Danish Press reclaims its freedom

How refreshing! Taking a break from creeping dhimmitude, the Danish press is standing up for one of its own.

My point is that this should have been happening since 2005-- part of living in the West is that yes, you WILL see and encounter things that offend you. The true greatness of the Western ideals of freedom of expression is that in the public sphere, a person is also free to choose what he/she looks at, takes away with him/her, and is free to allow to influence or not. This also means tolerating views and expressions objectionable to individuals. Tolerance is NOT the same as acceptance-- it simply means behaving in a civil manner, ignoring or engaging in rational discourse, if it is important enough.

Burning cars, rioting, damaging other humans or property because of a silly *cartoon* puts you in the category of oh, 4-year olds. Grow up. Get over it. Especially if these freedoms of expression are the LAW in the country you live in. Don't like that? I don't remember seeing anything preventing true objectors to Western freedoms from leaving to more restrictive climes. That too is part of Western freedom. What is foreign to Western liberties are violent, childish attempts to restrict speech, expression, and thought. Not acceptable.

That said, I'm not a fan of the actual art of Kurt Westergaard. It doesn't grab me, or really speak to me. But there is nothing forcing me to look at his stuff, and usually I don't. However, if there is an audience for him, and he functions in his chosen niche, what is the harm? In Western open societies, none. Allowing such backward behavior as these riots, violence, threats of violence and disruptions to the public marketplace of ideas to shut down valid thought and expression can only lead to very dark and dangerous places.

However, if you look at the comments to the linked story, you will see the seething already beginning. Look for more Friday afternoon...