The Right Side

By now, images of the riots, death and destruction caused by the publication of cartoons depicting Muhammad as a terrorist have spread all over the Internet. Newspaper headlines decry that it's a "Global Crisis." Flags burning, signs calling for the "slaying" of those who insult Islam, children holding posters calling for beheadings of "infidels" are everywhere, depicting a culture that is far different from our own.

How many images or cartoons have expressed opposition, hatred, intolerance or distate towards Christianity or other world religions or cultures? How many riots can you recall in this country? How many flags have you burned because you were offended? How many beheadings have you called for? If the riots have taught us anything it is that we are dealing with a very different and very dangerous people.

But not according to The Nation.

No, this is just another excuse for the media to spread it's evil lies about the dangers of radical Islam. These people have a "right to be offended" that excuses all of this. One columnist writes, "But whether or not the publishing of the cartoons was a reckless provocation, and whether or not the violent response was manipulated by Islamists, we must come to terms with the conditions that created the tinderbox." In other words: America is somehow at the bottom of this. We've brought this on ourselves. President Bush and FOX News are behind it all. When all else fails, blame America (and if you can get in a jab at Bill O'Rielly, even better). Even though the cartoons were published in a Danish newspaper... America and our "irresponsible conservative" media (yeah right) must be at the root of all this evil.

While I agree with the Nation (hell may have just frozen over) that people have the right to be offended, we should ask ourselves what is too much. (If this isn't, what is?) We should learn something from what we are seeing.



I'd say it's taught me a thing or two.