When I read yesterday’s letters to the editor, I was astonished to find two letters supporting the Danish cartoons of Muhammad on the basis of free press (“Cartoon reaction symbolic of Muslim radicalism” and “Outrage toward cartoon is hypocritical,” Feb. 7, p. 6). Then the Muslims who are outraged by this are either labeled as extremists or are hypocrites on free press. Well, it is blasphemy to make any depictions of Allah and the Prophet. I cannot see how the Muslims should not be outraged when their holiest man is made a fool of, and it is against their religion. Also, I have no doubt that if a similar situation happened in America then conservative Christians would have protested as well. Now about free press, it is a right, but there are also some responsibilities attached. A newspaper cannot just publish whatever it wants without some consideration of the consequences and the appropriateness of the subject. I mean, no one here would be trying to defend the New York Times if it published a racist cartoon on blacks, Latinos or Asians. The Danish cartoons fit into this category.

Hua Wen CAS ’09