-British Man Sentenced To 70 days For Burning Quran
by Dr. D ~ April 20th, 2011
(Image via Wikipedia)
Andrew Ryan a Former British soldier, was sentenced to 70 days for setting fire to the Islamic holy book on Jan. 19 in Carlisle (UK). The judge described the act as “theatrical bigotry.”
According to his lawyer, the Quran burning was directed toward getting even with radical Islamists for the burning of British poppies and flags.
Muslim radicals in the past had made a show of burning British flags and at least one Muslim extremist had been convicted and fined for setting fire to a poppy during an Armistice Day observance in November 2010. The poppy is a symbol of Britain’s admiration for its war dead.
Response: Personally I condemn those who burn or deface a holy book of any kind.
Obviously the laws in the UK are considerably different than in America. One is free here to burn flags and holy books without penalty unless the fire codes are broken.
I cannot be too critical of the sentence considering that at least 22 people died as a result of the Quran burning in Florida. However if my memory serves me well, last year a Bible was openly and publically subjected to mutilation and defacing in a museum (I believe it was in Scotland) with no legal problems for the participants. So maybe only Qurans are protected in the UK? *Top
