Denmark plans jail term for burning Quran in public

Does this apply to all works of fiction, or only those believed by extremist groups?

I can understand not being allowed to burn historically significant documents and books, but mass-produced books are just cheap fire tinder.

If this goes through, my wife might get her wish when I disparage the Harry Potter books.
I'm too pretty for prison.
- Just get an ass infection.
How about no burning anything in public? It's a stupid thing to do and proves nothing, risks starting unintended fires, or people injuring themselves, etc.
- LOL. Of course, I don't advocate for burning things just to burn things.
  I just don't think that burning your own books should be considered a crime.
If a book is important to one or more ethnic groups, burning it is a hate crime, period. Being mass produced has nothing to go with it.
- Everything is important to someone, why do particular groups get privilege just because they're a religion. Should we ban the burning of Star Wars DVDs as that's a huge franchise with lots of hardcore fans who may get upset? Should it be illegal for me to burn a copy of Action Comics #1 because it's important to comic fans?
- Islam isn't an ethnic group, and your logic is insane.
  Can't burn a dictionary cause one or more ethnic groups consider it important. Or the Bible.
  Hate crime? Jesus get a grip.
- Not really true, but I guess it depends on the country.
  In the United States at least, burning your own book, flag, or whatever is legally protected free speech. Just as long as you aren't destroying someone else's property.
  Context also matters. Burning bibles during a religious service is probably a thin line.
- Nobody is coming for your copy of Mein Kampf
- Islam is an ethnic group?
- Hate speech, not a hate crime. In this case, the hate speech is criminal.

The centre-right government said it wanted to send a signal to the world.

That Denmark negotiates with terrorists?

Depends on how they plan to handle it. If a new law was formed specifically around the Quran, there might be a case.
But if it's outlawing book burning in general, that's quite another story.
Personally, I don't understand why a law like that isn't already in place after WW2.
- But if it’s outlawing book burning in general, that’s quite another story.
  “The law, in its majestic equality, forbids rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal their bread.” The intended target of this law is crystal clear.
You misunderstood the article. They plan on jailing them now.
- Jailing the protesters, not the terrorists, no?

Burn whatever you want, hate whoever you please. It is unpleasant however better than the thought police sending you to the ice prisons for ungood ideas. This idea that censorship stops anything but innovation and creativity is ludicrous.

- Better for racists lol
- Historically the walk is far too short for the state to position itself as the victim of your hate. And then what?
Yfw when you can’t say slurs without consequences
- I agree...civil society should be intolerant of hate and its idols. The state, however, as a control structure, is a terrible judge of whom to hate and whom to love; Danes should be proud their government has done better than most...and strive to keep it that way.
  The state must protect all its inhabitants from physical harm, educate on tolerance and empathy, and from there, abdicate who to love and hate to its citizens.

What about burning "The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster" or "Dianetics" books? Or Harry Potter, or LOTR books?

Loads of people burnt Harry Potter books online over the last few years since Rowling went mental over LGBT issues.
- Lots of people burned them when they were released because they are morons. Now I bet they defend her because she expresses hate towards the same people they hate.
The law includes all religious texts. If an organization achieves religious status it will have the same protections.

To the people defending this proposed law - hypothetically, if I were to set up a white board outside a mosque and draw the prophet, would you also be in favor of the police arresting me for ... drawing?

If so, why?

I think this may already be illegal. You would be inciting and degrading members of a legal religion in Denmark, which has been against the law there since 1939. Blasphemy Laws were taken off the books in 2017, but this is a step back in that same direction. But then there is amendments to the constitution, I don't fully understand.
- Hinduism often has a belief in, "sanctity of the cow, ... the belief that the cow is representative of divine and natural beneficence and should therefore be protected and venerated" (Brittanica).
  One could argue that eating beef is inciting and degrading to [probably a select few] members of Hinduism.
What are your intentions behind doing this in your hypothetical scenario?
- To find out where people are willing to draw the line. I've noticed that the people defending this proposed law are giving this question a wide berth.

Denmark... do you believe in fairies?

No.

Then quit acting like it.

That's messed up, whatever happened to separation of church and state

lol, Denmark has an official state religion!
That's a US law.

OK I sort of get it, not that I agree with it, but 2 years in jail? That's absurd.

