I thought I was going to be sick over the weekend, and it wasn’t because of the cheap draft beer I foolishly consumed after work on Friday.

My nausea was the result of the absurdity I encountered on television and in the print media.

On Saturday I watched a television news special featuring several small-time actors who said they were “duped” into participating in the anti-Islamic film that’s enraging so many thin-skinned zealots around the world.

Several of the actors begged for forgiveness and admitted they were terrified of being hunted and murdered by Muslim extremists.

Then I read a column from MLive's own Charles Honey, who nearly knocked me out of my chair by suggesting that our government needs to "deal firmly" with the people who made the film.

Stop it!

Stop apologizing to a bunch of violent freaks over your decision to exercise your First Amendment right to make a film about the topic of your choice.

And, for the love of Pete, stop volunteering to give away our cherished constitutional rights. Once the government takes away one person’s freedom of expression, we all could lose that precious right.

Neither the United States, nor any of its people, can be blamed for the current controversy that has hundreds of thousands around the world screaming, threatening and making fools of themselves.

A very tiny group of Americans made a 14-minute movie insulting the Muslim’s favorite prophet. Does that give the Muslims a legitimate excuse to riot, murder people and condemn entire nations?

Can you imagine American Christians reacting the same way every time their faith, or Jesus Christ himself, were publicly insulted? They would be rioting around the clock, 365 days per year.

Those running Hollywood crank out hundreds of movies and television shows every year making fun of Jesus and belittling those who follow his teachings. Barack Obama made headlines four years ago by suggesting that Christians are ignorant people who cling to their guns and Bibles.

Yet most Christians are mature and secure enough to ignore these taunts. They believe in their God, and their faith is not shaken because someone else doesn’t.

In short, American Christians understand the concept, “sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me.” They also understand that all people have a right to an opinion.

Why can’t Muslims around the world grasp that simple third-grade concept?

I guess I don’t blame the actors who participated in the film for being a little frightened. The British author Salmon Rushdie still has to keep a low profile several decades after the publication of his anti-Muslim novel “The Satanic Verses.”

Obama should publicly draw a hardline when it comes to the safety of our citizens, regardless of the types of movies they make. He should let it be known that any further act of violence toward Americans, supposedly provoked by this movie, would be met with military response that the nations of the Middle East will never forget.

The only thing crazier than terrorists is the idea of living in fear of them.

But I cannot comprehend the words of Honey, the MLive columnist, who suggested that the federal government should punish the filmmakers for exercising their First Amendment rights.

“I don’t know what our government can do about the fanatics abroad, but they need to deal firmly with these jokers at home,” Honey wrote. “Freedom of speech doesn’t give people the right to endanger American lives and security without consequences. Officials also need a serious sit down with Google, which owns YouTube, about its hate-speech guidelines.”

I think somebody needs to have a serious sit down with Honey to explain the U.S. Constitution. Our government has no right to tell anyone what message they can convey through the spoken or written word. We can never surrender our precious First Amendment rights just because some foreign bullies don’t believe in free speech and threaten violence when we practice it.

Mr. Honey, if you invite the government to “deal firmly” with the makers of this movie, where does it end?

Gay people could ask the government to deal firmly with those who oppose gay marriage because it offends them. Christians could ask the government to deal firmly with atheists who question religion because it offends them. Poor people could ask the government to deal firmly with conservatives who criticize food stamps because it offends them.

I could ask the government to deal firmly with Charles Honey because his columns offend me.

Pretty soon nobody will have the right to say or write anything at all, because someone will always be offended. At that point, we would cease to be America.

We cannot live in fear because a bunch of crazed zealots are rioting overseas. We cannot start denying each other our fundamental rights because a bunch of Middle Eastern bullies are putting bounties on our heads.

It’s amazing that anyone would consider such a thought, particularly a journalist like Mr. Honey, who makes his living by freely expressing his views.

Steve Gunn, a former Chronicle staff writer, is the communications director of Education Action Group. Write: Muskegon Chronicle, 379 W. Western, Suite 100, Muskegon, MI 49443.



