A West Yorkshire school in England is at the center of a controversy after four students were suspended for mishandling a Quran, which belonged to one of the students. The book was “slightly damaged” with “no malicious intent.” However, the school contacted the police, the Islamic Center, and others to address the matter. Reportedly based on an unintentional act, the punishment raises free speech concerns.
Independent councillor for Wakefield East, Akef Akbar, called a meeting to discuss the incident as the school moved to suspend the four students involved. The Quran reportedly has a tiny tear and a smudge of dirt on some pages.
While Akbar reportedly claimed it was kicked around the school premises, the school denied that rumor.
Head teacher Mr Griffiths issued a statement:
“We would like to reassure all our community that the holy book remains fully intact and that our initial enquiries indicate there was no malicious intent by those involved. However, we have made it very clear that their actions did not treat the Quran with the respect it should have, so those involved have been suspended and we will be working with them to ensure they understand why their actions were unacceptable.
This morning, we met with our local Muslim community leaders, local councillors and police to share all the information we currently know, the action taken and the immediate steps we have taken to reinforce the values and behaviour we expect from every member of this school community to ensure that all religions are respected.”
I entirely agreed with the school that an intervention was warranted. Students should be told that the handling of religious texts must be done with respect on school grounds given the importance of Bibles, Qurans, Torahs, and other works to members of the community. Part of learning about citizenship is to learn about civility and respect.
However, I am concerned about the suspension as opposed to a discussion with the students and their parents. These students are allowed to bring religious books to school and an accidental or non-malicious act should not trigger such sanctions. While students should be asked to show greater concern for the religious beliefs of others on school grounds, this action enforces a higher degree of care often demanded from the religion.
Students should have a protected right to bring a religious book to school regardless of whether they believe in its teachings. Moreover, a non-intentional act of dropping or damaging such a book should be a matter for a warning or admonition, not a suspension. The action suggests that any student who drops a Quran would face a suspension of their education.
It seems unlikely that the mere dropping of a Bible would produce a similar response. However, even so, it would also raise concern over the enforcement of religious mores in a public school. While some may be offended by the lack of care for the book, this is reportedly the property of one of the suspended students.
While these students would have a viable constitutional claim in the United States, they likely have no such claim in the United Kingdom where free speech is in a virtual free fall. A man was convicted for sending a tweet while drunk referring to dead soldiers. Another was arrested for an anti-police teeshirt. Another was arrested for calling the Irish boyfriend of his ex-girlfriend a “leprechaun.” Yet another was arrested for singing “Kung Fu Fighting.” A teenager was arrested for protesting outside of a Scientology center with a sign calling the religion a “cult.” Recently we discussed the arrest of a woman who was praying to herself near an abortion clinic. English courts have seen criminalized “toxic ideologies” as part of this crackdown on free speech.
A couple was previously prosecuted for burning a Quran and posting the videotape in Great Britain. That would be a protected act in the United States.
This incident appears accidental involving a Quran that is the property of a student, not the school. Even in Great Britain, there should be some limitation on the level of sanctions in such a case. Otherwise, the school risks crossing the line from enforcing civility to enforcing religiosity.
No, Mr. Turley, you should not “entirely agree[] with the school that an intervention was warranted.” Indeed, no one should agree that *anything* was warranted. A book is a book, it is not the ideas conveyed in the book. To treat *any* physical book as if it were sacrosanct in and of itself is anathema to freedom of, well… anything. Likewise with the ideas presented by any physical text. Certainly, folks should generally handle books as the paper-and-glue creations they are. Just as certainly, rare or ancient texts should be handled gently and with reverence of their physical condition. Yet, people can decide for themselves what to do with a book: read it, sell it, burn it, denounce it, whatever.
If the idea of a book is more fragile than the physical edition, is that idea worth more than passing courtesy or respect? Possibly for those who agree with the idea, but it is certainly not required by anyone else.
Christians (including me), Jews, Muslims, atheists, Buddhists, and any other religious group imaginable all have the EXACT same right to be offended. However, no religious group has any right to use the power of the state to act on that offense. We all have the right to freely think for ourselves. We also have the right to think about others what we will.