I'm from a conservative area and have heard countless stories of people who were traumatized in the name of Christianity. If one of those people feels like desecrating the Bible then it's just a form of personal expression. If that upsets you well then start a conversation with them and learn from each other. Putting someone in jail is not the solution.

I'm just saying Christianity has a broad spectrum and has changed a lot over time. Even from a Christian point of view you must value criticism in order to find the way forward. That counts for all religions. And if you don't think so, you're just arrogant.

If one of those people feels like desecrating the Bible then it’s just a form of personal expression.
If the planned Danish law is anything like the German ones (age-old, introduced after the 30years war) then that's absolutely fine. You can even do it publicly on SatanCon. Ritual blasphemy is just as much a protected religious expression as religious reverence, meaning that Christians aren't even allowed to revile you for it in a manner suitable to disturb the public peace.
Where things get iffy is doing it in front of a Church just to piss them off. Rule of thumb: If you're protesting a religious institution, keep religion out of it. E.g. back in the 60s people were protesting against the Churches' backwards sexual morals by kissing in front of churches. Much more effective than burning the Malleus Maleficarum. That's more suitable for an inquisitor to do in private to cleanse themselves.

Hate speech isn't free speech!

I hate religion...
- Whoah whoah whoah, you're hating on a belief I can simply change, that has led to death and oppression for millennia.
Hate speech has no objective definition.
- Language is a social phenomenon, yes.
Tell that the muslims who keep burning pride flags
- Okay, sure! Hate speech isn't free speech!

Hate Speech laws get an L from me. Hate crime laws where a crime motivated by prejudice awards extra jail time is just a better solution. Think about what this is really saying - if you burn the Quran, muslims will riot... in Iraq. And the Iraqi government will condemn you. Really?

When you really think about it burning a book is, in fact, censorship

Why not just make a law against inciting acts of aggression? Filming yourself burning religious texts is purposely trying to piss people off. That way it would cover anything that has the same goal without being just about religion. Freedom of expression, unless it's just trying to make others angry.

Lets the law handle each case individually.

How about we strive for a society where people can burn their own property without having to worry about violence?
The islamists that react violently are only proving the point of the people burning the books. Tbh if you try to hurt someone for just burning SOMETHING THEY OWN, maybe you don't deserve to live in a first world country.
- And if you purposely antagonize people who are known for killing people who disagree with them, you don't either. It's like yelling fire in a crowded room, for any reason other than there being a fire.
  Yeah it's ridiculous, but they aren't just burning their own property. They are filming it with the purpose of causing problems. And it did. They can't do whatever they want if it endangers others. In an ideal world no one would react with physical violence to words. But we don't live in that world.
  I'm not a fan of that law existing, but I can see why they would want it.
I argue that law should be used against those who react to these burnings in an aggressive manner. Violence is already covered.
If they stop taking unnecessary offense, I assume the burnings will stop too.
- Not necessarily, if I were to burn a Bible and no one cares but they still continue revoking abortion access (and further bigotry) then I will probably keep burning bibles ib protest of the christofascists.
- Yeah, but it's making other people aggressive outside of the country. So its not very helpful, you can't police people in other countries. This whole thing is like pedestrians walking in a crosswalk without looking for cars. Yes, the pedestrian has the right way, and the car should stop. But being right doesn't really matter if you're dead.

Plenty of good or interesting points being made by both sides so I appreciate the conversations. I'm not too sure of what the problem is though when the discussion and article mostly revolves around public spaces. Usually there are gathering/event requirements around anything that constitutes pyrotechnics or the use of fire in a performance as that can be a hazard and special precautions need to be followed (fire extinguishers, etc). I'm not too sure about the laws currently on the books of most countries but I doubt many places allow you to just walk up to a street corner and start a fire whether the item you're burning is your property or not.

I'm also confused on the double standard of what constitutes public or private when it comes to online media. I think this is something that needs to be fleshed out more in this day and age. For instance the article references a current law Denmark has on the books,

The ban is expected to be added to a section of the criminal code that bans public insult of a foreign state, its flag or other symbol.

Is social media/the internet a public space? If so, does posting a video recorded on private property and then uploading it to said online public space nullify the private property? I've seen a lot of people use this double standard only when it benefits them. For instance, if you typed out something online that's considered "free speech" but violates civil law because of it's context then they are in the wrong. On the flip side, if you record a video of someone having a conversation at a private backyard bbq and upload it, has the person broken a law when they weren't in "public" during the recording?

