What Are the Lessons of the Danish Cartoons of Muhammed?

I haven't yet written, nor thought deeply, about ongoing, violent Middle East protests over Danish political cartoons satirizing the prophet Muhammed....probably because I'm immersed in such as the Bush Administration's warrantless spying on US citizens, the Iraq War, the President's 2007 budget proposal, 2006 Congressional races and much more. At this site, I choose to focus on domestic issues and leaders rather than on international affairs.

I am perplexed, though, why, given our US traditions of free speech and a free press, newspapers that run articles deeply offensive to some Christians would hesitate to run articles offensive to other faith traditions. At the same time, I don't support "gratuitous blasphemy" against any religion, lodged simply for the sake of wounding others.

Keith Porter, About.com's Guide to Globalization Issues, has some interesting reflections on the protested Danish Cartoons. He writes....

"The basic facts: a newspaper in Denmark ran cartoons which depicted the prophet Muhammad. Some Muslims were offended and protested....sometimes violently. More newspapers in Europe ran the cartoons which touched off even more violent protests. This all led to lots of head scratching over why the protesters were so upset...and what responsibility media outlets have for running or not running controversial material.

My basic instinct is just to yell, 'Can't we all just get along?' But I also see how naive that question is. Fundamental questions about core principles don't lead to easy compromises. So all I can offer at this point are a few random thoughts and ideas...." Read Keith's article here.

The question also crosses my mind: What can the US learn from this horribly violent incident? Mind our own business? Be more respectful of all faith traditions?

Or, as Keith suggests, the media should be wary of blowing a small incident out of proportion by playing into the hands of radicals?

I don't have definitive answers, but all the above sound good. What do you think? Email your thoughts to me at usliberals.guide@about.com.
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