that cartoons back

[billy]

No, no, no, I'm not saying that at all. I clearly said freedom of speech must be absolute. But if you are going to play with fire, and these cartoonist are, then they need to expect (not deserve) to get burned ...

Sorry, I misunderstood. That's a fair point.

i think out of all the debate the two points above are the two truisms that stand out above anything else.

i would add that i think the original cartoons were done, not out of derision, but out of a need for them to portray an aspect of society on more than one level. satire is i'm sure, not the only reasons cartoons are printed. one of the most famous (plantu) would make social statements on and about all levels and aspects of society but say's he would think of the consequences

and excerpt for an interview he did;

Is the cartoonist's job different in other countries?

Not in our heads. When a cartoonist sits down to think of an idea, I don't think it matters where he's from. If you looked inside our heads, you'd see the same cogs whirring round.

However, for example, I went to Qatar and spoke to an Al Jazeera cartoonist and I said to him: "Your drawings about Sharon, for example, or Bin Laden, are quite kind - don't you want to be more critical?" He said: "Yes, but my editor wouldn't want it.”

There is the fear of displeasing the editor, and the editor is afraid of displeasing a minister. If the minister is displeased the journalist will be gone. An Egyptian paper printed the Danish cartoons and the editor was jailed.

source:

i would like to add that i think all serious discussion should be treated the way this one was.