Tender Sensibilities

Globe and Mail:

Members of Montreal's Muslim community condemned Thursday the publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed as an “abusive use of freedom of expression” but also called for calm worldwide as deadly violence over the images continues to escalate.

Quite an Orwellian use of "abusive" in that declaration.

During Thursday's press conference, representatives of Muslim communities called on all levels of government to condemn the publication of the images and harshly criticized media outlets responsible, saying the move “clearly demonstrated a lack of respect and tolerance for the belief and traditions of the Islamic faith.”

Abiola Lapite has the perfect posts for this type of drivel.

This is just the sort of mealy-mouthed, deeply unprincipled gush I was referring to in saying the idea that one ought to respect any set of "beliefs", simply because they are deeply held, is utterly stupid; if you choose to believe with all your might that the earth is flat and 2 plus 2 make 5, I'm under no ethical (let alone legal) obligation whatsoever to treat your beliefs "responsibly" and "with respect", no matter how many others like you there are out there willing to resort to violence upon hearing my expressions of disdain: in fact the opposite is true, and mockery is just what you need lots more of. You want to get me to stop laughing at you and your foolishness? Simple - just abandon your stupid notions.

For most, it is far more convenient to demand redress, mouth off obscenities, throw Molotov cocktails, or burn flags than to truly re-examine their cherished beliefs and notions.