Unless he stole something or physically harmed someone he committed no crime at all, hate or otherwise. Defacing someone's property, theft, physical assault, etc are all crimes, but buying a book and flushing down a toilet is NOT A HATE CRIME!

Well, ok, maybe he could be charged with plugging the toilet.

yes i won't do it but it is free speach



turn the other cheek

It's really simple, none of the things you mention are crimes nor should they be. In this country there is no constitutional guarantee to not be angered by someone's actions, and this isn't a theocracy. As I already mentioned, unless one actually assaults someone else's property or person it ISN'T A CRIME.

It was from a common area, so he is not free to sacrifice it to the toilet. But if it was his, then that's fine. Now, I didn't know destruction of property was a crime that could rise to the level of a hate crime. I thought hate crime legislation referred to assault, murder, etc. Crimes against the person.

Actually, burning a cross on someone's lawn or painting a swastika on their house is considered a hate crime (the crime being an assault or defacing of their personal property which is a crime in every state) . Flushing a book isn't even a crime let alone a hate crime.

Even writing some graffiti on someone's wall is considered a crime.

So, everyone who has thrown away those Giveaway copies of the Book of Mormon should now be charged with hate crimes? Wow, clear the jails to make room!! ;~D

Well, I'll admit to not liking the idea, but I won't take away the right of people to do it. Just because I don't like it doesn't mean it should be illegal.



Considering that our soldiers were dying for the same people that were burning the American flag in the streets of Iraq at one point, what did you expect people to think or do? But then this is the same as thinking that someone did not accidentally do a specific something to you but then you really you made much fuse over nothing.



The only reason it's a big deal because we crap in toilets; had he thrown it in a river, under his bed or out a window of a moving car chances are there would have been very little if any fuzz about this. And as I said before first you said usually now you are being more certain about it. How do you know, for sure, that it was motivated by hate and not by a person playing a prank? Heck, if I was offered millions to burn a bible, rest a sure I would probably do it since it's just a book. The word of God is in me and so is God.

I still want a response to my BS challenge of SC's assertion that right wing Christians would do the same RE: the Bible. It was an extraordinary claim, demands extraordinary proof.

As a Catholic I would have expected my mom, grandmother or maybe even the Priest to be upset over the idea of desecrating a Bible, but I seriously doubt any of them would have demanded my head on a platter or even have me arrested. Sent to my room maybe, asking God for forgiveness most likely, jail? Please.