If a bunch of terrorists hadn't martyred them for free speech, they wouldn't be free speech martyrs.
They may also have been assholes. Freedom of speech is frequently tested by assholes. But when it's between assholes and murderers, I'm foursquare on the side of the assholes. (And that famous quote that Voltaire probably never said, but should have.)
The very least the murderers should get for their efforts is a lesson in the Streisand Effect. Shutting up the speech they murdered people to shut up creates incentives in entirely the wrong direction.
Re "if you keep it up long enough, eventually unstable men will take up arms against you"-- I at least don't know of any murders in response to the long, storied, and ongoing history of vile antisemitic cartoons in the Christian and Muslim worlds. I also don't recall hearing of any in response to many decades (at least) of hatefully racist cartoons and caricatures in the US.
no subject
They may also have been assholes. Freedom of speech is frequently tested by assholes. But when it's between assholes and murderers, I'm foursquare on the side of the assholes. (And that famous quote that Voltaire probably never said, but should have.)
The very least the murderers should get for their efforts is a lesson in the Streisand Effect. Shutting up the speech they murdered people to shut up creates incentives in entirely the wrong direction.
Re "if you keep it up long enough, eventually unstable men will take up arms against you"-- I at least don't know of any murders in response to the long, storied, and ongoing history of vile antisemitic cartoons in the Christian and Muslim worlds. I also don't recall hearing of any in response to many decades (at least) of hatefully racist cartoons and caricatures in the US.