B E B E R E

(Sigh) I really don't want to enter into the fray on this, but, well, guess I'm going to.

I'm a Catholic and grew up in that socio-economic class that's known as "white trash" and as a result have had to put up with all sorts of really insulting, awful stuff that has pissed me off to no end. This is why I really couldn't feel sorry for editor of the Danish newspaper that published the cartoons it did (I've seen them and they don't bother me. Of course, Piss Christ was considered "thought provoking" rather than insulting to a lot of people.) A fair bit more critical thought should have gone into that editorial choice.

On the other hand, burning down embassies and carrying signs around exhorting Muslims to slash the throat of Danes, English, French, Westerners in General is a reaction that deserves some serious tough love.

In a nutshell? There is such a thing here as freedom of speech. People say stupid, vulgar, offensive things every day (especially in the newspapers), unfortunately, and I wish that people would think more before speaking. On the other hand, there's the whole reaction we've been seeing over the last week (no doubt fomented by certain groups) is just completely out of hand; why even bother trying to reason with people who are vandalizing buildings and threatening to cut others' throats?