The dead trees finally catch up

My, I have been quiet of late.

The Danish Mohammed cartoon furore hits the dead trees, a very very long time after the blogosphere had extensively dealt with it. The now sadly defunct Fjordman blog in particular led the charge. More and more I see this; a fascinating story, very often from countries outside the UK. The web, and blog readers, do not recognise borders, so we get to see these things first. I wonder what we'll see next! More at Harry's Place.

The MSM doesn't even seem to be handling it very well.

I am unsure of my own view of this. I am fairly sure that:
- one should have some respect for the taboos of another's religion, to the extent compatible with morality and law, if only out of sheer politeness
- religions should NOT be above criticism - I came to my own faith through active criticism and consideration of monotheism, and if certain books and websites critical of monotheism had not been available to me I might not have taken the happy path I have
- many people do self-censor in the the face of opposition from *certain* faith groups

How would I feel if the Buddha was portrayed in an unflattering light? I wouldn't like it, but it wouldn't dent my faith, and I would certainly not be threatening violence over it.

As Laban points out, there are interesting parallels between the Danish cartoon furore and the debate over the religious hatred bill.