The Great Cartoon War of '06: Canadian college kids shoot blanks.

Right. I'm willing to concede we have two very offensive cartoons here. However, the key is how you (Yes, you.) react to them. Rioting, murder, mayhem, fatwas, jihads, et cetera, are immoral, sinful, wrong, stupid, hateful, fascist, and just plain insane. And if you think I'm wrong here (King Goober II, call your office.) you really need to start thinking for yourself.


A university newspaper in Canada is defending its publishing of a cartoon showing Jesus and Muhammad kissing, saying it's not "an act of hate."
The Strand, the student paper of Victoria University, which is part of the University of Toronto, printed the controversial cartoon Wednesday. It shows the two revered religious figures kissing in the "Tunnel of Tolerance," with Jesus removing Muhammad's robe.

Hate is in the eye of the beholder, boys.

Nick Ragaz, managing editor for the Strand, wrote an editorial accompanying the image addressing the ongoing rage in the Muslim world over several cartoons depicting Muhammad that were published in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten. Nearly 50 people have died in Muslim nations as a result of riots protesting the cartoons.

Despite the Strand's decision to run the kissing image and complaints it has received since then, the publication has refused to run the 12 Muhammad cartoons that were first published in Europe.

Do I detect a whiff of leftist hypocrisy here? Or is it cowardice? It does not really matter. The cartoon they published is enough to get the Student Union torched.

"Publishing these cartoons seems to do little more than fan the flames of already-existing controversy," opined Aine O'Hare of the Strand.

In a online message, Ragaz said the cartoon was intended to provoke debate, dialogue and thought, and should not be understood to promote violence or hate, reported newssite ekkelsia.

"The cartoon is a sort of Canadian statement on religious tolerance," said Ragaz.

Once upon a time, kiddies, Canadians stormed the beaches of Normandy with us, cutting real Nazis to pieces and sending them straight to Hell.

Hard to believe, I know.

"This is not an act of hate," he said. "It's controversial, yes, but it's no attack."

Continued Ragaz: "We will not be pulling the issues from the stands or withdrawing the cartoon from our website. (Thanks to WorldNetDaily for the heads up.)