Most of you have written some very thoughful comments on this subject.

One of the things that always bugged me about being Muslim was the anger I was obliged to feel anytime anyone insulted my religion. Frankly, it's hard not to insult Muslims or Islam, given what a bunch of backwards bastards they are.

Insult away. Muslims need to realize that they are not immune to criticism. They need to realize that the freedoms they seek when they come to a Western country come with baggage - you can't have free speech without upsetting at least someone, and you can't expect the law to protect your feelings and no one else's.

And yes, Muslim reactions are entirely based on a very real feeling of insecurity. You'll never meet a bigger group of people with something to prove.

The Bible says that you shouldn't depict Jesus lip syncing disco songs while strutting down Hollywood Blvd. wearing only a loin cloth.

We must find the infidels who would depict our holy god in such a way and wage war against them!

http://www.devilducky.com/media/40716/

I find the cartoons sophomoric and insulting. They are no different than the jigaboos and gollywogs caricatures of a bygone era in the US. Or the disparaging depiction of Jews of an era Europe should be well aware of.

"But considering that the first victims of the Crusaders were their co-religionists and fellow Europeans in Constantinople, it was no more genocide than the spread of early Islam by the sword from Arabia."

The first victims of the first Crusaders were the French and Rhineland Jews. In fact, many Jewish communities were utterly wiped out by the likes of Emicho of Leiningen and William the Carpenter. To this day, dirges are offered honoring the dead in schuls throughout the world. I would certainly describe such actions as genocidal, and definitely a mere taste of what the Crusaders would later do to Muslims during the sack of Antioch and Jerusalem.

ROTFLMFAO! Then don't read/look at them, stoooopid. ;)

...and threatening to kill people because of a cartoon is what?; admirable; appropriate; acceptable? Personally I find your post sophmoric and insulting! So there, stick that in your shoe and throw it!!!

:~)

I'm sorry, but if someone puts up a cartoon of Jesus cruising for boys with a priest, I wouldn't care. Hell, I would probably laugh....and I'm a catholic!

God forgive, I'm sorry, Allah forgive anyone for pointing out the problems with your society. These people deserve some much needed satire directed at their dreadfully backward society and religion.

The cartoons are stupid, offensive and racist. Moreover, the decision by newspapers in some European countries to continue printing them is a way of giving the finger to Muslims who live in those countries, under a self-righteous garb of freedom of speech. These are certainly not "equal opportunity" offenders: it is quite unlikely, for instance, that a German newspaper would dare to print funny cartoons about the Holocaust, or that a right-leaning French editor would spoof French nationhood. History and nationalism are among the most powerful religions of our age.

Nevertheless, it must be conceded that life in a free society includes the right to be stupid, offensive and racist. When we are offended by the bigots in our midst, we have a right - indeed, an obligation - to rebut, criticize, mock, ignore, boycott, or condemn. We do not, however, have the right to silence the offender, because ultimately the right to offend is inseparable from the ability to dissent, without which freedom is meaningless. Living with freedom occasionally requires a thick skin.

Has anyone noticed the absence of the Anglo-Saxon governments and press in this matter?

Especially within British society I know first hand that there is a paralysing fear of criticising Islam lest you be considered a racist (it makes no sense to me how attacking an ideology makes you prejudiced aginst ethnicity). America seems not far behind in internalising this view of Islam as sacrosanct religion which must be afforded a unique respect.

Simply compare the exegesis of other religions' holy texts be it Abrahamic, South Asian, or otherwise versus the obsequious and unscholarly acceptance of Islamic traditions from which most non-Muslim scholars in Anglophone academia depart when studying the Qur'an. Montgommery Watt and Patricia Crone come to mind as a notable exception, but the the people taking a hard look at the Qur'an are continental European scholars, especially Germans.

Another phenomenon in Anglo-American circles is the tendency to fete 'moderate Muslim' like Tarriq Ramadan with no hard questioning of their actual beliefs (e.g. on homosexual marriage, Salman Rushdie, the right of Irael to exist) and/or if their moderation has a defensible basis in Islamic tradition (Sunnah) and text (Qur'an + Hadiths). This means you Salon and NPR. In contrast Ramadan was on French TV and just got destroyed by this one French politician (sorry I can't recall his name) who showed the absurdites and inconsistencies of Ramadan's positions.

Having studied Islam extensively, the militant fundamentalists in my honest opinion (and I truly wish this were not the reality we face) represent the most genuine and defensible brand of Islam. This 'religion of peace' stuff is well intentioned and again I wish it were true, but as this 'cartoon violence' shows, fitting Islam into the West is like squeezing a size 12 foot into size 6 shoe. Something has to give and as a woman who will have to spend another fifty years or so on this planet I would rather run the risk of Islamic rage than sacrifice so much as an smidgen of my free expression, sexual rights, etc.

The protest of the Danish muslim society against the caricatures in a Danish newspaper must be seen in its proper context which is Denmark and the policies of the present government. It is about time that this Denmark is made visible.

The caricatures - reminding one of the anti-Semitic caricatures of that Nazi publication Der Stürmer of the 30´s - are a mere reminder of the constant harrassments of the muslim minority by those who have power and a voice such as that of an ultraconservative newspaper.

The helplessness and desperation at never being listened to makes the Danish muslim complaint absolutely legitimate - noone in Denmark cared until, typically, its export business was hurt.

It is a terrible thing for all that we are now facing a situation where matters may easily get out of hand.