To burn or not to burn?

You may have heard about this jackass pastor, Terry Jones, who thought it was a great idea to burn the Qur'an the other day.

At least 20 have died in Afghanistan riots sparked by the burning. This is tragic, plain and simple.

And as a result, some here have called for new laws outlawing such inflammatory (sorry for all the fire-related puns) outbursts.

I strongly disagree.

This bigoted little maggot needs to be exposed. And what better way to do that than by allowing him to broadcast his hate around the world? If we censor his actions, he will only find a more subversive way to spread his ignorant beliefs, which could incite much worse than what we've seen in Afghanistan.

Is the pastor to blame for these killings? No. That responsibility lies with the murdering thugs whose overreaction to Jones' stupidity was of epic proportions.

But Jones has plenty of blood is on his hands. He was well aware of the potential consequences for his actions.

Now, we need people here in America to be brave enough to shed a bright light on those actions without setting fire to our constitution.

Free speech is a messy thing. But it was included in our first amendment for a reason. A true democracy cannot thrive when uncomfortable ideas are suppressed.

Our founding fathers knew this. And many risked their lives in pursuit of this freedom. To take that freedom away would the equivalent of spitting on those brave soldiers' graves.

Which you're free to do in this great country by the way.