Wow, I don't know where to start, so I'll try to keep it short.

The ironic fact is that I totally agree with the xkcd strip you published. But I think that that strip isn't what you, you are saying in your posts. Yes, maybe Charlie Hebdo published bullshit. But you know why? Charlie Hebdo is a magazine. Which means that it is not mandatory to read it, or even acknowledge its existence. You feel offended by what they publish? Fine by me, it's your absolute right. You feel that "they had it coming"? NOT FINE by me, because once again, it means that if you feel offended by something, you have the absolute right to use ANY MEANS to shut them down. Does it feel right for you?

Let's say you like corrida. I don't know if you do or not, and I don't really care. But let's just imagine. Now let's imagine I'm totally against corrida. You publish things in your own newspaper (privately owned) supporting corrida, saying how dumb people who don't like corrida are. Does it mean that I can come to your newspaper's head office and have a killing spree just because "you had it coming"? I think you will find it ridiculous, right? Well, that's your exact position about Charlie Hebdo.

You can sue Charlie Hebdo, you can call for a boycott, but never, never it will justify that "they had it coming" and that the killing is not undeserved.

On the one hand, blaming a religion followed by 1 billion for the actions of a violent minority is wrong.

On the other, I am always reminded of a Muslim ex-coworker who seemed like a normal nice guy, but one time in a discussion about terrorism or something he said "When somebody insults the prophet Mohammed, I feel the same as if they were punching my mother." and I was like O_O

I can relate to that, it is a very scary situation to be in! Especially when he saw I was reading into satanism, I thought he was going to roast me alive.

I never said that the killing was not undeserved, no one deserved to be killed for a stupid drawing. Just like no one deserves to be mugged or robbed. But if you keep practically begging for it, then it will happen eventually. That's my point. I won't do it, that's beneath me, but someone will.

Yes exactly. I think the core idea here that needs to be protected and is worth fighting for is that nobody should fear for his life for expressing his opinion.

You are right of course. But when dealing with fire, you will probably burn yourself. It's not like they were under police protection for nothing.

It's even more laudable that they still kept doing their thing (I'm now leaving out the issue if they went too far or not...I'm not really familiar with their caricatures - but whatever they were doing, nothing would justify murdering them).

A tragedy indeed. It's (almost) even more tragical that certain groups will instrumentalize this for even more hate speeches and the like.

Well it wasn't scary for me since I wasn't insulting Mohammed at the time :)

I was just shocked how he could equate verbal insult against a religious figure with physical assault against his mother.

When is Islam going to get out of the middle-ages?

This is not Islam, but a twisted version of it spread by some insane fanatics.

Kukluxklan

ALL religions.

And Atheism!

What does that leave?

Agnosticism and some forms of animism, I guess.

Agnosticism... you shall not know for sure! BELIEVE!!!...that there might or might not be a god!!!