"And really, self-censorship is a practical stance, if not a principled one." No, it's neither a practical nor principled stance. It's an act of cowardice, and

"And really, self-censorship is a practical stance, if not a principled one." No, it's neither a practical nor principled stance. It's an act of cowardice, and it's self-destructive. If we want to win the so-called "war on terror" (god I hate that term), then we need to stop being so terrified. The real enemy in the "war" is ourselves: our emotions, our fears, our gut reactions, and our knee-jerk impulses. Terrorists win when they induce terror, and when that terror compels us to bend and flex our basic beliefs. Plain and simple. The best response to militant Islam is to reaffirm free speech, to stand up in the face of our fears, and to allow terrorism not to affect us. A defiant lack of terror robs terrorism of its power. Now, I'm not so naive as to suggest that terrorists won't keep attempting terrorism. They probably always will. But they'll do it regardless of what degree we try to kowtow to their religious sensitivities. They'll do it not because they are Muslims, or because they're offended by us, but because they are militants attempting to advance a specific, political agenda. The Muslims who aren't violently advancing a political agenda, i.e., the majority of them, aren't going to be driven to do so by our free expression.