Nor should it.

Make better use of your time than trying to silence your enemies through dubious means.

As americans we have the right to say all kinds of ugly things about all kinds of things and that is the way I LIKE it.

Isn't like yelling fire in a movie theater?

And people in a theater on the other side of the world attacked an embassy.


Not a lawyer either, but no, the nitwit didn't incite anyone. Some nutcases in another country freaked out.

Yelling fire in a crowded theater is an act that is demonstrably only intended to cause panic and problems.

Opinions about a religion, or a video offensive to a religion, are not nearly the same thing.

And in fact if we start charging people because their speech made other people react violently in an irrational manner all we do is encourage more people to react that way to try and shut people up.

Terry Jones considers Islam to be a bad thing and he states his rationale. It doesn't matter if we find his statements to be false or offensive. Freedom of speech isn't designed to protect the popular. Desegregation was once very unpopular. Gay rights were once very unpopular. To silence the Other is to silence our own.

People claiming to be adherents of Islam don't get a free pass on acting violently; they are, at the end of the day, responsible for their own actions. They have every right to feel offended but that does not grant them license to bring machines guns and mortars to destroy human life.

Many people believe the Iraq war was justified because they believe terrorism is an existential threat. When anti-war protesters claim Bush's actions were tantamount to war crimes saying as much is not an excuse for those who support the war to claim that is an incitement to violence nor should it be used to legally indict those who made the offending remarks if there were a violent backlash.

The video was made with the intent purpose of pissing people off. In Brandenburg v. Ohio (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandenburg_v._Ohio), the court held that government cannot punish inflammatory speech unless that speech is directed to inciting, and is likely to incite, imminent lawless action. Ergo, if the speech WAS directed to inciting imminent lawless action - such as worldwide riots - the government CAN punish it.

But, if laws would be made against this kind of thing regarding the Islam religion, then I think it should also be applied to, and protect other religions such as Christianity...its only fair.

Here in the United States not so much.

I love the First Amendment warts and all

as it is on the right.

There is no heckler's veto on speech in this country. Americans cannot be subjected to government enforced censorship to possibly prevent others from acting in an unreasonable and uncivilized manner.

Many could really use a seminar on the First Amendment.