Now, children, dismemberment never solved anything

While the Bush administration is trying to have it both ways by supporting Muslims offended by cartoons published in a Danish newspaper blasphemously depicting their prophet and also supporting the freedom of speech and press of the countries that printed them, I'm going to, as usual, be a vile infidel.

I'm tired of hearing people trying to turn this "Islamophobia" thing into some kind of crude, arrogant bigotry based on race or ethnicity and lacking any sense of cultural empathy.

Actually, it's because Islam's vocal representatives are violent, scary, irrational religious fanatics who appear to be set on starting up a global holy war, and see setting embassies on fire and demonstrating holding signs warning Europe "their" Sept. 11 is on the way as viable responses to insensitive cartoons.

If you're offended by something, that's your right, and you have a right to respond. But you don't do anything to help your own image as rational beings deserving of respect and understanding when you respond with things like this:

"We will not accept less than severing the heads of those responsible," one preacher at Al Omari mosque in Gaza told worshipers during Friday Prayer, according to Reuters. Other demonstrators called for amputating the hands of the cartoonists who drew the pictures.

I don't care which sect they belong to, religious fanatics are fucking terrifying. But at least many of them just tell you you're going to Hell if you offend them–they don't brandish weaponry and threaten to immediately send you and there.

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Addendum: Not just religious extremists are scary

My mother informed me she heard on the radio that the wife of one of the two Democratic legislators who changed his support of the concealed carry bill and helped uphold the governor's veto in the state Assembly has received two telephoned death threats.

Yes, from the same people who seek to persuade us that we should let them carry concealed weapons. Charming.