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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Muslima][quote=Anonymous][quote=jsteele][quote=Anonymous][quote=jsteele]It's a form of collective punishment. Because one Christian is guilty of something, you publish things insulting to all Christians, etc. Not a winning strategy unless your goal is increased hatred between groups.
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I do not see it that way at all.  The intent is NOT to punish nor to offend.

Rather, it honors our basic human right to free expression.  That right is only free so long as we are not threatened with being killed or harmed as a result of exercising our human rights.

Tolerance is required and is non-negotiable in Europe and the U.S.

You are not required to like blasphemers but you are required to tolerate others' rights and freedoms. That includes the right to speech that someone, somewhere might deem offensive.[/quote]

Your intent doesn't really matter. As a practical matter, publishing offensive material about a religion is likely to offend significant numbers of members of that religion. That is true regardless of your intent. Moreover, members of a group tend to circle the wagons when they feel their group is under attack. So, rather than widening the rift between moderates and extremists, you actually push them closer together.

Here is an example of the limits of free expression in America:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/13/world/middleeast/professors-angry-tweets-on-gaza-cost-him-a-job.html

"The trustees of the University of Illinois voted on Thursday to block the appointment of Steven Salaita, a Palestinian-American professor who had been offered a tenured position last year, following a campaign by pro-Israel students, faculty members and donors who contended that his Twitter comments on the bombardment of Gaza this summer were anti-Semitic."

I don't think his tweets were anti-Semitic. But, let's assume they were. Should we all tweet anti-Semitic tweets in order to, in your words, "the right to speech that someone, somewhere might deem offensive."

The most hypocritical aspect of the entire "je suis Charlie" movement is the fact that almost all of those claiming to be Charlie rationalize limits on free speech every day of their lives.
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I do not think the people shouting "Je suis Charlie" are hipocrits.  I think they are French citizens who feel their liberty and freedom of expression have been attacked; they are saying "we will not be intimidated by these terrorists."

Do you think the Charlie Hebdo victims got what they deserved?  Were they in any way at fault?[/quote]

Really? How about Dieudonne? The French comedian who's been banned by the French government for performing his show over and over because his jokes are offensive to jews? Where are the jesuisDieudonne? How about his free speech?

[quote]Manuel Valls, the minister of the interior, has sent out an edict to the mayors of all the cities in France where ‘Dieudo’ is planning to appear on tour: ‘Ban him or else.’ In doing so, Valls has the full support of the French president, François Hollande. The whole of the state apparatus is baying for Dieudo’s blood and screaming that Republican values are being held in contempt. Freedom of expression is enshrined in the constitution, but that doesn’t seem to be of any importance when it comes to Dieudo.
The latest stage of this farce occurred in Nantes yesterday, where Dieudo was due to play the opening night of his tour. A local judge suspended the interdiction order, allowing the show to go ahead. However, Valls made a successful last-minute appeal to France’s highest court, the Council of State, to reinstate the ban. The result was thousands of booing fans left standing outside the concert hall.[/quote]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-deibert/in-comic-dieudonne-france_b_4604633.html[/quote]

It's pretty simple, and I don't know why you don't see it (actually I do know). Dieudonne targets Jews. Charlie Hebdo targeted everybody.[/quote]

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