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regarding freedom of speech...

Reader comment on item: Did It Change Us? 9/11, Five Years Later
in response to reader comment: donvan

Submitted by donvan (United States), Nov 20, 2006 at 16:53

Ahmed, my friend, if the exercise of your freedom offends me, that is not your problem. I have the choice of being offended or not. If you do not exercise your freedom because you are concerned that you may offend, then I have taken your freedoms from you. You are given certain rights, Americans believe, which cannot be taken away from you, because they are given to all men (and women) by your creator.

If I offend you by saying Muhammed was a demented nut job, who was no more a prophet than you or anyone else, and if you were to be offended, thats not my problem. I, and you, have what we call "Protected Speech" which means that I could not care less if you are offended, nor should you care If I were offended. Simply choose not to be offended.

The notion that we should not publish a cartoon of Muhammed because it may offend someone is offensive to the freedoms all people have. I cannot offend anyone, only the individual can offend themselves.So, if I say all Muslims are moon bats that worship the moon and have the intellect of a flea, why should that offend you? After all, its only words. Jihad, now that's offensive. Killing people in the name of some whacked out god, that could not care less, is the greatest offense there can be.

Best wishes and free yourself from the prison of "Being Offended" be happy, offend someone....

Submitting....

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".

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Reader comments (7) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
easy answer [37 words]ahmadzafireNov 14, 2006 20:1966142
did it change us.... [160 words]DonvanNov 16, 2006 16:5166142
Donvan [88 words]ahmadzafireNov 17, 2006 00:0166142
obfuscation [194 words]donvanNov 19, 2006 11:5866142
donvan [301 words]ahmadzafireNov 19, 2006 19:2966142
regarding freedom of speech... [247 words]donvanNov 20, 2006 16:5366142
donvan [31 words]ahmadzafireNov 21, 2006 21:5266142

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Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".

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