My $0.02

[sen_no_ongaku]

Sometimes, nobody is right.

I think that the Denmark newspaper had every right to commission and publish those cartoons of Mohammed. Yes, it was an offensive and obnoxious thing to do. But in a free society, I have the right to say things that are offensive and obnoxious. I have the right to say things you hate. I have the right to piss you off.

But freedom of speech does not absolve the speaker of responsibility for the consequences of what is said. If I say something hurtful, I can't pretend that I didn't hurt you. If I say something incendiary, I can't be surprised if you get pissed off at me. If I say something blasphemous, I can't pretend it's not my fault you're offended. Being able to say what I want doesn't mean being safe from what I say.

The newspaper in question appeared to do everything they could to say something hurtful, incendiary, and blasphemous. Sticking their fingers in their ears and humming doesn't change the fact that they knowingly and deliberately threw gasoline on a fire.

Muslims around the world have every right to be angry. I'm not a religious man, so I can't come close to understanding the depth of outrage the Muslim world is evincing. But just because I don't understand how they feel doesn't mean they aren't justified in feeling it. I think they have every right to censure (but not* censor) the Danish newspaper for its actions, to express their anger, and to apply nonviolent pressure.

A common human failure is to assume that the worst elements of a group are representative of the entire group; and to mistake action against a member of a group as action against the part of that group they dislike. Violence against person and property is never justifiable, and those Muslims that have done so are 1) making that assumption and 2) giving weight to those who are all too willing to make that assumption.

Were I the Danish government I would issue a statement fully supporting the newspaper's right to freedom of speech. But I would include acknolwedgement that what the newspaper did was deliberately hurtful and blasphemous, and ask other newspapers to weigh this consideration before reprinting the cartoons.