Freedom of Speech?

Wrote the following in response to an email from a friend

Very good argument. I totally agree with you. The flag-bearers of freedom of speech and other such lofty ideals have not been practicing what they have preached for the longest time. But then again, why would one expect them to be any different from the rest of humanity?

I am assuming that this is in reference to the recent uproar because of the cartoons that have been published in various newspapers in Europe. I would like to share my thoughts on the same.

I have had a look at the said cartoons and they are in bad taste, not because of religious reasons, but because when you single out a person on the basis of their ethnic origin, religion, etc. you are generalising, and that is never a good idea.

Lets look at Denmark, a few years ago, there was a painting by an artist which showed Jesus with an erection, now that was in bad taste and people protested. But it was still allowed, they went to court and the court said that it was within the freedom of speech realm. So I think Denmark can be let off the hook for not practicing what they preach, since there is no double standard there.

So if we agree that the cartoons were in bad taste, what do we do about it? Did we protest when the Jesus painting was published? I don't think we did, so this is not about cartoons in bad taste, it is specifically about these cartoons. So we are saying that do whatever you want, as long as you don't say anything that offends us.

The problem with living as part of a society is that you have to define legalities, and morality exists somewhere underneath in the grey area. You just can't legislate morality.

Lets take Pakistan as an example. We do have some minorities living here, although we are trying very hard to make their lives difficult. A cow is considered sacred for the Hindus; do we ever take that into consideration, especially at Eid ul Azha? So we decide that since for the majority of people, sacrificing a cow is not an issue, there is nothing illegal about it. The nice thing to do would be to not do it in their face.

I have read up on it, and supposedly this was a test to see if the Muslim minority in Denmark was integrated in the society to be able to allow something that wasn't kosher as per their personal belief, but it backfired. Muslims haven't been able to integrate in most western societies. Lets look at the Danish society, they are a permissive lot with all kinds of things that we find repugnant. So the question is, can people of different faiths live together? Do we as Muslims, allow people of other faith to live freely? Why do we bomb churches? Why are special security measures taken every time Moharram comes around?

I don't have an answer, I am just trying to see how all of this fits into the human psyche. Is killing another human being better compared to insulting them? Since insult them, we will, hold a bias in our hearts for people who look different, and feel deep in our hearts that we are superior. Typical xenophobia.

In a capitalistic world, where morality is sometimes defined because it makes better business sense, I suppose this too shall pass. I don't know how the boycott of Danish products will effect their economy, but if it does, we will see some changes. Maybe next time, they will think twice before doing something like this. But the problem is much deeper, and I don't think that will be resolved, at least not in the near future.