Lose-Lose

A Swedish cartoonist was attacked while lecturing about freedom of speech at a university outside Stockholm. The cartoonist, Lars Vilks, had drawn a cartoon depicting Muhammad's face on the body of a dog. Approximately 20 people tried to attack him, and had to be protected by police. This YouTube video has the aftermath, showing police spraying pepper spray on a couple of people and subduing another by sitting on him.

Gawker.com's Hamilton Nolan has this priceless comment:

The fact that so many American media and academic institutions have caved into the imagined fear of such religious fascists is shameful. If the free societies of the world can't stand up for a person's right to draw a fucking cartoon without becoming the victim of a multinational assassination plot, well, we lose. And if people's faith in their god is not strong enough to allow them to laugh off and dismiss an offensive little drawing, they lose.

Agreed. We are a world with little control over our temper and no respect for free speech.

Hat tip: Sullivan