Cartoons and common sense

You are right Omnivorous, peace is what we should be aspiring to.As I see it, there are extremists on both sides. There are the Muslim extremists, who take the Quran at face value and want to convert the entire world to Islam by force. Then there are the freedom-of-speech extremists; I actually believe that many Westerners talk of freedom-of-speech like it too is a sacred tenet. I'm sure you've heard the following quote at one point:"I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it."It's quite a stirring sentiment, but there's definitely something a bit 'extreme' about it. Few Westerners like to question the sanctity of freedom-of-speech, and it takes a truly brave person to explicitly state where they draw the line that divides acceptable and unacceptable speech. Rather than defending these cartoons to the death, maybe those in the position to appease the Muslims should do just that (by whatever means), for the sake of peace.Also, this whole situation has put a somewhat intellectual bent on what are mostly quite juvenile cartoons. How? If a non-Muslim Brit saw a cartoon of Mohammed with a bomb in his turban printed in an English newspaper, they would likely cringe. Even if they laughed, it would only be because the cartoon was so radical and against-the-grain. But the cartoons have somehow been given an air of credibility. Maybe it's foreign-movie syndrome (where a film seems smarter than it is because it's in subtitles)?Another fact that might put the cartoons in perspective: they were printed in a far-right newspaper. The Jyllands-Posten is known for its aggressive anti-immigration stance. See here for evidence of this (page 40 onward).This message has been edited by Zawinul, 02-09-2006 09:20 PMThis message has been edited by Zawinul, 02-09-2006 09:21 PMThis message has been edited by Zawinul, 02-10-2006 11:21 AM