sorry, No he was not correct in his choice is what it should say. sorry.

Love that last line.

Your freedoms aren't just dictated by others overseas, they're dictated by how they affect other people. Your rights end where another person's nose begins.

Just because we have the freedom to do whatever we wish, doesn't mean we should exercise that freedom. It also doesn't free us of taking on criticism based on the choices we make in exercising that freedom.

That's very true. But in all reality, that very criticism is another freedom. I have the right to say I don't like what happened, or the judgements that were made, but I do respect the right for the person making them. If we, as a people, start to take away just 1 thing, then we have set ourselves up for a fall. I may not like others judgements, but I do respect their right to make them. It is a right given to the people of this nation by all the ones who suffered and died for us to enjoy those freedoms. The major part I disagree with is that my freedoms should not be controlled by people overseas. If they honor "our" Constitution and abide by it, then I could see them printing their disagreements with what happened. But, to take a life that wasn't endangering anyone else is an act of barbarism. To say I have to respect that and change the freedoms here to accommodate that is one thing I will never agree to!

im wit you Markeagleone

I agree. It's one thing to be critisized for religious beliefs, nationalities, etc., but when our citizens are threatened or killed, I believe that to be an act of war-as well as an act against humanity. It falls back to the old rhyme-Sticks and stones can break our bones, but names will never harm us. Are we dealing with children in adult skin? Honestly, I am a christian and I have done a lot of research. Many people worship the big, red guy, and although they make a mockery of my own personal beliefs, it is their right to do so, and I would defend that right with my life. Honestly, what the hell happened to this country? We go after a guy that exercised his freedom to appease a group that killed our citizens. I think if our forefathers were here today, they would be in tears as to what we made of their ideal country.

If our government thinks that throwing out the Constitution to appease a group of barbarians is right, then our leaders have failed us. Every citizen in this great nation is gold. Anyone that threatens that, should be dealt with swiftly and harshly.

sorry, not meant to look that way.

terrorist kill because that is what they do. They killed the UN workers because they were westerner's, and used the pastor as an excuse for their actions.

thank you for your service!

No, the government has no business publicly condemning a citizen for exercising free speech as long as no laws were broken in exercising the free speech. However, society can and will and SHOULD be able to freely criticize divisive statements and attitudes. So, while it is fine to have a public backlash against divisive speech and behavior, the government needs to stay out of it unless the rights of another party are *directly* violated by the person supposedly exercising his or her rights.

I don't AT ALL agree with what the pastor did and find it extremely disrespectful, distasteful, and unnecessary. But the reason I believe the government should stay out of it is because the government cannot legislate morality and still preserve the freedoms of a wide variety of people who hold different belief systems.

If the government did try to legislate morality, whose morality should we choose to dictate to everyone else? If the government condemns one act of free speech because it offends people, then the government should condemn any act of free speech that offends another group of people. And we definitely should not kowtow and capitulate to those who would murder innocent people just because they're, like, pissed off, ya know? If anger over someone else's actions and words can be taken seriously as a legitimate justification of murder, there would not be ANY semblance of civilization.

Holding the pastor guilty of the actions of a third party is unreasonable. We are EACH responsible for our own actions. We cannot be held responsible for anyone else's. The pastor is responsible for burning a book that is sacred to a specific group of people and uttering inflammatory speech. His actions and words were offensive to many people. But being offended by someone else's behavior is never, never, NEVER justification for harming another person, let alone taking another person's life. The terrorists are responsible for freely choosing to take innocent lives in response to their anger. It is the terrorists and the terrorists alone who have blood on their hands. I don't buy into this "but you pissed me off so much that I just HAD to do this" crap. That is the mindset of those who blame rape victims and those who routinely engage in domestic violence. Their actions are never their own responsibility; there is always someone else to blame for their freely-chosen actions.

Do we want the government to start condemning all acts of free speech? I can guarantee you that no matter what it is being demonstrated, there will be someone who deems their beliefs and actions to be immoral and distasteful.

That said, I want to emphasize that I understand that we do not live in a vacuum. I strongly believe we should accept that our statements and actions can and do hurt others and thus make a concentrated effort to be more respectful. I have always believed in the importance of being respectful to others REGARDLESS of whether we receive respect in return. There is merit in being considerate to others simply because we want to be respectful people. But we can't make others be respectful in return. We just need to try to take the high road and do our best not to join those who offend us in the gutter.

Ditto this. And I agree with the points you've made, markeagleone.

Provoking a terrorist group is a pretty shitty thing to do, regardless. He should be brought up on charges. Set precedent. He KNEW what would happen. Had been warned a dozen times...did it anyway and now people are dead. The attack on the UN wouldn't have happened if it weren't for his actions.

You would also get arrested if you said "Bomb", on an airplane like on "The Fockers".