One of the foundations of our nation is the First Amendment, which allows free speech, protest, etc. In court decisions, burning the United States flag has been seen as a right guaranteed by the First Amendment. I don’t agree with this, but it is a right which has been upheld. Meanwhile, I guess Detriot didn’t read the Constitution too carefully.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, Hot Air<\/a> reported that Terry Jones was refused a permit to protest outside an Islamic Center. The city was afraid that his protest would stir up some radical Muslim at the center and violence would follow. <\/p>\n The article reports:<\/p>\n “So they put him on trial, with the jury asked to determine what they thought his intent would be in holding the protest. If they thought his aim was peaceful, he’d be found not guilty; if they thought he meant to incite violence, then guilty as charged. Verdict: <\/em>Guilty<\/em><\/a>. Which means not only was this guy convicted of a speech crime he hadn’t yet committed (a.k.a. prior restraint), but it was only a crime in the first place because of the expected reaction from his opponents. In other words, it’s a de facto codification of the heckler’s veto.”<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n This is disturbing. The article further points out:<\/p>\n “It’s the heckler’s veto, in other words. If you say something that’s so offensive to someone that, gosh darn it, they just can’t help but be violent in response, you can go to prison for it. Again, though: Typically you have to say something before you can be charged. Jones didn’t get a chance here, thanks to the state’s utter panic in shutting him down before one of the locals could run amok in outrage at whatever he had planned.”<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n I am not a big fan of Pastor Jones. However, he has the right to protest anywhere he wants to. If the fear is that there will be violence on the part of the people he is protesting, those people are the problem–he is not. If they become violent, they should be arrested and dealt with. This is an example of not being able to say anything against Islam for fear of violence. Prohibition of any speech critical of Islam is part of Sharia Law. That prohibition should not be allowed in America..<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" One of the foundations of our nation is the First Amendment, which allows free speech, protest, etc. In court decisions, burning the United States flag has been seen as a right guaranteed by the First Amendment. I don’t agree with … Continue reading \n
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