H 23°, L 4° | Tomorrow: 
H 21°, L 6°Eight days ago, this editorial board elected to publish one of the 12 Danish cartoons that have sparked deadly riots around the world. For those who have become interested in the topic but did not see our original publication, we encourage you to read the editorial that accompanied the cartoon in last Monday's newspaper. It is available online in The Badger Herald's digital archives. We went to great lengths to explain our rationale in that piece and it is an argument we continue to stand behind.
Much of the claim we have made centers around a notion of free speech and respect for the marketplace of ideas. Those very qualities will hopefully be on display tonight at a 7 p.m. panel discussion entitled "Free Speech, Civility and the Impact in Campus Climate." The debate will be held at 272 Bascom Hall, and whether you agree with this board's decision, disagree or remain undecided, we strongly encourage you to attend. This is a topic that has come to shape much of both the international and local discourse and one in which we believe any conscious member of the community to have a vested interest.
Tonight's panel will be comprised of both student and professional journalists, campus professors and members of the Muslim community. Interim Dean of Students Lori Berquam will be the evening's moderator, and audience participation will be encouraged. We firmly hope this will prove a healthy, dignified exchange of ideas and the very sort of intellectual contemplation for which college campuses ought to be respected.
In that tradition, it is our firm hope that discourse can and will remain civil. Part of a free society is tolerating ideas with which you do not necessarily agree — the First Amendment is conditioned upon a fundamental premise that in a completely open marketplace of ideas, superior thoughts will always defeat inferior thoughts and, ergo, censorship need not be applied. So please bring an open mind eager to engage in sifting and winnowing.
It is, after all, with the aid of those qualities "by which alone the truth can be found."
IP hash: 575b09e0
“Part of a free society is tolerating ideas with which you do not necessarily agree”
This is obviously not in accord with Islam. You must submit to the laws of Islam no matter where you are or what your faith. Islam can not tolerate ideas forbidden by Sharia!
You must be racist if you disagree.
IP hash: 745cf098
"by which alone the truth can be found."
It will be interesting to see if any truth can be found in the face of Islam’s total intolerance for any ideas forbidden by sharia law.
IP hash: 246eb5b3
Have I missed what race has to do with religion?
IP hash: 97570a95
Although the First Amendment should never be abridged, there are certain, common considerations that any free society must respect. To deliberately inflame an already agitated religious community, in the name of free speech, is tantamount to yellling “fire” in a crowded theatre. To what purpose is the publication of offensive cartoons contributing to the welfare of the world? Not respecting the beliefs of all of our world citizens, is not only insulting, but ignorant, childish, and a provocation, equalling a “dare.”
IP hash: 729c3019
The riots by Muslims have created the necessity that the cartoon be published. It is ridiculous that elsewhere the debate about the riots, who’s to blame, rages without even manufacturing what the ruckus is about because of self-censorship. Sadly the uncivilized display by Muslims worldwide further stains their religion as extremist rather than peaceful as some falsely attempt to argue. But terrorism, and the vast support for it in the Muslim world, aren’t about civilization anyway — it’s about oppression, just as are the demands that the cartoons can’t be published. All of us suffer within this modern and media technological world the slighting of our beliefs and values. We do not all take to the streets killing other to express our outrage.
IP hash: 431db898
If Allah wanted the allegedly naughty cartoonists to be punished, He would do so immediately. The impotence of man-created Gods speaks volumes.