Jon Stewart's response to those who threaten freedom of expression-

(Skip to 6:52 to get to the real meat & potatoes)

South Park Death Threats

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For tolerance,

Should we be forced to be tolerant? Or is it just socially acceptable?
What do you think of when you see this picture? Do you automatically assume that the man holding the scimitar is a Muslim extremist? Maybe it's a tolerance extremist?

http://www.jewishworldreview.com/images/islam_tolerance.jpg

Offensive?

So, where's the line drawn in what's offensive overall, and what's acceptable? And who gets to draw that line?

http://www.bibleprobe.com/cartoon-muslim2.gif

What's in it for them?

And you'd have to figure that eventually,

http://www.caglecartoons.com/viewimage.asp?ID={AE4EFDC2-90E1-4021-8663-62027EFC51FA}
http://www.smashtheman.com/smash/Uploads/image/MuslimCartoonAnger12.gif

You never know who you might offend, but should that keep you from speaking your mind?

http://www.caglecartoons.com/viewimage.asp?ID={1B397433-1CBC-4ADF-A9A3-0F1237BB778F}

More Radical

Is it ever obvious?

Are all extremists this extreme? Of course not. But we tend to view them as such, and we also have a skewed view of the majority, and this cartoon shows that the Islam faith as a whole is peaceful, just like the Christian faith is peaceful, but there are violent sects. Case in point:

http://www.adamzyglis.com/images/cartoon258.jpg
http://www.caglecartoons.com/viewimage.asp?ID={61CE7320-DDE6-4252-8901-87EC30FE12BC}

Seeing different prospectives

Not so much to do with the Muhammad issue, but this cartoon depicts our inability to describe something from different perspectives, much like the Freedom Fighter/Terrorist cartoon.
http://www.orthocuban.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/Israeli-Palestinian-quiz.gif

A difference?

In the United States, we view those extremist groups solely as terrorists, but if we flip that coin over, do they become freedom fighters who are being honorable in fighting to keep their faith?

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20061112/edit1.jpg

Example:

In 2001, Comedy Central aired an episode of the popular cartoon program South Park featuring leaders of every major religious denomination- Jesus, Buddha, Joseph Smith, Krishna, Lao Tzu, Moses, and Muhammad.

Comedy Central aired the episode, the audience laughed, and that was that. No death threats against the creators or the network, no Muslim extremist group blowing up embassies, no major ramifications really at all.

Fast forward to 2006, shortly after the Danish cartoons were published, South Park created another episode about another network showing Muhammad on TV. Their sarcastic solution?

Cartoon Wars Part I
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The image of Muhammad in this episode was censored. Think about it- It was fine in 2001, no one even had a second thought about it. 5 years later, it's not ok to say what you want to say anymore? I'm positive the Bill of Rights still applies today, so there should be no encroachment on our freedom of speech. Isn't the point of freedom of speech that we can say what we want to say? Besides, Muslims are the ones who shouldn't be showing Muhammad. What was shown instead of the prophet Muhammad when that part of the episode came up?

Where does this leave our freedom of speech? And what does this mean for Comedy Central?

http://angrypatrons.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/sp-s10e04-censor.jpg
http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/155214/heads-in-sand

http://southparkstudios-intl.mtvnimages.com/shared/sps/media/images/504/episode_guide.gif?width=400
http://www.caglecartoons.com/viewimage.asp?ID={16AC26A8-0CC4-4322-A555-A054502C61D2}

What could this impact?

http://www.cagle.com/news/blog/BLOGgifs/Mana/TabIllustration.gif

Colbert's Take

The Word - Kidding

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From the very beginning,

http://imgs.sfgate.com/c/pictures/2007/03/11/in_cartoon_1.jpg

To start it off...

In September, 2005, a Danish newspaper- Jyllands Posten- published 12 editorial cartoons, most featuring the Muslim Prophet Muhammad. The cartoons were reprinted in over 50 countries around the world, and Chaos ensued, with the nation of Islam (in particular, the extremists) threatening violence and death against the cartoonists and the newspaper as a whole.
The Islam world recognizes their prophet as someone who can be described written and orally, but Muslims have been explicitly prohibited from creating visual depictions of him.

http://flapsblog.com/wp-content/uploads/Mohammed-Cartoon-Bomb.jpg