggles to promote diversity, acceptance, and understanding.
book burning lunatics
Thank you for being a beacon of wisdom during a hurricane of ignorance.
Qur'an Burning
Dear Leonard,
Thank you so much for this insightful article. As a poet and writer, I strongly endorse the right to read any book; no book should be banned. I am relieved that the Qur’an burning will not take place in Gainesville, Florida and I do hope that the ALA event and the Qur’an reading will continue as scheduled.
hope it won't be canceled...
I do hope the reading won’t be canceled now that Jones has called off the Qu’ran burning.
hope it won't be canceled...
I do hope the reading won’t be canceled now that Jones has called off the Qu’ran burning.
sat qur'an book burning cancelled
this just in. saturday’s event has been canceled
get your i read banned books bracelets/necklace from my site if its too late from the ala store.
Thank you
Thank you so much for organizing this productive protest. I can’t tell you how much this means to me and to Muslim Americans all throughout our country. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart.
Koran Burning
Shame, shame on Terry Jones and the Dove World Outreach Center. Book burning is the vilest form of censorship. Remember the Bonfires of the Vanities during the mid to late 1400’s? If you don’t agree with a book or find its contents offensive—don’t read it. It is unbelievable that 50 ignorant nut balls in Florida are able to get worldwide media exposure for their hate and prejudice.
AN EYE FOR AN EYE TILL THE
AN EYE FOR AN EYE TILL THE WHOLE WORLD GOES BLIND.
WHAT ABOUT TURNING THE OTHER CHEEK, MY NOBLE FELLO MEN?
WHERE WILL OUR CHILDREN PLAY TOMORROW?
An eye for an eye, in the
An eye for an eye, in the Judeo-Christian tradition, means only an eye for an eye, and not an arm and a leg for an eye. Any response to this (now canceled) book burning other than the burning of an equal number of books would not be permitted.
An eye for an eye indeed. If
An eye for an eye indeed. If we could see even the tiniest shred of tolerance coming back our way maybe the trail toward common ground could begin to be blazed. Granted, someone must start the process but there is no such thing as a one sided compromise. A person only has four cheeks and America has turned more than that. Most people are feeling more than a little manipulated and abused.
Imagine if a city wanted to
Imagine if a city wanted to ban a book about burning the Quran. ALA would be all over that. Framing this as an "ALA defends free speech" issue implies that Reverend Jones is somehow outside the bounds of the 1st Amendment.
The opposite of hate speech is not free speech. It’s all free speech.
Qur'an burning/free speech
You are correct Ann when you say that the opposite of hate speech is not free speech. Since love is the opposite of hate, I’ll opt for love talk… oh, I meant love speech.
On the other hand, book burning is NOT speech. It is an act. BUT if you feel that it is speech, I trust you will feel the same way and respect my freedom to speak if I chose to burn your house.
The Supreme Court has defined
The Supreme Court has defined flag burning as speech; I don’t see how you can argue that book burning isn’t speech.
And you seriously don’t see the difference in destroying someone else’s property? If I want to burn my copy of Huck Finn, I’m well within my rights. If I start breaking into people’s houses to torch their copies, it’s another matter.
Actually Ann, the Federal
Actually Ann, the Federal Government does have policies around the concept of "hate speech," in use by the FBI in cataloging hate crimes, and via an anti-hate crimes law passed by Congress. But there are other bounds on the rights of individuals to express themselves, including threatening an individual, inciting a crowd to riot, and shouting out "fire!" in a crowded theater. So no, it’s not all "free speech."
Pretending that burning any book, much less a holy book ascribed to by billions of people, is simply and easily "free speech" is to herald an intensity of disingenuousness to frighteningly dangerous levels.
Reverend Jones isn’t
Reverend Jones isn’t committing a crime. He’s not yelling fire in a crowded theater, or even burning a book there. He’s not threatening anyone, and he’s not telling his followers to riot. "Prior restraint" is a good argument here. He’s on the same level as the Westboro Baptist Church or the Nazis marching in Skokie. Repellent, yes. But it’s not a crime to be repellent.
