I love to recycle…how did you know?
If I were in a Muslim or Islamic country, I would respect their particular culture and beliefs. If I were to be arrested for showing my hair and prancing around in booty shorts, I would accept the consequences of my actions. I would know that if I lit up a fat joint in public and flashed my boobs to strangers that I would be in serious trouble. Their country,their culture,their rules.
The point is, Denmark is not an Islamic or Muslim country. I’ve seen the cartoons, and they are offensive (they are not particularly funny or well-drawn,either). However, the right to free speech in the western world includes the right to be offensive (and unfunny). The fact that Muslims have claimed that they would not portray Jesus in such a fashion matters not, what is important is that they have the right to do so if they choose.
Freedom of the press is not to be translated as “freedom to write whatever you want so long as you don’t insult anyone”…this freedom is as sacrosanct to western beliefs as not showing images of Allah or Mohamed is to Islamic beliefs.
If Muslim people wish to protest,boycott,write their own articles on the cartoons,etc…they have the freedom to do so in a democratic western society. It is when this extends to threats or acts of violence that the line is crossed. This is what I mean when I say that “the right to throw my fist ends at the tip your nose”. My rights end when they impune upon your rights and vice-versa. These rights are particular to culture and should be respected as such.
I also applaud Google in censoring their search engine for the Chinese market. China, not the west or Google, decides what is right for China.
In grade 9, I drew flack when I protested the removal of a White Supremicist flyer from a public bulletin board. The only conditions for removal of something from this board was if the announcement contained sexual content or made blatently racist remarks. The flyer contained neither of these, and hence should have been allowed to stay. The tweenage morons ( and most of the equally ignorant teachers) in my school (some of whom thought it was funny to call me “kke" and, strange as it may seem in these modern collagen-enhanced times, "nggerlips”) could not understand why. The only person who fully supported me was my Jewish math teacher. He understood what I did, that supporting the right to free speech does not mean that I have to agree with what is being said.
It is easy to support freedom of speech when you agree with it, and this can hardly be counted as support at all. If I want the right to publish an article on Feminism, it would be hypocritical of me try to limit the right of another to publish an anti-Feminist article.
Freedom of expression is what we in the west have chosen for ourselves, and this is what we are responsible for protecting.
