BRANDED!

Now that the dust has begun to settle perhaps it is time for some serious commentary on this entire broo-ha-ha.

Anyone who frequents this site knows full well we neither tolerate racism nor promote anything resembling a "doctrine of hate". Opinions are expressed bluntly and with unabashed resolve here. Hypocrits and liars of all stripes are treated mercilously. We concentrate on the left because as the name implies, that's our purpose.

This feeble attempt by the government of India to maintain control will serve no purpose other than irritate their citizens and diminish their own stature. You would think the great minds in government would have learned by now that the best way to promote a righteous behavior is to prohibit it. I would venture to speculate that this blog has received more hits in two days from India than it would have likely had for it's entire tenure had it not been banned.

Granted,we are hard on Islam and rightly so as the vast majority of terrorist violence in the world is perpetrated by members of that group. If Southern Baptists were the ones doing the killing their treatment here would be no different. Untill the moderate Muslims of the world rise up and confront and castigate their radical bretheren, we will remain vigilant in our criticism. It doesn't mean we despise Islam or hate Muslims we don't. What it does mean it as long as a religious belief allows despicable acts to be carried out in their name, they're going to be called on it.

As a Christain I've been subjected to far greater insult. The symbol of my conviction (the cross) submerged in a vat of urine and the Holy Mother covered in feces all in the name of art. Did I rant at the art and rail against the artists? Absolutely, but never did I question their inherent right to produce it. There's not alot of grey area when it comes to free speech. Either you have it or you don't. Curtailing speech regardless of how seemingly insignificant and you will eventually destroy it. It's when a government begins to "expand" the meaning of yelling fire in a crowded theatre that one should begin to worry.

We have been branded by the government of India to be a threat to security. If something as benign and insignificant as this blog worries them, may(Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, Allah, God) help them.

PS-- Hat's off to Blogspot for not caving in to what was likely substantial pressure.

Update: One additional thought. After talking with a journalist from the San Jose Mercury News I neglected to say something to her so I'll say it here....

As a relatively young democracy India is going to have to come to grips with whether or not they are going to truly be democratic which entails embracing the foundation of any true democracy, free speech or rather be some sort of pseudo in name only democracy and cater to the sensibilities of various groups at the expense of liberty.

Even a democracy as old and well founded as ours occasionally struggles with this issue. Just look at the politically correct minions and patrols of thought police in our society who intermittently rear their ugly heads.

The" if we don't offend them they won't get mad and kill us" meme is a lie and it won't work, it never has. Sooner or later you are going to offend them and they are going to kill you. Better to aggressively battle that segment of your population from day one. Either stand firm in the name of preserving and protecting your freedoms and liberties or you will end up losing those freedoms and your life as well.

So which is it going to be, dhimmitude or democracy?

Mercury News article here.