Following the Pope's example where you say he is wrong...... if someone says your mother is an idiot for raising a son like you whose disregard even for her own religion simply reflects the kind of mother she is.... you would be ok with that?
No, I wouldn't be okay with that, but I don't know about you,
but the thought of killing the person who says that will never enter my head.. I could ignore him or curse him out or yell at him but killing? I think not.
I think a lot of posters here are either deliberately misconstruing my words, twisting it out around, playing dumb or don't read what I write. I never said that people should be okay with people verbally abusing them, I never said people should be okay if they felt offended or insulted by someone. I never said that. All I said was:
Free speech should NEVER be legally curtailed and killing/violence is never justified for any reason whatsoever.
I say the Pope is wrong because once you start saying things like "well, you shouldn't insult a person's faith, etc." that sort of gives the murderers a justification for their actions. Yes, I know that may not be his intention but it's sort of like saying it's the rape victim's fault for getting raped because she wore something provocative.
I'm also not saying if you are offended or were insulted by someone, that you should just shut up and grin and bear it. By all means, write angry letters, organize protests and boycotts, write something insulting back, ask their boss to fire them, sue them etc. Because that's YOUR right to free expression. What I object to is demanding that the government close down the publication/banning it/censoring it, imprisoning the people involved and of course MURDERING them. To me, that is where I draw the line.
