Freedom is not so free
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Your letter writers Tim Devlin and Horst Bullinger have a valid point when they bemoan the fact that the incredibly stupid and thoughtless act of an individual or small group in America has inflamed the sensibilities of Muslims throughout the world.
I do believe, though, that the reaction was misplaced and should have been directed specifically at the guilty party. Why have so many innocent people, including eight fellow South Africans killed in a suicide bombing in Kabul, had to pay for something that had nothing to do with them?
That said, why do people feel the need to ridicule the religions and gods of other people? Now a newspaper in France has entered the fray. Surely newspapers and journalists can find innumerable other things to keep their nimble fingers busy, especially when almost everyone in the world is aware of how the radical elements of Islam react to any slight against their religion and the Prophet Mohammed.
We talk about freedom of expression in the West, but with this freedom comes responsibility. If something we do or say causes death or harm directly or indirectly to people totally unconnected to us, we have seriously abused that freedom. To paraphrase another profession’s motto, “First do no harm.”
Joan D’Arcy
Bangkok
