Hurumph

In this blog I will play a role. I just wanted to state this so I did not come off as a bigot regarding this subject matter. Logically though, this position is extremely valid. In every exaggeration there is a grain of truth. We, the people of the West, should not have to curb our lifestyle and the way we express ourselves to meet the demand of any group, be it political or religious. Regarding the Danish cartoon, the editors should not have to apologize to anyone out of principal, only if they want to salvage a few Muslim subscriptions. We would not ask the Muslims who were offended by this cartoon to shut up and stop believing that it is wrong to represent Muhammad in a drawing or image, so why should they seek to impose their beliefs on us? Why should we not be allowed to take a pencil that is rightfully ours and a sheet of paper that is rightfully ours and express an idea that is rightfully ours, no matter what it is? It would be different if the Muslim population was forced to buy this newspaper and forced to look at this cartoon, but they are not. If they are offended, they should not look at it. I am offended by racism, so I refuse to subscribe to “Ku Klux Klan Monthly” because I will be offended by its content. But at the same time, no matter how low I feel about the people who would publish such garbage, I do not make them apologize to me, or try to hurt them or change their mind, they have the right to believe and say whatever they wish. So I decline Ramadan’s notion that we should not reproduce the image of Muhammad to respect the beliefs of others (beliefs that do not cause physical harm, unlike “Murder is bad”) as this is instilling those beliefs onto us unfairly and tramples on our freedom to think the way we like. Instead, it imposes religious beliefs of others upon us, jeopardizing our rights.