> Fuck freedom of speech, it's not what this is about. You don't have, and never had, the right to slander someone in order to pick a fight.
Yes it is. And yes I have. At least I have a right to do so without fearing for my life. What I don't have, is a right to have any friends when I'm done expressing myself.
> If I went to a bar, found the biggest and dumbest asshole in there and called his mother a filthy whore, guess how much sympathy I would get in court.
Not much, but the guy would get a conviction for voilence.
> Yet this is exactly what the newspaper did, in order to demonstrate how "choked by fear" we all should be.
No, it's not. Discussion a religion in the public sphere is no different from discussing a politician in the public sphere. It might, in both cases, be impolite, but no-one should expect physical violence because of it.
> They are also predominantly impoverished, uneducated and downtrodden, not to mention constantly in the crosshairs, perhaps things are connected?
Maybe, but I can tell you that the Muslim community in Denmark isn't exactly doing itself any favours by refusing to condemn the attack.
Absolutely, there is pundit after pundit lined up, trying to paint every Muslim in the world as violent fundamentalists just waiting to strap on a bomb and go blow some children up, and that makes me sick. But the Muslim community needs to stand up for itself and denounce and condemn the people committing these crimes, and stop making veiled defences for attempted murder.
We can hope willingness to blow oneself up to martyrdom could be a genetic trait. If it were, in a couple generations we would get our gene pool completely rid of it.
Unfortunately, I believe such anti-social behavior is more nurture than nature...
Slander is only illegal when the statements are said to be true (and can be proven that they are false) ... humor and satire newspapers and magazines can publish whatever they want ... both in the US and the EU.
> The point is, as you conceded, that everyone would agree I was stupid and had it coming.
No, there's no justification for violence. Ever.
If you're a rambling idiot that can't hold it together ... people will punish you anyway by ignoring you. You can lose your friends, your wife, even your job. And this form of social punishment is more just for the kind of situation you're referring to ... especially since it all goes away when you learn to behave well in society.
> Stop making me responsible for the actions and opinions of people I don't know or have anything to do with.
And yet, you're identifying yourself as a Muslim, and defend those that issued death threats, fucking freedom of speech to the detriment of those that fought for it and society as a whole.
Yes it is. And yes I have. At least I have a right to do so without fearing for my life. What I don't have, is a right to have any friends when I'm done expressing myself.
> If I went to a bar, found the biggest and dumbest asshole in there and called his mother a filthy whore, guess how much sympathy I would get in court.
Not much, but the guy would get a conviction for voilence.
> Yet this is exactly what the newspaper did, in order to demonstrate how "choked by fear" we all should be.
No, it's not. Discussion a religion in the public sphere is no different from discussing a politician in the public sphere. It might, in both cases, be impolite, but no-one should expect physical violence because of it.
> They are also predominantly impoverished, uneducated and downtrodden, not to mention constantly in the crosshairs, perhaps things are connected?
Maybe, but I can tell you that the Muslim community in Denmark isn't exactly doing itself any favours by refusing to condemn the attack.
Absolutely, there is pundit after pundit lined up, trying to paint every Muslim in the world as violent fundamentalists just waiting to strap on a bomb and go blow some children up, and that makes me sick. But the Muslim community needs to stand up for itself and denounce and condemn the people committing these crimes, and stop making veiled defences for attempted murder.