On banning religions and books:
Religion qua religion is not immune from being included in proscriptions of hate speech - once one permits such proscriptions (which I would not). But even if Islam were defined as a political ideology equivalent to Nazism, banning it would be as futile as banning Nazism has been, and banning the Koran would be as futile as banning Mein Kampf, or The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Several European nations have resorted to legal proscriptions of parties and books (or religious symbols like the veil) in the effort to control thought or promote assimilation. The habits of totalitarianism die hard. It is not extreme in Europe to reach for the criminal statute books as an answer to perceived social ills. After all, the left did it with “hate speech”. Ironically, the actual enforcement of criminal laws has been compromised in Britain, France, Norway, The Netherlands and Germany, by tolerating an Islamic exception.