AC360: South Park Creators Face Death Threats over Mohammed Depiction

I like what Ayaan Hirsi Ali expresses towards the end--if more people speak out, it will become increasingly difficult for radicals to target individuals for blasphemy--because who should they target?

The problem with answering criticism, or even ridicule, or especially ridicule, with violence, is that it really isn't an "answer", it's just a bloody reaction. One could be pissed off over being corrected for one's....grammar, and shoot the would-be language instructor, but still be absolutely wrong about when to use "whom." And when the shot is over a joke?

SCENE:

"Say, what did that guy shoot Bob over?"

"Oh, some satire...."

"Really--how *good* was it?"



Because really, who's shot over a flop?

Or for any bit of art, this idea might apply. I read Salman Rushdie's Satanic Verses specifically because of the fatwa, in rather the way I'm drawn to any book banned somewhere else. I also viewed Van Gogh's Submission for the same reason--to see what the controversy was about. It's not just murderous and immoral to attack people over such criticism, it's terribly counterproductive.

(Also I'm rather glad they never did get around to Rushdie. I finished reading Shalimar the Clown yesterday and it was about as good a novel as I've ever read.)