How to fight self-censorship in the face of Islamic threat of violence

Submitted by Ellyn (United States), Sep 20, 2006 at 09:41

Re: Retaining free speech about Islam, therefore, represents a critical defense against the imposition of an Islamic order.

Already, some people are reluctant to say what they are thinking, for fear of violent retribution. In today's world, the requirement that one include one's city and state as name when signing letters can lead to self-censorship. It is too easy to go online and locate a letter writer--pinpoining his home on an online map. One of the ways newspapers could encourage more free speech about Islam would be to announce that on controversial subjects, addresses of writers will not be published.

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".