Let me get the silly part out of the way first. Every time I see Rev. Terry Jones, I’m reminded of Buddy Ebsen. OK, that’s the silly part, now here is the serious part.

As much of an idiot as I think he is, he has every right to protest in any way he wants to provided that he does not incite people to break the law. By incite, I mean that he does not preach violence, not that the targets of his protest don’t get mad and try to harm him. At which point they, not he, have violated the law and the police and prosecutors should take action again them.

Burning any religious tome is abhorrent, but under the First Amendment, it’s legal. The Supreme Court has not specifically addressed burning of the Koran, Bibles, or any religious books, but the Constitution itself protects both speech and  religious activity,

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

It’s pretty clear that Jones is engaging in free speech and arguably his interpretation of his religion. That this might offend some people or adherents of a different religion is unfortunate. That they might attempt to attack Jones is not unfortunate, it’s a crime. What’s wrong is that the police in Dearborn, MI have decided that Jones, not the people who are threatening him, are the problem.

Terry Jones goes free on $1 bond after jailing; judge bars him from mosque for 3 years

Dearborn Police Chief Ronald Haddad testified today that there have been at least four serious threats made against Jones from metro Detroiters, arguing that his protest could lead to violence if allowed.

 
Well chief, if his protests lead to violence, then you should have police officers there to arrest the people committing violent acts. That it would seem is your job, that whole protect and serve thing.

The case will not end with Jones’ conviction. No, he’ll appeal and at some point, a court will rule that his rights were in fact violated. He’ll not only get damages from the city of Dearborn and some of it’s officials, he’ll get notoriety and probably more adherents to his brand of religion. He will have won in more ways than one.

Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.

Benjamin Franklin 1759

The more important issue here is that some officials are trying to buy temporary peace at the expense of Constitutionally protected freedoms. This is part of a pattern of appeasement to Muslim “concerns” that is more prevalent in Europe, but is starting to become well established in this country. If Terry Jones were to protest outside a Catholic church or a Synagogue no one would arrest him, no one would try to restrain him prior to his protest. Yes, there would be counter protests, he’d be laughed at in the media, and the police would be on scene to maintain order. What wouldn’t happen is that the Pope wouldn’t tell Catholics the world over that Jones should be killed. No high ranking Rabbi in Jerusalem would issue a order authorizing a reward for Jones’ murder and guaranteeing entry into Heaven for whoever killed him. No, those sort of actions seem to be reserved for adherents of one particular religion.

As a result, whenever a group of Islamists or an Islamist leader threaten violence, officials swing into action. Unfortunately, the action seems to be to prohibit, or strongly recommend that the target of the threats stop whatever activity has spawned the threats. In the interest of peace or safety, of course. The message being that the officials can’t, or won’t, protect the victims from the threat of violence and so the victims should avoid any activity that might provoke the Islamists who can’t or won’t control themselves.

There is a word for that. Extortion. By threatening violence, the Islamists are extorting those they consider inferior into silence. This furthers their goal of imposing their view of their religion not only on non Muslims, but on Muslims they don’t consider pure enough. So far, it seems to be working. Officials of both political parties continue to take actions to appease the Islamists under the guise of outreach to the entire Muslim world.

Islamists, who for the purposes of this discussion are those who would impose their religious views on all of us, use a variety tools (weapons if you prefer) to achieve this goal. Terrorism is but one tactic, but it’s the foundation. It is why other Islamists feel free to threaten violence with confidence that people will cave in to their demands. If not violence, then the threat of violence is sufficient to achieve their goals.

Which is why Terry Jones is important. The officials in Dearborn, MI felt free to arrest him and deprive him of his rights because they know that he is not going to attack them nor is he going to urge his followers to attack them. They took the course of appeasement over protection of Jones’ rights under the Constitution and laws of this country to engage in protected activities.

Remember that the First Amendment was designed and intended to protect unpopular speech. That’s because popular speech never needs to be protected. It’s only unpopular speech and ideas that need the protection of the Constitution and the government. That’s why Nazis were allowed to march in Skokie, IL. That’s why Terry Jones must be allowed to spew forth his vile ideology. That’s why people are protected from violence when they burn an American flag. We don’t have to, and shouldn’t, like any of those activities, but if we are to call ourselves Americans and call this country America, then we have to put up with them.

Our nation can not survive this sort of attack by it’s own officials. The Constitution must protect everyone’s rights or it won’t protect anyone’s rights. We can’t pick and choose who has the right of free speech and who doesn’t. It’s inimical to the foundations upon which this country was built.

Of course that is what the Islamists strive to achieve. Undermine our country and values by using our values against us. In their minds, and sadly those of too many officials, their right to practice their religion trumps our rights to practice (or not) other religions. Their right of speech is more sacred than ours. We must make any accommodation they demand, they must make none to us. In the end, they will dominate and we will be their subjects.

Obviously they’ve succeeded in Dearborn, MI already because the police chief, a judge, and other city and county officials have violated the Constitutional rights of one group to protect the religious rights of another. Even worse, they’ve used the threat of violence by one group to justify their actions.

This is a simple case, but it’s not an easy one. No one here is particularly sympathetic, but the Constitution is quite clear on this matter. Jones must be allowed his protest, the Dearborn police must protect him, the Islamists must not be allowed to stifle his voice nor harm him because they don’t like what he’s saying or doing. Burning any religious text is reprehensible, but a lot of what passes for speech is reprehensible. Still we can’t pick and choose which speech we will protect and which we won’t based on whether we like it or not.