...exactly the same respect that publications in Muslim countries give Buddhism, Christianity and Judaism?

exactly as we would have them do unto us?

Why is this piece Salon's lead? 'Scholars' of Islam are generally the worst people to consult on such matters because the situation in academia is such that any sharp criticism of Islam will basically blacklist you with a huge percentage of your colleagues. I cannot emphasise just how much a scholar risks my handling Islam in the way one does say Christianity or Hinduism. Say the wrong thing and you will branded a Zionist, imperialist, etc. Your works will be banned in Muslim countries (Pakistan even banned an issue on Newsweek a few years back which contained a book review of a scholarly work which examined if Arabic was indeed the original language of the Qur'an) and your career as an academic would flame out.

Klausen's piece is the epitome of trying to please everyone and in the end saying nothing that is convincing or worthwhile. The one question he won't ask and can't answer: Why are religions innately entitled to respect?

Might the lack of respect a particular religion receives be directly related to its inability to engender respect vis-a-vis egalitarian and libertarian perspectives?

TV and radio personalities in the US say worse things about islam every day, without incident. The real story here is on who it was who decided to dig up an old cartoon from a small European country in a language few people speak and turn it into a worldwide "outrage." Free dailies in NYC probably have a larger readership than the Danish newspaper that printed the cartoons.

I will never grasp how a cartoon incites people to scream for bloodshed and burn buildings. If the Muslims really don't like the way they are portrayed in Western media, then maybe they should band together and protest when one of their own blows himself up with a number of innocent men, women and children.

I'm sorry.

I don't really care about the politics of the specific paper that published these cartoons! I'm sure they are ridiculous little leprecauns who just wanted to fart at Muslims. I DON'T CARE!!!! Salon -- why did you publish this stuff!!

Free speech is free speech is free speech.

Do not give in to political correctness. Do not give in to the idea that it is "not sensitive to other cultures". Free speech is our culture - at least it is mine.

Do not step down for any reason. Do not step down.

"Sexy coeds dressed in mini-skirts were looking for trouble -- and got more than they bargained for."

Seriously, have we been so blinded by the war between liberalism and conservatism that we cannot see that it is an external enemy - religion - that is to blame for these atrocities? Are we now blaming the victims? These monsters are doing no more than their scripture tells them to do. It is no different than Christian extremists who take their bible too seriously, then bomb abortion clinics and put hit lists on their websites. The Abrahamic religions’ "sacred" texts are inherently violent, racist, misogynistic, and bigoted. Read them and see if you can possibly disagree with that statement.

The real issue here is that civilized society has finally started to defend itself against religious attacks on freedom. And by "civilized society" I mean those of us who believe that reason, logic, and empathy - not scripture - are the guiding lights to a better way of life. For so long we have kowtowed to religions: Christians who can't hear the word "holiday;" Jews that invoke the holocaust every time Israel is criticized for its politics; and yes, Muslims who cannot tolerate any critique of their religion or the bigoted, misogynistic way of life they would have us all live. Thank you Denmark for your courage to stand up against these bullies.

Like most Americans, I'm no expert on Danish internal politics. Be the right-wing motivations of Jyllens-Posten as they may, the snowballing protests and violence of the Islamists are disturbing and ominous. They are not wringing their hands and crying "why don't they understand us?", as the Danes are; they are calling for the cartoonists in question to be arrested and hanged or beheaded.

Such careless and unapologetic calls for violence because one's religion has been "offended" have no place in any civilized society, and the cynical exploitation of this issue by some Arab governments is appalling.

Tolerance is a noble virtue. Klausen may not believe that Denmark is as tolerant as it would like to believe; in my opinion, America is not, either. It is sad and reprehensible that so many Muslims in Denmark, as well as elsewhere in Europe, feel marginalized. Xenophobes and right wingers do not help the issue.

But, in America (and I am sure this is true in Europe as well), there is a very long tradition of lampooning religions figures and beliefs. Christianity has been subject to this for centuries in one form or another, dating back to the Renaissance. It is in the eye of the beholder where criticizing and lampooning religion crosses the line into blasphemy and intolerance.

However there is no excuse for the protracted violent protests erupting in the Islamic world; moreover these movements will not tolerate any dissent from their "righteous" cause. If Iran goes ahead with its plan to publish cartoons about the Holocaust in retaliation, the Western world will merely shrug its disapproval, let alone burn down the Iranian embassy.

These violent acts are merely flashpoints for the larger issue of what Islamists perceive as the West's threat to their religion/culture. But the rest of the world is under no obligation to live by the rules of such reactionary, ignorant extremists. Religion can be tolerated only if it does not attempt to use coercion to convert. As an American liberal, I have to draw the line somewhere -- tolerance is a great and noble virtue, but fascism does not tolerate, and should not be tolerated.

I'm still trying to get my head around this idea...

all these people in the mobs we're seeing on the news and in the blogs, believe that the cartoons claim a tie between Islam and terrorism. Yet they truly believe that the proper way to express their unhappiness/anger/outrage at this is to torch buildings, cause riots that kill fellow Muslims, and threaten non-Muslims in foreign countries with beheading.

Is it just me, or is there a serious disconnect going on here? Just saying...