You can think I’m offensive while I can think your ideology is just as bound to a physical object as the book itself. In some circles, paying undue reverence to an inanimate object would be called idol worship. I guess Mohammed and I will just have to agree to disagree: but I’ll do my part to not be disagreeable.
$0.02
You’re quite right. That intervention & punishment of the students was outrageous and Prof Turley should be ashamed of himself for not criticizing it, esp in view of the enormous disrespect the Qur’an has for him and all non-Muslims. As long as the students were not deliberately trying to annoy Muslims they should be able to do what they want with their own copy.
@EndPC: Thank you for your comment. There’s an argument to made that even if the student were “deliberately trying to annoy Muslims” by mishandling a book, then the Muslims are being overly sensitive and are, indeed, trying to inflict their religion on others. Again, if an idea depends on how non-adherents treat a bundle of paper and glue, then that idea quite possibly is not worth their adherence.
I hope no one misinterprets what I’m saying:
There are consequences for one’s actions — nothing is done in a vacuum. But for the school to go to such extremes for what even they refer to as an accident is facially preposterous. Particularly if there was never a complaint lodged (proactive precognitive retribution?).
If someone wishes to tear, mar, burn, or destroy a bible, that’s their prerogative. Likewise with a copy of Treasure Island, The Hobbit, or a Quran. It’s also the prerogative of others to abhor the destruction. It is crass, disrespectful, boorish, and crude to dishonor a religious text. But if the god of that text can be so easily damaged, what does that say about his/her/its followers? The text I esteem says “vengeance is Mine, sayeth the Lord.” If someone wants a dose of God’s vengeance who am I to get involved, to “help” God effectuate His judgment?
Rather, He directs me to share the Good News that if we repent and accept the sacrifice of the Christ, He will forgive our sins. The text relays the words, but the message comes by the Spirit, and His “Word will never return void.” If Allah requires unbelievers to revere his words so be it. If he is handicapped by some kids accidentally mishandling a book, that is an indictment of his less-than God status.
Either way, the school should have nothing to do with it beyond allowing the kids to say, “oops. Sorry.”
This is primarily a freedom of religion issue rather than a free speech issue. The school is enforcing Islamic law. It is coercing students and faculty to behave according to what Islam requires and subject to penalties that Islamic law requires. The school determined punishment with the coordination of the Islamic Center.
No, it’s not a freedom of religion issue. Muslims don’t have the right by their religion to demand that Koran copies owned by non-Muslims must be treated as something sacred, esp when the Koran spews hatred toward and the violent will to dominate them. It is an issue of free expression although free expression seems not to be a right in the UK or Europe. They have this joke of a so called “European Convention on Human Rights”. Article 10 (1) says Europeans have the right of free expression, but immediately in 10 (2) it says “Not really.”
“10 (2) The exercise of these freedoms, since it carries with it duties and responsibilities, may be subject to such formalities, conditions, restrictions or penalties as are prescribed by law and are necessary in a democratic society, in the interests of national security, territorial integrity or public safety, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, for the protection of the reputation or rights of others, for preventing the disclosure of information received in confidence, or for maintaining the authority and impartiality of the judiciary”
It’s a bad joke.
Meanwhile the left screeched when there were complaints about TAX FUNDED P*SS CHRIST.
Do these people have the right to use force to prevent themselves from being tyrannized?
That’s effectively what the English Civil War was about. Ironically, the supposed “tyranny” of the monarchy was replaced by an actual tyranny exercised by religious zealots.
Why can’t atheists respect religious texts like the Quran and the Bible and the Dianetics?
Why do atheists despise the idea of God?
Atheism is the ultimate disinformation and the ultimate hate speech!
Atheists are much more likely to show respect for Islam and the Koran than for Christianity and the Bible.
Your rights in Jolly Old England are what Parliament says they are. Parliament is supreme. There is no written constitution except the weight of their laws and Parliament can change them whenever they wish. There is no “We the People”. Israel fashioned its parliamentary democracy on England but created a Supreme Court which was independent but with no checks and balances. Thats why Israel is in the mess they are in know. Their original Knesset mandated a written constitution by 1950 yet they are still waiting for it. Seems strange that Israel would fashion their democracy on England after fighting to free themselves from the British mandate.
