I found on my facebook newsfeed the question: “Is it OK to burn the Koran?” I answered “Yes” out of the options Yes, No, Maybe, and I Don’t Know. Here’s the message I gave with it.

The burning of books— something associated with the reprehensible act of trying to rid the world of an idea— has long been a standard of being closed-minded and provincially evil. However, in the new digital age, where whole books can be compressed into data contained in a chip smaller than your fingernail; we are no longer in danger of losing thoughts and ideas through the burning of paper media. Now, as an advocate of free speech, I believe that burning a Qur’an is no different than deleting a text document containing the same data. The only discernible difference is the response garnered by the offended party. Because of the deliberate nature of actually burning a paper-based medium; people are far more likely to take offense to the action and react in a manner unbecoming in a first-world society than the deletion of digital media. People will refuse to burn the Qur’an because they’re afraid of the actions of other people… but isn’t that the response of those who have been cowed by terrorism, i.e. the literal fear of taking a nonviolent action because of the fear of violence from an aggressor? This is why I say that it IS acceptable to burn the Qur’an, because as a nonviolent expression, it is covered under Freedom of Speech, just like flag burning and the burning of other books. We shouldn’t be afraid to express ourselves just because someone may get offended. If we deem one topic to be off-limits in our freedom of speech, then we have to make other topics off-limits, until eventually, we’ve lost our freedom because of our fear to stand up for it. I understand if some of you disagree with my position, I even understand if some of you are offended by it, however, please understand that you are entitled to both those things. We all have our opinions and the freedom to express them in a nonviolent manner… so please think about your response before you vote on this.

Thank you for your time.

~M. Colby