I think it’s great that ALA is doing this. But they shouldn’t be framing it as a free speech issue. Tell people to come out & learn what the Quran actually says. Make it a day of learning, not sensationalism.
Shoe on other foot
I am curious to know if the Bible was being burned would the ALA meet and read from the Bible as their response? I doubt it!
I don’t know if that’s a fair
I don’t know if that’s a fair comparison. If someone were publicly burning bibles in the US, they’d have a lot more to deal with than a counter protest from the ALA…
Thank You
Thank you for staging this protest. We are promoting it over at 8bitlibrary.com!
JP
The ALA, and libraries
The ALA, and libraries across this country (that are worth their jobs), do not support the burning of ANY book. People have burned the Bible in the past. I find your implication that the ALA is biased against Christianity unfounded and troubling.
One way to find out
I am curious to know if the Bible was being burned would the ALA meet and read from the Bible as their response? I doubt it!
Why don’t you plan one and find out? Until then, how about we deal with real life events instead of the hypothetical?
I love this idea! I celebration of free speech while respecting books.
You miss the point: NO book
You miss the point: NO book should ever be burned! If a person does not like a book or agree with anything in a book, they need to just close it and put it back on the shelf. Then they are free to write their own book with their own viewpoint and have it shelved right next to the book they hate. Simple, huh?
Although book burning is
Although book burning is nothing new, there is nothing quite so appalling as the burning of a book. Even worse, the next logical step is to burn the people who read the books! If any one of your ancestors came to America fleeing religious persecution, reconsider your stand! We are "The land of the free and the home of the brave!"
common sense, anyone?
Just because Rev Jones is constitutionally allowed to burn the Qur’an or anything else, doesn’t mean he should. What happened to common sense? No good can come from the Rev’s planned actions; Muslim extremists will not see the Rev burning their sacred text and say "It’s cool, he’s just exercising his American right," they’re going to be offended. I agree with ALA and most media outlets that his actions could be used as fuel by Muslim extremists for further attacks on the US, especially on our overseas troops. Rev Jones needs to seriously reconsider his selfish, counter-productive plan.
Brilliant!
Bravo, ALA! I think this is a brilliant idea, and just the exact right answer to the ignorance of this senseless book burning! The only answer to offensive free speech is to use our power of free speech for good!
Get the word out, everyone!
Free people read freely!
Thank you so much for being a voice of reason!
It's about time
In this day, we have to have tea parties or do something TOTALLY radical JUST to get some media attention. This is nothing more than a publicity stunt, but this is what it takes to get the media to actually report on issues that mainstream America wants to address. The attacks on 9/11 were conducted by Muslims on America and now we want to have a mosque on sacred soil? Watch this video from youtube and tell me that this is not part of their plan to take over America…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxFzFIDbKpg
I say that we let the good Rev. burn these offensive books and give him some room. Part of being ‘tolerant’ is that we allow freedom of expression. If we allow these muslims to burn OUR flags, then why not we return the favor.
Dear
Dear gutless "anonymous,"
"Part of being ‘tolerant’ is that we allow freedom of expression."
Logic straight out of 1984: intolerance is tolerance. And for the record, no one has disallowed his freedom of expression.
"If we allow these muslims to burn our flag, why not return the favor."
This is how animals think. We are engaged in a struggle of values. Responding in kind is counter-productive.
Your first paragraph is so paranoid and factually baseless that it hardly deserves a response, but you might consider how telling people which parts of the city certain prayers will be allowed squares with our core values. Religious freedom is one of the values that animated the founding of the nation and lies at the heart of what it means to be an American. Why do you hate America?
freedom of expression
Actually, gutless Anonymous serves a most useful purpose as a good example of a bad example.
