Freedom of Idiocy

So I want to find whoever the idiot is who decided to make and publish those cartoons that have provoked anger throughout the Muslim world. I want to find him, and smack him silly... not for offending me, but for being an idiot. Is this really the best time to rock the boat in terms of Western-Islamic relations? When so many lives are at stake on both sides, and knowing the sensibilities, is it really worthwile to test the waters like this? I say it's not.

People are pitting this as a part of the clash of civilizations, having respect for religion against freedom of press. But that's not really the case. This is a clash of ignorance more than anything else.

The west has to realize the emotional value of Muhammed to the Muslim world. So considering the emotions and offenses that are at stake, publishing these cartoons are akin to publishing something that portrays Jews as deserving of what happened during the Holocaust. They seem different, but the emotions at stake and the type of offense it would cause are very similar.

But when it comes to the freedom of press and speech, yes, it is protected speech, but then again, so is Nazism. But you don't see cartoons portraying Hitler in a positive light in most newspapers. Inflammatory speech is still speech, but it has consequences.

I think Karen Armstrong, in her commentary on the BBC, described it best:

Karen Armstrong is a leading British commentator on religious affairs and
author of Muhammad: A Biography of the Prophet.

Each side needs to
appreciate the other's point of view. I think it was criminally irresponsible to
publish these cartoons. They have been an absolute gift to the extremists - it
shows that the West is incurably Islamophobic. It sends a very bad message.

But, more seriously, it is letting ourselves down. We trumpet abroad
about what a compassionate culture we are. But these cartoons depicting Muhammad
as a terrorist are utterly inaccurate, feeding into an Islamophobia that has
been a noxious element in Western culture since the time of the Crusades. It can
only inflame matters at this very crucial juncture of our mutual history.

On the other hand, in a secular Europe, freedom of speech has developed
as one of our sacred values. We fought hard for it, but we have to remember it
carries responsibilities. For example, do we have a right to say whatever we
want even if it is false and dangerous?

More importantly, however, freedom is as sacred a value for us as the
Prophet is to Muslims.
We are seeing here a clash of two different notions
of what is sacred and this is part of the modernising process.

Modernisation and secularisation has this bumpy ride where people at
different levels of modernisation are clashing. In other parts of the world
where modernisation is not yet complete it is not regarded as a crucial as other
sacred realities.

And now we are all living in this multicultural society cheek-by-jowl
with one another, not even within a single country but we are linked to one
another in our global village. We have to learn to live side by side better than
this.