Charlie Hebdo, Don't pretend your new issue does not disrespect Islam

[tblue37]

307. I have never burned an American flag, nor have I ever had the slightest inclination to do so.

But if the RW ever manages to get laws passed that penalize burning or "desecration" of the flag, I will be out there that same day burning flags and stomping on them, just as a matter of principle.

This strikes me as a similar situation. A perfectly good reason for CH to put a picture of Muhammed on the cover is that they have been both threatened with deadly consequences for daring to do so and actually subjected to such consequences. If I were a cartoonist, I would in general have no interest in depicting Muhammed and no reason for doing so. But if someone *ordered* me not to draw Muhammed and threatened me to ensure that I did not draw Muhammed, I would consider that to be an excellent reason for drawing Muhammed all the time. I fear I I would not be brave enough to risk my life for that principle, but I would *hope* that I would find the courage, and I would feel sorrow and shame if I did not find enough courage to stand on principle in the matter.

Many Americans freak out over the idea of someone burning a flag in an act of protest. I truly think it is misguided to sacralize the symbol while attacking the core values the symbol is supposed to represent. That is why a law forbidding flag burning would drive me to burn the flag. But if I did burn a flag to protest such a deeply wrongheaded law, I would *not* care one bit about offending the sensibilities of the people who have invested a scrap of fabric with such inappropriate significance, mistaking the symbol for the reality.

I am an atheist, but I treat the religious beliefs of others respectfully--until they start trying to browbeat me and to order me around because my freedom offends their religious sensibilities. People who feel they have the right to make such demands and to control the behavior of others never stop encroaching. If you let them tell you what you cannot draw or say, then they also want to tell you what you cannot do--and before you know it, what you are permitted to say or do, or draw, becomes extremely limited.

Just as we say to RWers, "If you disapprove of abortion, don't have one," and "If you disapprove of gay marriage, don't marry someone of the same sex as yourself," and "If flag burning offends you, don't burn one--and don't force yourself to watch if someone else decides to burn one," so too, we should say to religious people, "If a particular action violates your religious beliefs, don't engage in that action--and protect your sensibilities by not forcing yourself to watch when someone else chooses to engage in that action."