I think all of you remember we rebelled against Parliament because they had abused their power. The colonists fought for their “rights as Englishmen” which were not being followed.
The world simply cannot fathom 3 separate and equal institutions at the Federal level with checks and balances and the balances between the the Federal Government and Sovereign States, and enumerated powers. Of course too many Americans don’t either because they are never taught the structure and subtleties of our system of government.
England, as pointed out above has “public” and “private” education but they are just “Misgendered” to use a common phrase now. Really does not matter. The teacher should have talked to the kids and sent the book home with the owner with a note for parents to make sure the child knows how to properly handle a sacred book or maybe just leave the book at home, unless it’s part of an assignment. Calling the police, Are you kidding me? They only time the police should have been called was if one kid was beating another kid over the head with the book.
There is always a ‘We the People’. We are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights. God didn’t endow just Americans, even if it was only Americans who officially recognized this.
Right. Without a written Constitution for any Supreme Court to go by it becomes a essentially a high priesthood deciding what they think is right.
Does one really think there would be an intervention if someone damaged a Bible or Torah? Get real. If the damage was minor and unintentional why the intervention? England is on its way to enforcing Shariah law. Another example of cultural, religious, economic and political suicide of the west.
Contrary to the official “line,” there are parts of England, just like every other country, where local jurisdictions defer to majority-Muslim communities’ sensibilities. Funny you don’t think that’s happening here.
So true. Been headed in that direction for years. Canada and the UK are only slightly ahead of American in the great descent into the abyss.
It is common to hear public figures in the West refer to Mohammed as Prophet. It is not so common to hear public figures in the West refer to Jesus as Christ. Who says the death penalty doesn’t work?
So here in America people are celebrating the burning of and the peeing on of the Bible and in the UK another religion’s bible is being protected by the state. Oh me, but we are never returning from this dark place far removed from liberty.
I’d hate to think what would happen if someone’s electronic copy was accidentally deleted.
In a free society, the law should allow me to intentionally damage or destroy a Koran, Bible, Constitution, American flag, case of Bud Light, or anything else that I am the owner of as long as I am not breaking a separate law against littering or burning or shooting things. An exception to that freedom might be the destruction of an item, such the burning of a cross, within the view of other people in an effort to threaten or intimidate the other people, acknowledging that the government’s authority to apply the exception to a particular case may have to be ruled upon in a court of law.
Miller, that’s right, then you know you are really free.
Based on that statement; first either something in that first paragraph that’s an intentional bald-faced lie, as in the incident is being intentionally misrepresented – and/or – the punishment clearly does not fit the incident – and/or – the Head teacher Mr. Griffiths is a flagrant anti-Muslim bigot that fears a violent terroristic retaliation attack against the school/students because of this incident and he is actively pandering to the local Muslim community with the strict and unjust punishment against the students.
Based on the statement by Mr. Griffiths, he should be fired immediately, he’s either a liar, an unjust administrator, or a bigot; he’s a damned fool that shouldn’t be in that kind of position.
I’m sure that the Biden Administration, including all Federal Air Marshals, are studying this incident very carefully in case a passenger accidentally drops a Quran from their overhead luggage compartment. This sounds like a high priority case for the UK’s new crack counterterrorism security team. And God help us if authorities learn that the “offended” student is a trans. We will all be on lockdown……
and if you burned a national flag? The west is losing respect for itself!
question…if it was a bible…would they DO ANYTHING?
If you want to be a part of western civilization…I am not going to walk on egg shells!
You want to live like you are in Iran or Afghanistan…GO LIVE THERE!
Why should they “do” anything?
Why should they “do” anything?
mistressadams, that is the question. The UK is not a theocracy. It should not matter that it was a religious text. If someone damages someone else’s Quran, they don’t need to call in the local Mullah for the investigation. If someone damages their Bible, they don’t need to call in a local Priest. If they damaged their math book, are they going to call in a local Mathematician? It’s simple and minor property damage that was supposedly done by accident. An apology would be a good start. If necessary, offer to purchase a new one.
@Olly: “local mathematician” snert!
