A recent exchange over here led me to think about the mindset of folks who think that an ideological dispute should be settled through a shooting or a punch in the mouth.
Our nation allows its citizens the right to express themselves pretty much anyway they like. There are of course some limits like rules about advocating the violent overthrow of the government, promoting assassination of our leaders, and running a crappy radio show (unfortunately not). Even in these instances though other citizens are not allowed to cross the line by beating up or committing violence upon folks who say or do things we disagree with.
If a protestor punches you then by all means tuck right into him or her. They gave up their right to peaceful existance once they violated yours. On the other hand just because he or she is desecrating a symbol of something you love you don't get to tuck into them or threaten them with death. Dictators do that folks. Not Americans.
Now there are some folks out there who disagree with this. They think that since they have a deep seated emotional attachment to a symbol or political position that they can do you physical harm. Theo Van Gogh ran into some of these guys just the other day. They were even kind enough to leave a note to the rest of us pinned by a knife into the man's flesh (after shooting him 8 times and slashing his throat). The not (in part) reads :
I know for sure that you, Oh America will go under;
I know for sure that you, Oh Europe, will go under;
I know for sure that you, Oh Holland, will go under;
I know for sure that you, Oh Hirsi Ali, will go under;
I know for sure that you, Oh unbelieving fundamentalist, will go under.
The murderer here was an Islamic Fundamentalist who used to belong to the same sect as Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi. When you advocate violence against others because they said or did something non-violent that you disagreed with you place yourself in this camp. You are known by the company you keep my fellow conservatives. Is this really the company you want?
Read the full translation left by Van Gogh's murderous religious whackjobs here.