BrianGarst.com

From Townhall:

A Danish court rejected a lawsuit Thursday against the newspaper that first printed the controversial Prophet Muhammad cartoons. Arab politicians and intellectuals warned the verdict would widen the gap between Westerners and Muslims, but said mass protests were unlikely.

The City Court in Aarhus rejected claims by seven Danish Muslim groups that the 12 drawings printed in the Jyllands-Posten daily were meant to insult the prophet and make a mockery of Islam. Islamic law forbids any depiction of Prophet Muhammad, even positive ones, to prevent idolatry.

The court conceded that some Muslims saw the drawings as offensive, but found there was no basis to assume that “the purpose of the drawings was to present opinions that can belittle Muslims.”

…Jyllands-Posten’s editor in chief hailed the court’s decision as a victory for freedom of speech.

It’s good that the lawsuit was thrown out, but I’m not encouraged and don’t really consider this “a victory for freedom of speech”. It’s a harbringer of things to come, and the fact that it was even filed does not bode well for the future of intellectual freedom in Europe. After all, what if the cartoons had been intended “to present opinions that can belittle Muslims”? Is that really a sound cause of legal action? Everyone else can be belittled, but not Muslims? If you’re only allowed to express an opinion that doesn’t offend anyone then that’s not freedom of speech.

Denmark dhimmitude Europe free speech frivolous lawsuits