Interesting how Middle Eastern Muslims are outraged enough at a single low-budget movie clip in bad taste to kill ambassadors, burn embassies, trash American businesses and riot in the streets, and demand apologies from our president -- YET Muslim imams all across the Middle East fill the airwaves and the internet daily with the vilest language about Christians, Jews, and even their own brethren (Sunni vs Shia vs Sufi vs......). See Thomas Freidman's New York Times article yesterday Look in Your Mirror for some examples.
Of course none of those societies understand the concept of free speech - the concept that freedom entails the right to speak one's mind, even if it is in bad taste or offends others. Pakistan is in the process even now of condemning to death several people for "blasphemy" against the Prophet. Hardly a society that tolerates free speech.
There are those who point out, correctly, that these extreme Muslim elements don't represent the vast majority of Muslims. That would be a more convincing argument if we ever heard the voice of that vast Muslim majority condemning their own extremists. The few Muslim voices of protest that do appear are often quickly suppressed.
How does a free democratic society like ours deal with this sort of harsh, primitive authoritarian culture?
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