Notable.
UK: Council candidate under fire for burning Qur’an in pub during heated debate.
I’m never in favor of burning books. It was the Nazis who made the practice famous, and emulating the Nazis is never a good idea. Also, the Left today is engaged in a large-scale effort to silence perspectives that dissent from their own, and that insidious effort could mean the total destruction of free societies. The antidote to bad speech is not the shutdown of the offensive speech, but more speech: discussion and debate, which generally Leftists and Islamic spokesmen shy away from, because they know their positions are intellectually weak and that they would not be able to win a debate.
Also, I believe it is important to know the beliefs and understand the ideology of those who are making war against free societies. People should not burn, but read and understand, the Qur’an.
This incident, however, took place in shattered, staggering, dhimmi Britain. Would Frankie Rufolo be under fire and have been reported to police if he had burned a Bible? What do you think?
“Election candidate, 19, set fire to Quran in Exeter pub during heated debate,” by Alex Richards, Devon Live, April 13, 2019 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):
An ‘atheist activist’ standing for election in Exeter shocked punters at a city pub by setting a copy of the Quran on fire.
The incident, condemned by city leaders, happened at a heated ‘after party’ in the Old Fire House pub following Katie Hopkins’ visit to the University of Exeter – where he had been handing out flyers.
Frankie Rufolo, 19, admits the inflammatory and offensive act and has been left to question whether it was a step too far, even for him.
The copy of the Quran, the central religious book of Islam, was burned with a candle during a heated political debate….
Mr Rufolo, currently campaigning to be a councillor in St Thomas representing the ‘For Britain Movement’, explained: “It was 90 per cent white, left wingers and even some right wingers.
“They were saying all the usual rubbish and it descended into nonsense. I was holding up the Quran and calling it evil.
“They were defending Shamima Begum and effectively calling me a racist.
“I lost my patience a bit, this was after a long night, and it was just to make a point that I am not afraid to say what I think.
“I see Islam as a threat to freedom of speech in this country.
“You need to do something ‘out there’ and provocative, I do lose patience when some people are defensive of a religion which is oppressive.”
When questioned by Devon Live on whether he thinks any point he wished to make has been over-ridden by his actions, he answered: “You do have to be outspoken sometimes. Obviously some stuff can be counter productive.
“I will have a think about whether it was counter productive.”
The Quran which was burned is owned by Mr Rufolo, who says he carries it in his bag wherever he goes and can even “recite passages from memory.”
Mr Rufolo, who has lived in Exeter all his life, said: “It is no secret that I am critical of Islam as an ideology in particular. Some people will want to demonise me because of that.”
He says he is not associated with the Far Right, despite his beliefs about religion: “To be clear I describe myself as an Atheist activist. I dislike religious ideas but I find many religious people to be nice.
“Being an LGBT atheist the Quran says a lot worse about me than I can say about it. It is my private property and I can do with it what I like.
“I criticise the book Twilight by Stephanie Meyer, which some believe contains Mormon ideology, but it doesn’t mean I hate all teenagers that are fans of it.
“I meet people in Exeter who are gay and ex Muslims, it is sad how casually their family now hate them. We’re demonised and called bigots and far right all time, but I am trying to give minorities within minorities a voice.”…
He was recently reported to police following an incident where he labelled the Quran a ‘book of evil’ at a debating society event at Wetherspoons pub The Imperial.
The case was later dropped by those offended by his remarks, thought to have been university students at the debating event.
“A lot of University of Exeter students have gone on to be politicians and I am quite worried about people in cabinet being dead against free speech.
“At the end of the day offence is subjective, this is a free country and if you want to live here you have to live with being offended sometimes. I see Muslims as equals so I expect them to live with offence as I do. ”
He says he is also vocally against branches of Christianity, including Catholicism and the Church of England….
MP Ben Bradshaw said: “Exeter is a friendly and tolerant city and there should be no place here for hateful, racist or islamophobic behaviour of this kind.”…
https://www.jihadwatch.org/2019/04/uk-council-candidate-under-fire-for-burning-quran-in-pub-during-heated-debate