Paris Museum caves to Islamic threats over art.

[Norman Humann]

Well, since they came here they could have considered following the rules we have, at least.

Fair enough. I'm not sure what our rules are exactly.

Pope says expect a bloody nose if you insult my mother, or something like that. I am not a Pope fan but he may have a point. I think we try to avoid insulting people like that as a general rule, don't we? I mean...to avoid inducing a hostile, emotional reaction. That is what etiquette is all about, after all. Helps to stop us alienating others and getting into fights.

So what is the "rule" to apply when someone kicks someone else's sacred cow? I imagine to a devout religious person their god is just like a close family member or even more revered.

Just curious where to draw the line? In what circumstance does knowingly inducing a hostile emotional reaction in others become acceptable and in what circumstances is it not acceptable?

BTW I am not talking about the law. The law is an ass. I'm talking about what is reasonable and empathetic.

By "the rules" I meant mostly free speech, I could've phrased that better.

In my personal opinion, it's the line between a hate crime and just satire. There's a thread about it already.

Making fun of someone's beliefs is OK, IMO. Saying that they should die or personally attacking them is not.

It's the believer's problem if he takes himself so seriously as to murder people for poking fun at his beliefs. That shows a disturbing insecurity about it. We make fun of everyone. It's how it works. As long as it's jokes and not some crazy fascist ideology, I don't see the problem.

My point is, there is a difference between insulting someone's mother and satirizing their beliefs. We make fun of politicians, but you don't see anyone going nuts and murdering people over it, do you? Believers seem to take their imaginary friends too seriously.