Please award yourself 24,872 internet points for such a concise demonstration of how ridiculous the entire incident’s response was/is.
😉 I will spend it wisely.
Clearly, the offended student was a victim and as we know victims have to be protected. NOT!
It seems unlikely that the mere dropping of a bible would trigger a similar response. However,
Fear of having your head separated from your body, will focus the mind like few other thoughts.
I can’t have much of a discussion since the cultures concerning this is so different from the US
England has no public education. It is all private. No idea if there is a British dept of education. The Private school, competes for students, and this one want to be all inclusive? Or do they cater to the Muslim population? Their location my have a concentration of Muslim population. I could understand the over reaction from a strictly PR/marketing perspective. England has little parallel to the United States in primary education. The incentives are very different.
The UK has state-funded schools from pre-K through secondary. Its “public schools” are private schools that receive no state funding.
Thanks. What % go to the state schools?
I’d say a fairly large percentage. To get admission to a Public School you generally have to be either wealthy, connected, or both.
Most children attend state schools. There are a fair number of parochial schools, as in this country. Entry to most “public schools” is a function of having high enough grades and/or a score on an accession-type exam to make “the cut.” There are a number of public schools, similar to US private schools, that charge tuition. A number of these maintain “waiting lists” for students – children are often put on a list whilst still in the womb! And, yes, there are some schools, e.g., Eton, where a pedigree and/or wealth is de rigeur for attendance.
If this was a bible or a Torah would it be handled the same way.
Citation needed.
RE: If this was a bible or a Torah..”In my coming up I was taught that if one damaged a ‘holy’ book one was to kiss it’. A koshered kitchen utensil, accidently rendered ‘unclean’ was to be buried in the ground for 30 days. Waco was wacko!! Shall we go on???? It is what it is. Ufff!!
Independent Bob: That is a very good point. To counter the doubters amongst my friends, it would help if you could give me an example or two in which similar consequences were applied to students for slightly damaging Bibles and Torahs.
Andr
If, this was a bible or a Torah. I really don’t have one. Just the crucifix in a container of urin.
Extremist religious beliefs and practices of all stripes have been historically ‘off-the-walls’ from the dawn of the memory of human kind. Fortunately for these ‘offenders’, they are still alive.
Not to mention the practice of imprisoning and murdering people because they were religious carried out by atheists such as Stalin and Mao.
Jolly Old England is neither jolly or tolerant. Had it been a bible, Torah, or any other religious text, no one would have reported it to a priest or bishop. It would not have been reported to a rabbi. Frankly, I am surprised that this accident has not been reported to the police as a hate crime.
Everyone with a level of common sense realizes that accidents happen. The response to this incident shows a complete lack of common sense.
I think there may be a difference in the way Christianity and Judaism think of their holy texts, vs Islam. I’ll admit I haven’t researched this, but based on the very-orthodox Muslim proscription against portraying the Prophet, I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest that some very orthodox strain of Islam considers the Quran to be sacred in itself – not just a book containing the foundational writings of the religion, the way most Christians view the Bible. The book itself may be considered holy, at least by that group within Islam.
(Pretty sure I, non-Muslim, can walk into any public bookstore that sells them and buy a Quran, which suggests not every Muslim believes this!)
So I think maybe a more proper comparison might be what would happen if a Catholic student brought a consecrated host (which is considered to be sacred in itself, in Catholicism) to school and the host was accidentally mishandled. Of course there are lots of safeguards around consecrated hosts to keep this very thing, and worse, from happening.
But I do suspect that if it did happen, every authority from the parish priest to the Pope would counsel forbearance.
IOW, I came here to quibble about the analogy but to agree with the general sentiment: accidental mishandlers of sacred objects ought to be chastened but that’s it. Purposeful mishandlers – well. In my opinion, they ought to be punished to the degree that their mishandling is vandalism or destruction of property. No more, no less.
Do we, do Britons, live in a secular society or not? It’s inappropriate, in a secular society, for secular authorities to privilege religious “crimes” over civil ones. (Isn’t this why the Pharisees went to Pilate to get Jesus crucified? Because they, as mere religious leaders, didn’t have the authority?)