Lord help us. You can't make up this stuff up. If there were ever something that
might give my nature to want to protect stupidity-aka free "speech"-pause, this
would probably be about as close as you could get, right up there with the
Westborough Baptist Church's picketing.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2011-03-21-quran-burning-florida_N.htm?csp=hf
The controversial Florida pastor who halted plans to burn a Quran on the 9/11
anniversary last year oversaw the burning of the Islamic holy book on Sunday
after it was found "guilty" during a "trial" at his church.
Pastor Terry Jones acted as a judge in a mock trial that ended with burning a
Quran on Sunday at his Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida.
"We had a court process," said Pastor Terry Jones, who acted as judge, in a phone
interview. "We tried to set it up as fair as possible, which you can imagine, of
course, is very difficult."
Jones said about 30 people attended the mock trial at his Dove World Outreach
Center in Gainesville.
Jones considered the "International Judge the Quran Day" to be a fairer way of
addressing the Islamic holy book, and denied breaking earlier promises not to
burn a Quran.
If the jury had reached a different conclusion, Jones said he would have issued an
apology for his accusations that the Quran promotes violence.
"We still don't feel that we broke our word — that was in relationship to
International Burn a Quran Day," he said, referring to his previous plan to burn a
pile of Qurans on the 9/11 anniversary to protest plans for an Islamic community
center near Ground Zero. "We would not establish another International Burn a
Quran Day."
Last year's aborted event provoked criticism from U.S. religious leaders, violent
protests abroad and pressure from President Obama and Secretary of Defense
Robert Gates before Jones called it off.
After a six-hour trial on Sunday that featured a Christian convert from Islam as a
prosecuting attorney and a Dallas imam as a defense lawyer, a jury of 12 church
members and volunteers made the judgment, Jones said.
He said the punishment — burning the book after it had been soaked in kerosene
for an hour — was determined from four choices on his organization's Facebook
page. He said "several hundred" were polled and voted for burning over
shredding, drowning and facing a firing squad.
Jones considered the burning — which was conducted by another pastor since
Jones was serving as the judge — a one-time event.
"That is not our intention, to run around America burning Qurans," he said.
Jones has launched a new organization, Stand Up America, and plans to protest
the Quran, Shariah law and "radical Islam," and has scheduled an April event in
front of an Islamic center in Dearborn, Mich.
Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations,
declined to comment at length about Jones' trial.
"Terry Jones had his 15 minutes of fame and we're not going to help him get
another few minutes," he said.
Originally posted by DeepThoughtFair enough I suppose. Use the discretionary filter system that visas and passports provide. Not really sure I'd do it. And if he were - say - an E.U. citizen with the right to travel to the U.K. with permission, I would certainly not support moves to bar his entry into the country.
One of the UK governments brighter moves recently was not to let this guy into the country.
Originally posted by DeepThoughtI'll try that again: if he were - say - an E.U. citizen with the right to travel to the U.K. without needing permission, I would certainly not support moves to bar his entry into the country.
One of the UK governments brighter moves recently was not to let this guy into the country.
Originally posted by FMFOk, we'll make a note of that.
I'll try that again: if he were - say - an E.U. citizen with the right to travel to the U.K. [b]without needing permission, I would certainly not support moves to bar his entry into the country.[/b]
Can't have people traveling from the US to UK the way people can travel from Germany to France, that would be...I don't know...kinda...unacceptable...
Originally posted by WajomaThe E.U. is a passport free zone for E.U. passport holders. I personally have no objection to people travelling from the US to UK the way people can travel from Germany to France. But as things stand, U.S. citizens and U.K. citizens have to have visas in order to travel to each others countries, as far as I know.
Ok, we'll make a note of that.
Can't have people traveling from the US to UK the way people can travel from Germany to France, that would be...I don't know...kinda...unacceptable...
Originally posted by wittywonkaDoes he have to give back his new Hyundai?
Lord help us. You can't make up this stuff up. If there were ever something that
might give my nature to want to protect stupidity-aka free "speech"-pause, this
would probably be about as close as you could get, right up there with the
Westborough Baptist Church's picketing.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2011-03-21-quran-burning-florida_N. ...[text shortened]... 're not going to help him get
another few minutes," he said.[/i]
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/10/nj_car_dealer_brad_benson_to_g.html
Originally posted by WajomaUK nationals need a visa to go the other way. In his case the problem is that there was a fairly hefty chance of a public order problem as a result of his presence, and things he was likely to do. The easiest way of preventing that was barring his entry.
Ok, we'll make a note of that.
Can't have people traveling from the US to UK the way people can travel from Germany to France, that would be...I don't know...kinda...unacceptable...
Originally posted by FMFI think what they are waiting for is government run health care in the US before they can declare the US part of the EU. 😛
[b] I personally have no objection to people travelling from the US to UK the way people can travel from Germany to France.
Originally posted by FMFWell, welly, well, if he has to bend over for permission from the immigration bureaurats then that's a good point to punish him for the way he expressed himself. Just the difference between a tick and a cross, clamping down on freedom of expression almost with out getting your hands dirty...almost.
The E.U. is a passport free zone for E.U. passport holders. I personally have no objection to people travelling from the US to UK the way people can travel from Germany to France. But as things stand, U.S. citizens and U.K. citizens have to have visas in order to travel to each others countries, as far as I know.