Muhammad Cartoon & Free Speech
Many in the Muslim community are in an uproar over a Muhammad
cartoon appearing in newspapers across Europe. One such Muhammad
cartoon depicts the Islamic prophet wearing a turban containing
a bomb.
If you write for a living, you probably have made judgment calls
regarding what you will write and how that information will be
conveyed. Definitely, I am of the "free speech" mind, but I must
tell you that there are enough fanatics in this world who would
seek the death of others in the name of their beliefs. While I
enjoy covering information of a religious nature I am loathe to
printing or republishing anything that offends someone's
religion, no matter how much I may disagree with it.
Why is that? Because I don't want to have any part in causing
someone's injury or death because of something I wrote or
displayed on one of my sites. The Muhammad cartoons fall within
this particular category.
Some have seen an element of truth in the Muhammad cartoon
depictions. Interestingly, the leadership of Iran is now
promoting a Holocaust cartoon contest as their response to the
Muhammad cartoon controversy. Where will all of this stop? I am
not sure, but let's hope -- and pray -- that it doesn't cost
additional lives.
Free speech is fine, but when riots and death come out of it,
you have to wonder. The Muhammad cartoon controversy will likely
linger, but it may eventually point to deeper problems between
the secular West and Islam.