Europe claims to champion the freedom of speech.The Prophet cartoons were published in the same spirit. I very much supported their publication as i subscribe to the " i disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." school of thought widely articulated by Voltaire.People can protest, they can boycott goods but no one should be allowed to use violence to silence their critics, nor should governments choose to ban works(books, paintings, movies etc) on the pretext that they offend someone's sensibilities.
But as we have it today Europe's worship of free speech is only when it suits it.Two examples to expose this.Holocaust denial is a crime in Germany,Austria & probably some other european countries.If one denies the holocaust in lectures,writings or movies he/she could be imprisioned.Even giving allowance to the special impact of holocaust on the psyche of these countries, this attack on freedom of speech cannot be condoned.
Second & more interesting is the recent Europe tour of Madonna. She has an act in the show where she she is seen hanging from a cross. Vatican & other religious groups have asked for her ex-communication from the religion. So far so good. The German government has gone one step too far. They plan to monitor her event in Germany to see if they have to prosecute her under a law which makes "offending religious sensibilities" a crime.(http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4797151.stm) Important thing is there exists such a law & the prosecutors have chosen to think of this law only when Christian sensibilities seem to be affected. These were the same governments which waxed eloquent about European values of freedom etc during the Prophet cartoon controversy.
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