Is burning Quran a hate crime or a free speech issue?

In face of Quran-burning threat, 'Silence is not an option:' Clergy

Religious hatred raises its ugly head again

A church in Florida may soon become the

catalyst for another outbreak of worldwide violence. Before they go ahead with their planned “Burn a Qur’an” event on 11 September, they would do well to remember the controversy and bloodshed caused by the Danish cartoons

of the prophet Muhammad. .

The 50-stron

g Dove World Outreach Centre in Gainesville, Florida, plans to mark the

anniversar

y of the 9/11 terrorist attacks by burning copies of the Qur’an. “On 9/11/2010 we are burning Korans to raise awareness and [sic] warn”, the statement on the church’s website reads. “In a sense it is neither an act of love nor of hate. We see, as we state in the Ten Reasons below, that Islam is a danger. We are using this act to warn about the teaching and ideology of Islam, which we do hate as it is hateful. We do not hate any people, however. We love, as God loves, all the people in the world and we want them to come to a knowledge of the truth. To warn of danger and harm is a loving act. God is love and truth. If you know the truth it can set you free. The world is in bondage to the massive grip of the lies of Islam.”

The blog post on the website goes on to list 10 reasons why the church will be burning the Qur’an, such as “the Koran does not have an eternal origin. It is not recorded in heaven.”

Reports of a small religious group in the United States which plans to burn copies of the holy Quran.

Is burning a Bible because you hate Christianity, a hate crime? How about burning a Torah? Is that an anti-Semitic act? And this brings us to the question of burning a Quran....

Is the Dove World Outreach Center's Quran bonfire, planned for the Saturday anniversary of the 9/11 attack, a hate crime or n expression of free speech -- like the deplorable but legal protest act of burning a U.S. flag to object to a government policy?