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Warp wrote:
> andrel <a_l### [at] hotmail com> wrote:
>> Although his right to offend Muslims falls under the freedom of
>> expression, many people think that it is unwise because of the expected
>> violent reaction in Islamic countries.
>
> Some people say that freedom of expression does not give the right to
> insult people based on things like their religion.
>
> My answer to that is that if people are allowed to publish documentaries
> about extreme christianity with impunity (as is certainly the case), they
> should be allowed to publish documentaries about extreme forms of *any*
> religion, regardless of what that religion is. No religion should be
> considered above any other religion in this respect (and, more specifically,
> islam must not be considered more protected against criticism than
> christianity).
>
> If the argument against publishing criticism of islam is that you should
> not do it if you value your life then there's something horribly wrong.
>
Well, we do have the example of Theo van Gogh
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theo_van_Gogh_%28film_director%29 ) , but
the argument is more that it would put other people in danger, like
people working in the diplomatic service, the doctors and nurses working
abroad and especially our soldiers in Afghanistan. It is also a
discussion not so much about criticism but about deliberately offending
while knowing that what you say is at best only partially true. Which
would, in an interesting twist, be allowed if he had been a columnist or
a cartoonist, but may be a different matter for a politician.
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