In case you haven’t heard, a Danish newspaper published 12 cartoons, which portrayed Muhammed, the Prophet of Islam. (If you have heard, skip to the next paragraph. I just don’t want to leave anyone behind.) These cartoons didn’t portray Muhammed in a very positive light, including one image that had the Prophet wearing a turban shaped like a bomb. The cartoons have provoked protest in the parts of the Muslim world. Some of these protests have taken the form of violence, including the firebombing of embassies. Some European newspapers published the cartoons in solidarity with the Danish paper, reasoning that they were making a stand for free speech. Only one major American newspaper has published any of the cartoons.

There are many different angles people take on the cartoon issue. They use it as an opportunity to attack liberals, conservatives, Muslims, the West, and Morgan Freeman. In the West, we say protesting is okay, but it’s not okay to resort to violence. Debating about the violence line in protesting is not what we should be doing.

That’s why it’s so laughable when people try to play the analogy game. They say things along the lines of, “A Christian wouldn’t firebomb an embassy over someone making a painting of the Virgin Mary out of elephant dung.” Yet, it’s not true to say the West is immune to violent protests. I just heard recently a story about people throwing rocks at Neo-Nazis staging a demonstration. Granted, this isn’t on the same scale, but it’s not about the scale. It’s not about the line of violence being crossed.

Here’s the problem: An independent newspaper prints offensive cartoons, and the Islamofascists riot against Western governments. The press is free. It’s perfectly fine to protest the paper. It’s not okay to tell the government to impose religious sensitivity laws.

That’s why they’re Islamofascists. They want to impose fascism. They want the government to impose their beliefs on other people. That’s what’s not okay.

It’s also perfectly fine for American papers to decide not to print the 12 cartoons. In fact, it’s good that they’re sensitive to Muslims. What would not be okay is if the American government told the newspapers not to print the comics.

I’m not going to call anyone a hypocrite. I’m not going to go off on any tangents. (It’s rather hard to confine myself to this topic, but I feel it is too important to stray towards anything else.) I’m not going to make a judgment about the West or Islam. The role of government is the issue. The peoples of every nation have the right to a free press, period. I don’t care if you’re Muslim, Christian, Neo-Nazi, or just an offended average Joe: Leave the government out if you have a dispute with the press.

With that said, I will delve into specifics tomorrow.