This is the mirror image of the "all Muslims are is …" syndrome. As one of the extremists feeling entitled to burn, s/he is only one element of our American social reality in the same way that the Muslim extremist and in fact all extremists are the wingnut fringe of their religious and secular societies.
For all our American brothers and sisters who recognize the extremist nature of book-burning, stabbing, arson, etc this is an opportunity to reflect on how the more sane/moderate of us are not represented by our wingnut extremists and how unlike them we know ourselves to be. This might make it easier for some of us to see our Muslim brothers and sisters in that same light as they too are plagued with but reject and abhor the extremist views of their wingnut extremists.
They are us; we are them.
us vs. them?
Careful, friend, you just fell into the trap of mental laziness. We did not, "allow ‘these’ Muslims to burn our flag". And what Muslims are ‘these’ Muslims? They aren’t the same Muslims who flew planes into the WTC, nor are they the same Muslims who went to work on 9/11 and died in the attack. And what has that to do with Americans who have never burned the flag but happen to be Muslims? Muslims are people, each an individual, each responsible for their own acts, but no more responsible for the acts of other Muslims than I am responsible for the acts of that publicity-craving megalomaniac idiot with a gun, a Bible and a lighter in Florida who claims to be a Christian, like me. He’s no more representative of me or Christianity than the terrorists who attacked us on 9/11 represent all Muslims.
The way I see it, there is not a war between religions, with Muslims on one side and Christians on the other. The real war has two very different sides. On one side are the radical extremists - of ALL religions. They conveniently ignore any part of their holy texts that don’t fit their political agendas and they misuse their own religions to force their way on the world. They try, and frequently succeed, in convincing the rest of us to go to war for their fear-mongering ideas and they always claim God wants them to resort to violence.
On the other side in this war is the rest of us, practicing our beliefs and living our lives, until the extremists manage to get enough of us so riled up that they can start another war. Christian, Muslim or whatever, the extremists are never satisfied until they have violence in the name of God.
As far as I’m concerned, the conservative American Evangelical movement is as responsible for violence, murder and domestic terrorism as anything the Talliban and Al Queda has done - they are two regiments from the same army, an army of religious extremism used to promote hate, fear and war, all across the globe. And since both of these extremist groups claim they are doing this for God, both groups would happily see this be a fight to the death for millions - as long as their side can win in the end and they can force their way on all of us.
The rest of us need to say, ‘enough!’ to ALL the extremists. We need to stop letting them suck us into their insanity just because they claim God is on their side.
Common Sense I say careful,
Common Sense
I say careful, friend, right back at you; you fall into the trap of not having any common sense. You propose that there is no difference between an evangelical Christian extremist and Islamic extremist – a position that can best be described as your opinion. The facts also support the oppose hypothesis that Islamic extremist do pose a threat against life and liberty. This is borne out by the following:
Three of four counties on the US Dept of State list of state sponsors of terror are Islamic Sharia law states (http://www.state.gov/s/ct/c14151.htm). The following terrorist attacks/attempts were all carried out by Muslim extremist – Fort Hood, Christmas Day Bombing, Time Square, Arkansas Army recruiting center, Najibullah Zazi plot in NY, and of course the 9/11 attacks that killed 2,977. As I can see the “threat” offered by Christian Extremist is limited to proselytizing which may be annoying but is hardly deadly.
All Gods are make believe.
All Gods are make believe. You hate people because their fairy tale is slightly different from your own. I think it’s all so much fun to watch. There’s nothing more interesting than a worried, paranoid extremist.
Let’s play a game! Who can name Xtian extremist groups who HAVE been violent, or conspired to be violent, in the US recently? I’ll start.
1. Ku Klux Klan
2. Army of God
3. Eric Robert Rudolph
4. Scott Roeder
5. Christian Identity
6. Lambs of Christ
7. Christian Patriot
8. Hutaree
All. Look. Same.
