I decided to write my senator about the State Department's response to the mounting violence against Denmark.
Dear Senator,
I write to you in order to express my frustration and anger with the U.S. State Department's comments regarding the ongoing dispute between certain EU nations and the Muslim world. I believe it was wrong for the administration to use such biased language in addressing this issue. Perhaps most troubling was State Department spokesman's attempt to qualify our own country's respect for freedom of the press with a caveat about the responsibility of the press to refrain from “inciting religious or ethnic hatreds” (read: refrain from offending anyone). While I do not find fault with the belief that the media's responsibility is important within the context of civic duty, it should not be implied that freedom is in any way contingent upon the prudent exercise of that freedom. In my view, this was tantamount to an endorsement of censorship. The more pressing need was to emphatically reject the calls of Arab and Muslim leaders to censor the media rather than to fire off a line to the effect that we all respect the freedom of the press (they obviously don't) and then try to placate a virulent mob.
I also reject in advance the argument that this was some sort of oversight. Given the way that the State Department measures its words, it is clear to me that this was a calculated attempt to garner favor with Muslims around the world. What is expedient is not always right, and quite frankly, this statement reeks of opportunism rather than virtue. It is perfectly fine for the administration to express its distaste for anything it chooses, but in a battle of values such as this, between freedom and the tyrannical alternative of ensuring that nobody is ever offended, it is imperative that the administration always side with freedom. The State Department didn't emphasize freedom. It emphasized feelings. How unfortunate it is that we send these mixed signals while simultaneously fighting a war in Iraq for the sake of freedom and democracy.
As an evangelical Christian, I am frequently offended by a culture that denigrates my beliefs. But the difference between me and some of the people offended by these newspaper cartoons is that I fight back with words and ideas rather than physical threats and violence. It is for this reason that I am asking you to publicly condemn the State Department's position rather than asking you to attack the State Department and take hostages.
In closing, let me just say that I cherish the right of anyone to offend my religious sensibilities because therein lies my right to share my religious beliefs, to say bad things about those who have offended me, and to speak out against the government in correspondence with my elected representative. I hope you'll take the State Department to task for its abject failure in this matter.
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