My 2 cents on the Danish cartoons

It's such a prickly subject. I have an opinion, but sometimes it's hard to give voice to your opinion in an articulate manner. I could spend some time trying to organize my thoughts, but I don't really want to give this too much attention. Enough that it's been picked up by major news organizations around the world. Enough that leaders of countries have to make statements about this.

However, I'd like to point here, because it captures the essence of my own opinion.

Two quotes:

No one doubts that the press should be free to satirize. But freedom of the press cannot excuse the promotion of noxious stereotypes.

(...)

Of course, the sad irony is that the Muslims who have resorted to violence in response to this offense are merely reaffirming the stereotypes advanced by the cartoons. Likewise, the Europeans who point to the Muslim reaction as proof that, in the words of the popular Dutch blogger Mike Tidmus, "Islam probably has no place in Europe," have reaffirmed the stereotype of Europeans as aggressively anti-Islamic.