Think this through
Courts have held that flag burning is speech and is protected under the first amendment. This pastor that is burning the Quran is not censoring books he is burning his copy of the Quran. He is making a statement by burning his copy of the Quran. Now the worry is that radical muslims will KILL people because the reverend expressed himself by burning a Quran. So the reverend needs to not speak, needs to be silenced, needs to be denied his 1st amendment rights because muslim extremist will kill people. Who is being censored here? What happened to the idea of "I disagree with what you say but I will die for your right to say it?" That has now become "You have freedom of speech unless it offends a radical muslim and then you need to be quiet." ALA should be backing the freedom of speech of the reverend. Flip the scenario around. Lefty Liberal proclaims that he is going to burn an American flag to protest the oppressive American state. Joe Patriot says that if Lefty burns a flag then Joe will stab some people to death. How would ALA respond to that? If they followed the model with the Quran there would be this headline - "If They’re Burning Flags, ALA Says ‘We’ll Fly Flags’. Shouldn’t they condemn Joe Patriot for killing people?
Freedom of expression applies to everyone
Actually I, and probably most librarians, do recognize and support this church’s right to express themselves however they wish, as long as they are not directly threatening anyone. Many of us probably think it’s vile and stupid expression, but it is nonetheless protected by the First Amendment just as flag burning is. That is why ALA is not asking the government to stop it, but rather asking other citizens to freely and peacefully avail themselves of their equal right to opposing expression.
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
Re: "Think This
Re: "Think This Through"—Very well put. My thoughts exactly.
In the dozen or so counties
In the dozen or so counties that have formalized Sharia law ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Countries_with_Sharia_rule.png) it is a crime to read a Bible in public. Yet ALA comes out and protests a Florida church exercising a constitutionally protected activity - Where is the balance ?
"ALA comes out and protests a
"ALA comes out and protests a Florida church exercising a constitutionally protected activity - Where is the balance ?"
What has one to do with the other? Polygamists in Utah force little girls into illegal polygamist "marriages" with old men with multiple wives - depriving those girls of their Constitutional rights - and they get away with it because their state has also conflated religious power with state power, so any bad behavior they can blame on God they get to do. Isn’t that as much a reflection on us as criminalizing Bible reading is a reflection on those countries? I only bring that up because I wonder what outrage you display towards your own people when they behave as badly as other countries? What balance do you seek then? Maybe, instead of looking at their sins as an excuse to commit our own, you should be focusing on the sins committed in the name of God right here at home.
You seem to be suggesting that any bad behavior is an excuse for bad behavior on our part - in the name of "balance"? That isn’t balance, that’s just rationalizing bad behavior - they’re bad, so why can’t we be bad too? Didn’t your mother ever tell you, "just because Johnny jumps off a cliff, will you jump too?"
Regarding polygamy
Polygamy is no longer practiced by the LDS Church and has not been for well over a hundred years. Offshoots (calling themselves fundamentalists and adhering to self-selected parts of LDS doctrine) may still practice it, but they do so without anyone’s sanction but their own. Polygamy situations are hard to prosecute, since it entails breaking up a family (however odd or illegally constructed).
No one’s cruelty or thoughtlessness can honestly be used as justification for one’s own thoughtlessness or cruelty. We choose freely how we behave.
I simply point out that ALA
I simply point out that ALA decides to spend its time and energy protesting a constitutionally protected act while never acting to remedy the violations of the Freedom to Read statement in many Islamic countries. I speak specifically about the following guideline: · It is the responsibility of publishers and librarians, as guardians of the people’s freedom to read, to contest encroachments upon that freedom by individuals or groups seeking to impose their own standards or tastes upon the community at large; and by the government whenever it seeks to reduce or deny public access to public information.
What, exactly, do you think
What, exactly, do you think that American libraries can do about laws in Islamic countries? All they can do is be a stand for the free flow of information. It looks like this loonball is going ahead with his burning despite pleas from Petraeus, the President, and the world and his wife, so it seems to me that his freedom of expression is alive and well. Librarians are simply not in the business of sanctioning book-burning. For that, you have to go to preachers.
