ABSTRACT
The particular style of protest and colourful expression of a heartfelt opinion, common in much of the Islamic world, clashes with the language sensitivities of the West and invokes images of the proverbial lynch mob. If Islamic icons are portrayed as flawed, it reflects on Muslims personally. It requires a realignment of the West's perceived freedoms with Muslim sensitivities. Some commentators seek to defend Western liberalism which they believe is under relentless attack by a powerful cultural other identified rather sweepingly, albeit inaccurately, as Islam. Cultural relativism, hitherto reserved for enclaves of intellectualism, was introduced to the general discourse of the West by the liberalism of post-modernity, serving now as a modus of political and ideological correctness. The issue of free speech is tied to other freedoms people living in a Western liberal democracy enjoy. It is linked to other forms of expression: freedom of the press and the media, the arts and academic freedom, as well as religious freedom.
