Everyone knows the meme. A few years back it was popular to declare that if you didn’t get your way, that the terrorists would win. I used it several times myself to make fun of the “fighting them over there so we don’t fight them at home” But with yesterday’s news of yet another shooting at a draw Mohammad “free speech” event, perhaps we need to ask the question again, but seriously this time.

We are a little less than two weeks away from the next “National Draw Mohammad Day.” I have never been a part of it, and I won’t start now. But, how many people who participated in the past are willing to do it again? And how much of that is due to fear?

Now more than ever, we need to stand on the side of liberty, especially for those with whom we vehemently disagree.

Likewise, as I wrote about the hypocritical and cowardly news coverage of Charlie Hebdo, we need to demand our media outlets use the same standards when covering these stories.

As humor often does, this classic, and prophetic, South Park scene drives the point home perfectly.

Addendum: Ironically, since this post was published, the above video has been blocked by Viacom. This, of course, is fully within their rights, however, it was available on YouTube for nearly five years.

To get the gist of the clip, you can read about it on Wikipedia. Here is an excerpt:

Kyle: That’s because there is no goo, Mr. Cruise. You see, I learned something today. Throughout this whole ordeal, we’ve all wanted to show things that we weren’t allowed to show, but it wasn’t because of some magic goo. It was because of the magical power of threatening people with violence. That’s obviously the only true power. If there’s anything we’ve all learned, it’s that terrorizing people works. Jesus: That’s right. Don’t you see, gingers, if you don’t want to be made fun of anymore, all you need are guns and bombs to get people to stop. Santa: That’s right, friends. All you need to do is instill fear and be willing to hurt people and you can get whatever you want. The only true power is violence.

Brother Richard

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