RE: "What, exactly, do you
RE: "What, exactly, do you think that American libraries can do about laws in Islamic countries? All they can do is be a stand for the free flow of information. It looks like this loonball is going ahead with his burning despite pleas from Petraeus, the President, and the world and his wife, so it seems to me that his freedom of expression is alive and well. Librarians are simply not in the business of sanctioning book-burning. For that, you have to go to preachers."
Or to the U.S. Military. Where was the opposition here?
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/05/20/us.military.bibles.burned/
Political correctness and coddling Islam will be the death (literally) of America.
National Hogwash Week
No books have been banned in the USA for about a half a century. See "National Hogwash Week."
Thomas Sowell says Banned Books Week is “the kind of shameless propaganda that has become commonplace in false charges of ‘censorship’ or ‘book banning’ has apparently now been institutionalized with a week of its own.” He calls it “National Hogwash Week.”
Former ALA Councilor Jessamyn West said, "It also highlights the thing we know about Banned Books Week that we don’t talk about much — the bulk of these books are challenged by parents for being age-inappropriate for children. While I think this is still a formidable thing for librarians to deal with, it’s totally different from people trying to block a book from being sold at all."
Banned Books Week is Next Week
And then there’s Judith Krug herself who created BBW:
"Marking 25 Years of Banned Books Week," by Judith Krug, Curriculum Review, 46:1, Sep. 2006. "On rare occasion, we have situations where a piece of material is not what it appears to be on the surface and the material is totally inappropriate for a school library. In that case, yes, it is appropriate to remove materials. If it doesn’t fit your material selection policy, get it out of there."
Lastly, remember the ALA does not oppose book burning when doing so would interfere with its political interests. Go see what Judith Krug said about Cuban librarians: "American Library Association Shamed," by Nat Hentoff.
Oh, it’s you again. Sorry,
Oh, it’s you again. Sorry, but you’re not likely to fleece anyone on an ALA site.
Censorship is alive and well in the United States
The best response to Dan Kleinman’s claptrap is to simply quote several headlines from the last few years:
Award Winning Book Banned by School Board (Missouri)
http://www2.nbc4i.com/news/2010/aug/19/2/missouri-school-district-bans-b…
Activists See Momentum in Book Ban (New Jersey)
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/nj/20100506_Activists_see_momentum_…
Miami’s Banned Cuba Book (Florida)
http://theweek.com/article/index/93148/Miamis_banned_Cuba_book
Those did not result in book
Those did not result in book bans, despite the colorful titles.
ALA Okay By Me, But Please Don't Censor Robert Spencer Again
That said, the ALA is doing the right thing by using Banned Books Week to oppose the Koran burnings. Yes, that’s right, I do this occasionally when deserved, the ALA is doing the right thing in this instance, so I am praising the ALA.
Now, if only the ALA would show balance by not censoring Robert Spencer again.
Who is SafeLibraries?
I’m not a regular reader of American Libraries Online. I just linked here from a post about the counter protest to the Florida Qur’an burnings and saw all of SafeLibraries’s comments.
SafeLibraries, I checked out your website, which fails to specify who you are. It does clearly reveal your politics and obsessions. But what is your profession? Why are you so obsessed with libraries? And why do you think you keep them safe? Who appointed you safekeeper of libraries and judge of the ALA? Is this an elected position?
I don’t agree with what you’re posting here and I’m wondering if you’re a librarian (I am not), in which case I’m curious how you came to think this way and which rationales you are using. But if you’re just a crazed conservative blogger bobbing around the internet on your hobbyhorse, screaming "witch" if not "fire"….
Thanks
Thanks, Anonymous, for your "attack the messenger" message. It lets people know you have nothing substantive to counter Judith Krug, Jessamyn West, or Thomas Sowell as quoted. Ditto regarding the ALA censoring Robert Spencer for political reasons.