Freedom of Speech vs. "Responsible" Speech.

As you may know I have had a little tussle with myself over the publishing of the Mohd Cartoons here.

When I settled the question for myself and finally published my favorite of the Dirty Dozen I received the following comment:
Zokay M.A.! It is an important principle

Yes, indeed, Freedom of Speech is an important principle in a liberal society. I have never denied that or tried to minimize its importance. We all know that liberal societies must be populated with self-governing entities or the society quickly degenerates into mob rule. That is even though we are at liberty to do or say something does not then mean we should do or say something.

We all know that freedom of speech has exceptions. The most commonly cited is "yelling fire, in a crowded theater" of course if you libel or slander someone you may be penalized for that speech and then we have the "fighting words" exception (an informal exception). Go to a black bar and drop the N bomb and see what happens.

Also, plain old politeness often curtails what we may want to say.

What I was trying to sort out in my Mohd Cartoons or No? blog was if publishing the photos was actually more than pushing someone's button. In the end I concluded it was indeed more than a simple button push.