.... Then you pick up yesterday's Guardian, one of the most liberal newspapers in the Western world, and there's a long article that says, ah, that picture, that moral picture, that instinct to protect the old and the young doesn't apply in this case. The man asked for it. He drew a cartoon that upset some people. We aren't at all entitled to use our moral instincts in the correct way.
This is a sort of cultural and moral suicide, in my opinion. It's not exactly comparable to the reaction of the church in Ireland which wants to make it illegal to criticize any religion, which in Ireland doesn't really mean much more than one. Many Irish people I know are already publicly planning to break this law. [Michael J Totten] Read more [via Mick Hartley]
Fearless Westergaard .... It's no counter to say that the exercise of free speech can cause deep offence and hurt. Of course it can. That's how knowledge and culture advance, by brutally exposing bad ideas to scrutiny and derision. There isn't nearly enough derision of religious belief in European societies, let alone in the United States, but at least we have the ability to exercise it. [Times Online] Read more
