French leaders sound alarm over planned Mohammad cartoons

[davidthegnome]

70. That might be the case

if I was arguing in favor of suppression as opposed to common sense. No where did I suggest they should face legal charges, though I think what they are doing is unwise and deliberately provocative.

No, it's not the fault of the publisher if someone kills someone over a cartoon. It is, however, the fault of the publisher if they deliberately publish antagonistic material for no more purpose than to anger an already group of people - an already murderous group of people. I don't think they should be afraid, I certainly am not going to say that they should be legally mandated to stop. I am going to say it's pretty fucking stupid to publish cartoons that aren't going to accomplish much more than probably fucking things up... to publish them KNOWING that there is little or no purpose to it and that there are consequences to doing so.

The publisher does not pull the trigger, so the publisher is not the murderer. What is the fault of the publisher is encouraging violence through pointless, petty and stupid actions. Yes, they are encouraging it. Again... the fanatics have PROVEN that they will KILL for these things. A cartoon is not worth risking your life... and it is certainly not worth risking other lives.

I don't think we should suppress ideas for the fear of violence. I think we should consider, perhaps, when expressing our ideas might have consequences, when it might be better to do so differently. Perhaps we should consider the many people who could face angry rioters as a result of what the cartoons show. They're fucking cartoons! This isn't an exercise in free speech, it's some assholes trying to make a theological or political point.