Title: 
Muhammad Cartoon & Free Speech

Word Count:
253

Summary:
The uproar over the recently republished Muhammad cartoons has many in the Muslim community in an uproar. Is this a fair response or should free speech be protected at all costs?


Keywords:
Muhammad cartoon, Islam, Muslim, Denmark, Danes, Christian, free speech, religion, Jesus Christ, God


Article Body:
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.