Freedom of speech vs Respect for religion

In the last 2 weeks or so, there has been much outcry by Islamic states against the (surprise) Scandinavians! Why, it must be religion, of course. It all began when a newspaper in Denmark published a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammed & sparked an outroar among the Islamic states, who deemed that act sacrilegious.

In a TV interview with the Editor of the newspaper in question, he mentioned that the Danish government did not stop the publication nor enforce any sanctions against them for the publication simply because of the freedom of speech in the country. So their freedom of speech becomes a sign of disrespect towards another religion. A thin line, don't you think, and an ultra sensitive one. The question now becomes one where we wonder if we can still remain respectful, in this case, of religion and allow freedom in every sense of the word.

Freedom of speech is often a concept found in liberal democracies and is exercised as a civil liberty. So technically, the Danes had every right to express themselves in the newspapers. The issue we are presented with right now goes beyond just freedom of speech but into the crux of the matter -ideological differences.

For the longest time, each religion has claimed their freedom to speech by means of propagating their religion. The biggest irony that manifests in these religious propagation is violence, when they claim to come in peace & love. So, the freedom of speech in & of one religion is deemed to be a disrespect for another religion and that the fundamental human right to choose one's belief is violated because of another's freedom of speech to propagate his own religion. Tough call, isn't it?

We are dealing with a double-edged sword. The Islamic states protests are also a form of free speech, so why aren't the Scandinavians protesting against these states for estopping their right to free speech?

It's ironical that even today in the 21st century, many cultures & states still embrace ideological colonialism. Simply put, my idea is better than yours so you had better embrace it or else. Is it still possible to uphold freedom of speech without showing disrespect for another religion? Sometimes, I think this is a very difficult one to answer. Many wars have been fought & many have died in the name of religion because they believed that it was their right to speak freely to many about their cause. The Crusades in the 12th century and the Islamic wave into Constantinople have been great examples of freedom of speech versus respect for religion, much as how various organisations speak against one another these days, especially in the current post 9/11 era.

When will the world grow up, I don't know. But there is this much that I know, that is, for as long as ideological differences exist, freedom and respect are things that need to be exercised with great care & responsibility. I shall leave you with this thought I overhead from a supposed nutter talking to himself on the subway in New York City - we live in hate because we don't understand differences and we don't understand differences because we don't even understand ourselves.