the freedom to offendvirtute non vi

Let's be clear. The U.S. invasion of Iraq was illegal, the United States was the world's greatest financial sponsor of the Taliban—in the name of the war on drugs, and Jimmy Carter himself allowed the CIA to tacitly approve of the Shah's torture rooms. Denmark itself was also complicit in the invasion of Iraq.

However, the fact that the "West" is guilty of crimes against Muslims does not invalidate the first principles of our democracies. If Danish Muslims do not want to live under Western values, no one in the West does or should keep them from emigrating to a country whose norms they find more amenable. In fact, is that not what their grandparents, parents, or the immigrants themselves did? If they are forced to choose between a society with whose values they disagree or a society whose economic opportunities are limited, then, rather than being forced to make a rampantly unfair decision, they are faced with a difficult choice just as all humans are.

Every day that I wake up, I listen to NPR, and I hear how George W. Bush has committed some sacrilege against what I perceive to be my most deeply held values. I choose to maintain my citizenship in this nation although I find myself reacting with violent disgust to some aspects of the culture into which I was born. By maintaining my citizenship, I also tacitly agree to renounce acts of violence against my fellow citizens or guests in my country. If I were to destroy private property or, worse, commit violence against a fellow human being, I would have abrogated my responsibility as a citizen, and should expect to have the privileges of that citizenship curtailed or revoked. Nothing gives me the right to inflict harm or damage upon my fellow citizens, our guests, or their property.

Wherever you go, there you are. One must live peacefully in one's world, wherever or whatever that is. Living peacefully in that world does not mean simply accepting its flaws but being the positive change that one seeks. If one wants to live in a world without blasphemy, one should not blaspheme the values of another. If one wants to live in a world with freedom of speech, one should listen carefully to what others have to say. If one wants to live in a world without autocracy, one should not act as an autocrat. If one wants to live in a world with justice, one should deal justly with one's neighbors. If one wants to live in a world which honors God in all things, one should honor God in all things.

I hope that Westerners do not cease to defend the freedom of the press against those who would dictate the rules of a society in which they do not live. I hope that Muslims do not cease to honor God by living peacefully with each other and their neighbors. If extremism in the defense of God or liberty is the only way, then there is no virtue left. The freedom to offend with words is vital to moderation, because it offers an opportunity for the offense to be made without weapons that tear flesh from bone and children from their parents.

If we truly believe that the Word of God is living and active, then we do not need to put our trust in bombs, mayhem, martyrdom, or death.