The ban above is a great example to use. I, myself, feel like the criminal code goes a little too far with no public insults of a foreign state. How does that work out with the scenario I presented when the video gets released. I'm not sure if the criminal code even touches on the digital aspect of it, or who is at fault (the uploader, the person making the statements, or the hosting site).

Another ironic stance I'm seeing is the freedom/protection of expression being used to allow the public burning of books and condemning those who are against it. There are specific and recognized groups which receive protections under the law from discrimination and targeting of hate speech (the Denmark suggested law also covers bibles so it's not just a Quran issue). Are we picking and choosing who these protections are allowed for based on our opinion on whether we agree with them or not?

For example if religious text burning is allowed for a public display, are all forms of expression then allowed? Burning a cross in front of an historically African American church, burning a pride flag at a pride march, burning baby dolls in front of an abortion clinic, political rivals, medical clinics that perform care for transitioning, hell even nazis burning disney shit outside of disney world?

If you're of the belief that all of this should be allowed under the umbrella of freedom of speech/expression, what do you feel should be the governments stance on protection of it's citizens from harassment in public spaces? Should the government even address these problems, or is it the same as no one should expect privacy in a public space so therefor expect persecution and harassment as well? How does this not effect businesses and organizations from being targeted with hostile forces? I'm reminded of the civil rights era, groups of white nationalists armed and congregating outside of a business to intimidate anyone of color from using the premises or social services. Groups will maintain these tactics and multiply if there is no resistance from a governmental stance, this will only heighten confrontations when opposing groups are formed to combat these scenarios leading to civil unrest, physical harm/altercations, and potentially death of innocent bystanders if something were to escalate.

I am not of any of those targeted groups, not a policy maker, and have an indifferent stance so I'm open to honest debate on everyone's side. I also feel like the remarks made by OIC needs to be investigated,

The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) called on its members to take appropriate action against countries where the Quran was being desecrated.

Any group that can be seen as calling for harm to members of that countries population should have legal ramifications in that country, but I'm unsure of what they mean when they say "appropriate action" which is why I said it should be investigated further.

Setting shit on fire is a time honored tradition.
Embassies are especially fair game (outside the grounds and in a safe fashion) . A protest in private is no protest at all.
So when the taliban make it illegal for women to go to school, citing the Quran….While I don’t think fire is the right thing to do, I absolutely agree it is a right to burn shit somewhere in front of the afghan embassy. If that includes a flag or religious text owned by the protestor, so be it.
However, people have the right to physically gain access to the buildings of use (service, home, food, etc) and safety first. Blah blah blah.
In general, the state should read public protest as a sign that local democratically elected officials are not aligning with the values of their constituents.
A public protest ought not be the first step.
- I don't know about upholding time honored traditions, seems contradictory and subjective to me when your later stance includes an example of the Quran (another time honored tradition you don't agree with). I don't agree with making it illegal for anyone to attend school so it seems like a double edge sword that's based solely on a personal morality which is hard to codify for an entire population.
  I also agree a private protest is no protest at all, but it becomes complicated when you're targeting a religious group's texts just because bad faith actors are using it for control. Even burning their flag seems weird when it's not the people of that country making the decisions but by the administration in charge (I'm not sure on what the target for the protest should be then in that case though).
  Constitutionally you have to make a decision, I believe this has been debated and somewhat agreed upon though that access to a happy life (access to healthcare and freedom of religion) is more important than the right to "burn shit" as one has been documented and burning is not mentioned in most or any constitutions. Though freedom of expression is, which again becomes complicated when that expression is wished to be expressed through destruction of property (public/private). Again, I don't have a particular stance on this subject but just pointing out contradictions in the arguments to better understand the ideology behind everyone's thoughts.

Seems logical considering that people who burn it aren't doing it without knowing the repercussions. Not saying the reaction it gets is correct or anything, it just seems to me that it is something being used to trigger reactions while putting other people's lifes at risk.

Codifying religious texts as actually legally sacred and more important than others is wild, though.
- It smats of blasphemy laws
- I agree. However how do we explain people that are most likely burning books for hate speech/xenophobic reasons that they should stop doing that? This is a really hard subject and I completely agree that passing laws for this can be a slippery slope for other things.

@BrikoX Just burn them back.

Based.