You can burn the American flag. You can spit on the Bible. You can put a crucifix in a jar of urine. You can throw dung on a picture of the Virgin Mary. You can say that the 9/11 victims deserved it. All of that is free expression and art. But don't you dare throw the Koran into the commode. That's a hate crime:
A 23-year-old man was arrested Friday on hate-crime charges after he threw a Quran in a toilet at Pace University on two separate occasions, police said.
Stanislav Shmulevich of Brooklyn was arrested on charges of criminal mischief and aggravated harassment, both hate crimes, police said. It was unclear if he was a student at the school. A message left at the Shmulevich home was not immediately returned.
The Islamic holy book was found in a toilet at Pace's lower Manhattan campus by a teacher on Oct. 13. A student discovered another book in a toilet on Nov. 21, police said.
Muslim activists had called on Pace University to crack down on hate crimes after the incidents. As a result, the university said it would offer sensitivity training to its students.
So now it's not just rude, boorish, disrespectful or insensitive to treat with contempt that which others revere, it's also against the law. But only, evidently, if the others are Muslims. You're still free in the U.S. to treat that which is sacred to Christians and anybody else with as much contempt as you like. The government, which is not supposed to show any favoritism among religions, certainly has decided, in New York, at least, to favor Islam.
And at Pace University the line of academics queuing up to kiss the feet of the closest Muslim is already several city blocks long.
RLC