Innocence Riots

I don't think we could have pulled this off. I agree with what you say in principle.

Certainly the murders are unreasonable, but after about the tenth time of seeing people react to free speech with violence, the murder can no longer be considered unexpected. I understand the reluctance to curb their behavior in response to violence or the threat thereof, but haven't we seen murder and threats of murder in response to Koran burning, cartoons and comics defaming Islams prophets, the Satanic Verses, etc. so that we cannot claim to be ignorant of the possible reaction anymore.Inexplicable, yes in some sense. But unexpected? Hardly. But I will agree that the movie/murder link is not of the same nature as the link between violence and fighting words, or mayhem and yelling movie in a crowded firehouse such that prohibiting a film survives first amendment scrutiny.Edited by NoNukes, : No reason given.

I think we are using the word expect in quite different ways.I am using the term "expected" to mean that violence is an easily predictable occurrence given the other times we've seen violence follow similar actions. We've seen the reaction before. So what has changed so that we would not predict a similar violence after similar actions?Other than that, I am curious as to what it is about my reaction that you find difficult to understand. I have made no attempt to justify or excuse violence.

I don't recall posting anything like that. I said nothing about modifying behavior so that the violence does not happen. I simply expressed that we all know that it will happen again.

Er, how about if the attack included a military complex... like the Pentagon? How about if a failed part of the attack was directed at the government itself?

I would call what was done to the Native Americans and by the German's genocide rather than euthanasia. They government put them out of the state's misery rather than out of the victims own misery.Perhaps just a personal peeve...

I'm not sure how many Hitler would have killed, but I can state fairly categorically that I would not enjoy life in a world in which Germany under Hitler had conquered Europe and Russia. It's also the case that the war wasn't fought to stop Germany from killing gypsies and Jews.And things other than military opposition were tried before war became an alternative to simply submitting to Hitler. Those things didn't work.