It is unacceptable that religious groups are setting down the rules for the rights of the press and freedom of expression. It is not up to religious groups to decide what to publish or not -- we would be back in 1938 if we accepted this. |
This is an inviolable question of principle here in the land of Voltaire and Zola. We are willing to appear before the courts if some think the drawings go too far, but we are certainly not willing to give way to the desires of religious extremists. |
This is good news to us all. We are defending the principle of the right for caricature and satire. |
When extremists extract concessions from democracies on points of principle, either by blackmail or terror, democracies do not have long left. |