Perhaps you all missed my point. I apologize for my pyschomorph-sized post, but it had to be done.
I don't believe killing people and burning buildings is 'free speech'. I do believe, however, that making fun of someone (or their fragile religion) is freedom of speech.
I like to believe that making fun of someone's dead family, however, isn't very nice. And though it's still 'freedom of speech', I could understand if someone got violent in a situation like that. And by 'violent situation', I mean 'bar fight'.
But religion? Shut up. Just, shut up.
So you're saying we - the '(bad?) Americans' - have a 'World Police' reponsibility, and that we should write to these newspapers and say - 'Hey guys, knock it off fellas' whenever anybody pokes fun at anybody's imaginary prophet or saviour?
Before we even start to debate that, politics, the war or anything else, let me ask you...
Why don't they do it? Why haven't they just all gotten together, held a peaceful protest, refuse to support the economies of the countries involved, etc.? I think even that is a little extreme. Couldn't they just, I don't know, write complaint letters and refuse to buy those newspapers? Maybe talk to some of the religious leaders and go to the press with a well-written speech?
No, no. You're right. It's a better point, and a better expression of freedom to march in the streets chanting about how red rivers of infidel blood shall clense the world and then acting out in violence. Totally.
And I must admit, you really did have a point there. Christians love censorship. They hate 'violent video games' and anything involving sex (although, ironically, they're often times arrested for those same things - gee I wonder why). Crazy Pat Robinson has said before that we should 'snuff so-and-so' for a better White America.
Man, what a trump card...Christians...
Oh, wait. Snaps! Conservative Muslims love censorship too! Not only that, but they like cutting off hands and heads (and filming it, and beating off to it), taking away the rights of women, the destruction of Islam and denying children the choice of a religion-free learning environment! Well, I suppose Christians enjoy that last one too. Maybe even the second-to-last one still. They used to love that one with women...
Look, they're both bad. I'm not arguing that. I'm saying that one religion is evolving with society (money-driven with bloodlust on-the-side stupidity) and the other is stuck back in the medieval times (bloodlust stupidity with a side of money).
As I've said, I think we should hunt down and murder every religious zealot on the planet. Not because of their race, social condition, etc. - but because I think they're (to use a favorite quote of mine) batshit fucking insane - and the world would be a better (safer) place without them. This does not exclude the 'Dale Earnhardt' t-shirt-wearing, Jesus Fish-W'04-Remember 9/11-NYPD-American-Eagle-Decal-SUV-Driving, Deer-Hunting rapists of my nation. In fact, they're pretty high on the list.
I must admit though, I wish I lived in your world. The one in your head. The world where I could burn down embassies and call it 'expression of free speech' without being punished.
And you know, I always wondered...
Why do these crazies seek revenge in this life. Isn't it satisfying enough to know that we infidels will not ascend to the holy land with them? We won't be inside of their virgins. Can't they just wait and savour the victory when the time comes?
And hey, if they can't - I'd be willing to shoot each and every one of them (them, as in, religious crazies) in the face to speed up the process for them. If they truly believed in their faith, they would have no problem with that. They wouldn't have to line up or anything, and say 'Hey - kill me'. I imagine that loophole has been covered and counts as some form of suicide.
But I mean, if they stated 'Yeah, if you killed me, I'd automatically ascend to the heavens' and then told me 'I totally can't wait for the afterlife' - I'd be willing to show them the way.
I mean, what do they care if they ascend to the promised land, while the infidel rots on earth, waiting to fall into the depths of the netherworld? If they murder us - isn't that, I mean...don't they...
Won't we just end up back at square one?
I suppose, by their logic, only one of our 'promised lands' exists. So I guess they win that debate.
To their credit, I did meet one person in my entire life like this. A devout (zealous and hypocritical) Christian. She told me that if I were to murder her, it would be god's plan, and she would be happy that she got to leave earth so quickly, since she would then be with the all-knowing, all-loving Jesus Christ. She responded to the theoretical questions of her demise as if she were six, and I had just asked if she'd be interested in going to Disney World to eat an Ice Cream buffet with all of her cartoon idols.
Like I said, batshit fucking insane.
