Barbaric actions and delusion

The three barbaric terrorists who murdered 12 staff of Charlie Hebdo and four Jews in cold blood deserved to die. People such as these have no place in civilized society. These Islamic radicals live in their own delusional world, and are beyond all reasoning and civility. It is clear that religious fervor has shrunk their brains and narrowed their minds. Unfortunately, the worst is yet to come, as recruiters of radical Islam have mastered the art of brainwashing naive young men and women.

Having said that, let me, for a change, play the devil's advocate. Just imagine that an Islamic group publishes a satirical magazine in the U.S. Abusing the free speech privilege, it caricatures Moses, Jesus, Mary and Christian saints in a derogatory way. How would Christian fundamentalist react? Knowing full well that this magazine has the right to free speech, few sane Christians would think of taking the publishers to court. However, I won't be surprised if a few Christian fundamentalists would certainly take the law into their own hands. We know that such things happen in the U.S. On May 31, 2009, an anti-abortionist, "Sovereign Citizen," nut shot dead Dr. George Tiller in Wichita, Kansas.

While we all should cherish free speech granted to us by the Constitution, common sense and civility should tell us that all religious people have the right to have delusions about their prophets and saints. Out of decency, one should not go out of the way to ridicule prophets of any religion.

K.P.S. KAMATH, Cape Girardeau