Collection on Free Speech

A collection of some of the better responses to the Movie/Cartoon that incited violent protests across the Middle-East this week:

Common Sense

 “My common sense tells me that whoever doesn’t want to look for it, won’t find it. The public that’s offended simply shouldn’t watch it.”

- Israeli Judge Miriam Mizrahi rejecting an interim request to force Google to block the video in Israel.  

Straight Thinking

 And it led me to this thought:Charlie Hebdo‘s editors are actually less fearful of extremist Muslims than most mainstream media is. If anything, the editors are not irrationally fearful but irrationally lacking in fear.

Eugene Volokh

Tough Questions

  Republicans who are currently defending "Sam Bacile" aka Nakoula Basselley Nakoula and (correctly) proclaiming that offense is no basis for censorship ought to explain why their party platform still urges a flag-burning ban. 

-Popehat

Possibly

The right to ridicule religion almost defines a free society. That right can never be surrendered. And you know what? Once it is established (or - as we now must say about the right to ridicule Islam - re-established), almost nobody will want to use it. Blasphemy remains interesting only so long as it retains the power to enrage. The way to deprive blasphemy of its power is not to ban it, but to disregard it. Until that happens, however, Western governments must not allow themselves to be conscripted into acting as the local censorship police for the Egyptian state. 

- David Frum