> That would enrage the Muslims even more. They don't want any depiction of > Mohammed whatsover. They want to tell us what we can't think. No, I think they want us to keep our ignorance to ourselves. Listen to yourself! You're demanding the right to mouth off and slander things we don't really understand. You're suggesting we have the right to commit cultural vandalism, to take what other people hold dear and piss on it. And maybe strictly speaking, we have that right, here in our own culture. But we can't pretend that that right is gonna stave off the punch in the mouth we're gonna have coming. (And let me be clear this sort of cultural vandalism is a petty crime in my books. A misdemeanor. Certainly not a capital crime. As a matter of fact, I think the worldwide outrage is over-the-top.) And again, Muslims I've spoken with (who are probably pretty moderate) aren't upset that there's been a depiction of Muhammad, rather that it's been done in a way that served no purpose. Good editorial cartoons are clever and instructive in some sense. They provide insight. The drawings we're discussing incite people for no good reason. Muslims have said time and time again this type of behaviour from the West is what pisses them off. When are we going to shut our stupid mouths and actually listen to them? After that maybe we could give them countries and their cultures back so the Yosts and the Helms of the world can relax. David Savory Vancouver ------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html