Curly Sue wrote:

> >Three cheers for Denmark. They did nothing wrong. The people
> >have no control over the newspaper than published the
> >offensive cartoons, and no one but a whacked Muslim would
> >even take offence. The crime of the Danish government was to
> >refuse to intervene because it is a matter of freedom of
> >speech.
>
> Freedom of speech is a secular idol that we cherish and is often used,
> as in this case, to provoke.

True enough, but it is an interesting sort of provocation. I suppose that
it could be said that they were provoking a reaction from a group that
suppresses freedom of speech, freedom of thought and freedom of religion.

> The media sources which printed and reprinted the cartoons knew what
> they were doing and where this would lead.

How could they know that it would lead to violent demonstrations and acts
of arson? There is a good chance that the people who are protesting and
rioting never even saw the cartoons, just like the Christians who
protested movies like The Last Temptation of Christ, or the Moslems who
protested Salmon Rushdie's Satanic Verses.


> These were not individual
> cartoons part of a daily series or political commentary. They were
> commissioned to challenge the religious proscription against
> representation of certain images. The paper got what they intended.
> If they had wanted to avoid anger and protests, they wouldn't have
> used such an in-your-face campaign to break the taboo.

True. That was done by the papers. More accurately, it was a decision made
by the editors of the paper. It was not the Danish people. It was not the
Danish Government.

> Those who boycott French cheeses and wines because of international
> disputes can understand the boycott of Danish products. These are the
> weapons that some people use to retaliate against those who offend
> them.

That would exclude me. The boycott of French products was an American
issue because France refused to go along with the invasion of Iraq in
order to search for WMDs that the French government did not believe were
there and because they knew that an invasion would result in utter chaos.
They were right on that one. I agreed with them. I made a point of buying
French products over American. I got into the habit of buying French
cheeses and wines.


> The cartoonists and newspapers have made their point about artistic
> expression, freedom of speech, and the value of jerking some chains to
> get reactions and attention; the radical Muslims are making their
> point about being offended.
>
> The actors are following the script.

They have certainly exposed the Islamic world for what it is, and we need
to choose sides.