Where do people think they get the right not to be offended? Why do Muslims think they have the right to riot and murder because their "feelings have been hurt." I don't agree with insulting the faiths of others even when I disagree with them as much as I do with Mormonism and Mohammedism. But, NO ONE has the right to attack another because of their exercise of free speech.

Except for the immorality portrayed, one of my favorite movies is The American President with Michael Douglas. Near the end of the movie, the President makes an impromptu address at a press conference. In that address he says, 

“(The ACLU) is an organization whose sole purpose is to defend the Bill of Rights, so it naturally begs the question: Why would a senator, his party's most powerful spokesman and a candidate for President, choose to reject upholding the Constitution? If you can answer that question, folks, then you're smarter than I am, because I didn't understand it until a few hours ago. America isn't easy. America is advanced citizenship. You gotta want it bad, 'cause it's gonna put up a fight. It's gonna say ‘You want free speech?’ Let's see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil, who's standing center stage and advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours. You want to claim this land as the land of the free? Then the symbol of your country can't just be a flag; the symbol also has to be one of its citizens exercising his right to burn that flag in protest. Show me that, defend that, celebrate that in your classrooms. Then, you can stand up and sing about the ‘land of the free.”

Some of you will decry the ACLU, and some of the things they stand for I abhor, but if you are for free speech, you can’t be selective. And, make no mistake about it, this argument about the Muslim violence is about free speech. A Muslim can revere Mohammad and no one has the right to tell them not to, but a Muslim does not have the right to tell anyone else that they must not offend Muslims by saying something negative about Mohammad.  

We are for free speech or we are not. If Muslims are going to join the rest of the world, they must embrace free speech for without it you have the worst tyranny in the world, you have tyranny of the mind; without free speech, you have the worst form of slavery, you have the slavery of the mind.

My experience with Muslim intorance came in 2006. I sent the following letter to our local newspaper in support of a U.S. Congressan’s right to take his oath of office upon the Koran. The letter said:

December 4, 2006

Letters to the Editor
Beaumont Enterprise

“Democrat Keith Ellison’s announcement that he will take his Congressional oath of office on the Koran has caused one group to call for a law making the Bible the book used in the swearing-in ceremony of Representatives and Senators. Others have argued that this is evidence that Muslims are gaining too much influence in the United States.

“I believe the Bible is truth; I believe the Koran is not. I believe that Christ is God and that His teachings are the ‘way to peace with God.’ I believe that Muhammad did not teach truth. However, it is not possible to legislate belief. If Christians are intimidated by a Muslim taking an oath on the Koran because they believe this undermines the strength or vitality of their faith, they are suggesting that Christianity and Islam are just competing ideas rather than truth confronting error. If Christianity is truth, then it needs no legislative protection; if the teachings of Christ are truth that will be demonstrated by the lives of those who profess Christianity.  

“Some Middle Eastern countries are called ‘Islamic Republics.’ The United States is a democratic republic, not a ‘Christian republic.’ The great strength of our nation is freedom. Tragically, freedom brings with it excesses; the solution is not limitation of freedom but the free exercise of faith and ideas. If Islam is increasing its influence is America, it is because of the failure of Christians to demonstrate the power of their faith in their daily lives.

“Let Mr. Ellison take his oath of office on the Koran, perhaps he will be more ethical and honest than many who have taken the oath on the Bible, while their subsequent actions demonstrate they do not believe nor practice its teachings.”  

It was six months before I discovered that the entire local Muslim community was offended by my letter. They did not attack me nor confront me but one used this as a pretext to leave my practice and attempted to take others with him. He failed not only in trying to hurt my practice but he failed in establishing another group practice to compete with us. But, one of his excuses was his offense at my comment.

I was shocked. I had written a letter to support Muslims’ right to participate fully in our society. To show the validity of my position, I declare that which is the truth, I am not a Muslim. I thought this would give more credibility to my support but they saw it as an insult to their prophet. Nothing was farther from my mind but that is how deeply this claim to have the right not to be offended goes.

These riots have nothing to do about a film. They have everything to do opposition to the freedom of speech. Muslims need to practice their faith without trying to force others under the threat of violence to conduct themselves the way Muslims wish for them to. This is serious and we must not compromise on our freedoms.

We must give Muslims freedom in America but they cannot demand that we compromise our freedoms in return.