Danish cartoons depicting the

Islamic prophet Muhammad

have caused outrage throughout

the Middle East and have

prompted radical Muslim cries

for censorship. The groups are

violently protesting the cartoons

that not only ridicule Islam but

also pictorially depict Muhammad,

an act considered a sin in the

religion. These protests have

caused newspapers and writers to

reevaluate the meaning of freedom

of press.

Because of the fear of violence,

few newspapers have reprinted

the cartoons, causing many

people to wonder what all the

fuss is about. The censorship

that several organizations, like

the Associated Press, have selfinflicted

by choosing not to publish

the cartoons has deprived the

American public of the complete

knowledge of the situation taking

place in the Middle East and

Europe.

This isn’t the first time that a

religion has been under humorous

attack, but the effects of this

particular instance have caused a

major regression in the freedom

that writers and newspapers as a

whole are given. The limitations

that have been self imposed on

what certain newspapers are

willing to publish have infringed

on the rights of the general public.

People need to know what is going

on in the world, and if a group is

protesting violently about a certain

issue, they have the right to know

what initially caused the violence.

On Feb. 12, the Valley Morning

Star reprinted two of the 12

original cartoons, giving readers

in the Valley the opportunity to

finally know what all the ruckus

was about. It was a step many

more newspapers should consider

taking in order to enlighten the

readers of their area, and to defend

the important principle of free

speech.

We couldn’t make a decision

whether or not to published

the cartoons in “The Cardinal”

because of copyright laws and

because it’s illegal to reprint them

from the Internet.