Quote:
Originally Posted by detbuch
That's exactly the attitude the terrorists want to instill in the rest of the world, especially in the West.
Yes, we are obliged to exercise freedom. Use it or lose it. Habit is created by continuous doing, or not doing.
When freedom is restricted by fear, it becomes hostage to tyrants. And if "wisdom" restricts freedom to a service for others rather than an inalienable right to express what you feel compelled to say, or what you wish to say, or even for the sake of what you "need" to say in order to be who you desire to be, or, crass at it may seem to others, to make a living . . . then wisdom is a tyrant.
In my opinion, wisdom would be on the side of defending freedom rather than restricting it. I would think, Jim, with your protective posture toward religion, which in its deepest sense is a form of expression, and which, when freely practiced, "expressed," can be and has been the cause of so much death, that you would not be so ready to caution others about being "wise" not to provoke others merely by expressing what you believe.
Ultimately, we are free to do whatever we wish. And, yes, there will be consequences for our actions. At best, and wisest, is to abide by agreeing not to harm others directly by our actions. When others react violently to our actions, it is they, not us, who are responsible, and who do not abide by the "wise" social contract. The cartoonists disagreed with you. They did not consider their cartoons to be "purposeless." And they saw what you characterize as "silly doodles" worth risking their lives for. And if it is wise to practice personal freedom in order to keep it, then they paid the price of that wisdom, and by it, have further shown to the rest of us, what we should know, that we must stand for freedom, fight for it. And if we die for it, let it be an example for the living that those who wish to deprive us of freedom are the ones who must submit to the wise social contract. Or else, it is they who must suffer the consequence. Otherwise, freedom is lost.
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It probably doesn't suprise you that I agree with most of what you say, but we'll disagree on this point.
"Yes, we are obliged to exercise freedom. Use it or lose it. Habit is created by continuous doing, or not doing."
I agree to a certain point...i will continiue to vote on election day and vote for leaders who will aggressively fight the terrorists. That's a necessary expresison of freedom. If the jihadists threatened to attack us unless we elected a candidate who was soft on terrorism, I would refuse to cower to that and vote for who I wanted anyway.
Some things are so vital that we have to do them, even if it means the possibility of inviting attacks by terrorists. The Civil Rights leaders of the 1950s are a good example...they refused to be cowered by the KKK, and did what was necessary, and unfortunately, innocent blood was shed. Freedom isn't always free.
But in my opinion, not every single human impulse is necessarily worth risking innocent blood. There is a difference between using common sense and good judgment, and being cowered by terrorism. Not everything imaginable is worth dying for. Silly doodles, in my opinion, are not worth the loss of innocent lives.
Given what I know now...I would tell the Civil Rights leaders of the 1950s that they were right to provoke the Klan the way they did, because it was necessary to end segregation. However, I would now tell the employees of that magazine, that they should not have printed those cartoons. It wasn't worth it. The cartoons had no real purpose, they weren't going to change anybody's mind about any issue that mattered.
"And they saw what you characterize as "silly doodles" worth risking their lives for"
Here's the flaw. By provoking the jihadists, the cartoonists aren't just putting themselves at risk, because this particular enemy could care less about collateral damage. Therefore, the cartoonists are putting everyone at risk. Some freedoms are worth that risk. Not every imaginable freedom is worth that risk.
The freedoms that we have here in this country are worth fighting and dying for. The freedom to publish provocative cartoons? Yes, we have the right to do that. Having the legal right, doesn't mean it's a good idea.
Displaying common sense, isn't always the same thing as giving in to terrorism. I think we should hunt these pepole down and kill every last one of them. That will involve the loss of innocent life, but in the end, it's a price we have to pay. But there's no reason why we can't use our judgment on a case-by-case basis. Some fights, not all fights, are worth fighting. Sometimes, in certain cases, it's better to avoid a confrontation. Not always, but sometimes.
A good debate, though.