Is Freedom of Expression Civilized?

Maybe someone is wondering why "freedom of expression" is such a big issue in the West. It's being treated like the crown jewel of Western civilisation and put on a pedestal above everything else like the finest of the finest.

Does that mean that Freedom of Expression is civilized?

Oh no, not at all! It's the most dirty and filthy part of a working democracy. It's a shotgun put in the hands of the most savage members of the society. They will use it to expose any matter or person, just to get the attention of their fellow citizens.

But how can you accept it?

We accept it for one simple reason: it's the most efficient tool for keeping those in power from abusing their privileges and get away with it. Even if our leaders are democratically elected we don't trust them a bit. We need someone to watch them day and night. Someone who will not keep quiet even if the mightiest ruler is caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

This is bogus, you don't really need it!

Don't forget that Europe has a tradition for growing powerful dictators with millions and millions of innocent people killed as a consequence. Think of Mussolini, Franco, Hitler and Stalin just to mention some of the worst examples of a dark era only 60 years ago. Believe me - we need it.

Why are the Danes guilty?

The Muhammed cartoons were published by an independent danish newspaper in September 2005 and were largely unnoticed in Denmark until early this year. In Denmark we have freedom of expression by constitution and the newspaper excercised their right to express themselves on a matter, they regarded as important in a way they thought suitable. Nobody outside the newspaper were asked in advance: not the government, not the police, not the courts and certainly not the danish population. I guess this is standard practice for any independent newspaper in the Western world.

So are the Danes collectively guilty anyway?
Certainly yes.

What crime did they commit?
Many years ago they (or rather their grandparents or great-grandparents) agreed on a Constitution that allows this to happen. And since then the Danes have been voting for members of parliament, that did nothing to remove or effectively restrict this fundamental right.

What about the Prime Minister, is he guilty too?
As a fellow Dane: "Yes". As the Prime Minister: "No". Had he attempted to interfere, he would be out of office before counting to three.

Is it possible for the Danes to change the law?
Yes. Provided a majority of the danes wanted to restrict the freedom of expression, they could elect members of parliament, that supported this issue.

Is that likely to happen in the near future?
No, none of the parties in the parliament support this issue at the moment. Not even the majority of the 200000 Danes, that are muslims support this issue, as far as I know.

What is it all about?

The purpose of this blog is to find out whether the Muhammed cartoon incident is evidence of an emerging "War of Values" as the blog title indicates.

The current situation is blurred by mutual misunderstandings, regional opportunists taking advantage of the situation, lack of politeness from all parties combined with oversensitiveness to negative exposure. Any peaceful soul hopes that by clearing the misunderstandings, we'll return to a state of understanding, where the muslim and the western worlds co-exist peacefully side by side.

I fear that this is nothing but an illusion. Behind the current crisis lurks a much larger source of future conflicts. A fundamental battle between the values of the West and the values of the Muslims is emerging. This is not new to the muslim demonstrators on the streets these days, who display signs about WW3 and their readiness to die for the prophet. But to the west this is a wake-up-call.

Any comments are warmly welcome.