No to banning

Submitted by Peter Herz (United States), Sep 2, 2007 at 06:30

When Europe wants to ban the Qu'ran, the next step is to ban the Bible.

In the rare book room of a library where I once studied, I saw an early 17th century tract pleading for freedom of the press. it was written by a bunch of Puritans who had ended up on the wrong side of his dread majesty, James VI and I of Scotland and England. We've now been struggling for this right for over four centuries now; and this is no time to give up.

As a Christian, I frankly find Islam repulsive. A book which charges the Jews with making Ezra the Son of God in the way Christians see Jesus or seems to hold that Christians make Mary the third person of the Trinity rather than the Holy Spirit simply has to be the product of either a misinformed human imagination or the Old Deluder Satan rather than of a messenger of God. But the answer to the Qu'ran is much more prayerful study of the Old and New Testament and a prayerful and loving witness to Muslims. Liberal/Social Democratic Europe's desire to ban things is a non-starter. We simply cannot sink to the level of some barbarous Arabian kingdom.

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".