Imam Rauf “excoriating” (actually, not) South Park: On Faith Panelists Blog: Conflicting cultural norms require respect, restraint - Feisal Abdul Rauf

Freedom of expression is the law in the United States. It is something that the government must uphold. But the people who create this insulting material about the Prophet Muhammad should not be nave. They are digging deeply at the cultural values of huge numbers of people, many of whom now live as law-abiding citizens of the United States.

In this enlightened age, would the producers of South Park insult the values of African Americans?

As to burqas, it is the cultural norm in Belgium and France for women to reveal their faces. It is a cultural norm in Saudi Arabia that they do not. If Muslims support the right of the Saudi government to require Western women in Saudi Arabia to wear abayas that cover their bodies and heads (but not their faces), then Muslims must support the right of the Belgian and French governments to ban the burqa in Belgium and France.

Can we be upset in these times of heightened national security that the Belgians and French want to know who is walking around on their streets? And in these times when sensitivity about religion and respect are at a boil, cannot the arbiters of Western media show a little restraint?

Whoa. A radical Islamist who supports the right of Belgium and France to ban burqas. Haven’t seen that before.

His point about South Park is pretty clear — he’s definitely not advocating censorship, he’s criticizing them for being deliberately insensitive. Which, uh, South Park kinda is. And I’m pretty sure I’ve seen other people than Muslims get offended by South Park too.