A Somali man, with alleged al Qaeda ties, was arrested for the attempted murder of Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard over the weekend. The unnamed defendant, anonymous because of a court order, had earlier been held in Kenya, but released, for a suspected plot to kill U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. On Friday night, the 28-year-old Somali stormed Westergaard's house armed with an ax and a knife. The cartoonist absconded to his specially made panic room before police arrived and shot the intruder.

Westergaard sketched this cartoon, which depicts Muhammed as a warrior prophet. Islamic radicals, and many garden-variety Muslims, remain outraged over the unflattering cartoon. The radicals decided to counter Westergaard's portrayal of Islam as a violent religion by murdering him with an ax. The irony is apparently lost on such fanatics.

Much is made about the encroachment of the West upon Islam--McDonald's arches amidst minarets and the like. What of the encroachment of Islam upon the West? Freedom of expression, if not as ingrained throughout the West as it is in the United States, is a cultural marker of Western Civilization. Clearly, this extreme form of the heckler's veto, in which ax-toting maniacs reject sunlight as the best disinfectant in favor of sharp cutting instruments, imposes a chilling effect upon expression. Cartoonists, politicians, writers, and others fear speaking truth lest it incite a crazed Muhammedan to murder them. Thusly, the West becomes dewesternized, to a degree slight or great depending upon the percentage of unassimilated Muslims present, and becomes more like the lands these new immigrants have fled.

Good for Westergaard to have had the foresight to have installed a panic room. Better for Denmark, and other Western nations that wish to remain so, never to have been so indiscriminant in who they allow into their countries. Should they continue this suicidal course they won't remain their countries for long--and then panic rooms will be as common as bathrooms.

Contrary to somewhat popular belief, Western cultures need to become a bit more xenophobic. Especially when it comes to the culture and religion of "peace". You know, the one that states specifically that if a Muslim takes out an infidel, they will be rewarded in Heaven.

It would be a completely different story if those who follow that belief were of the live and let live variety. But – they’re mostly not. So, as said here, it behooves Western Countries to be cautious about how far they allow for contrary cultures to come in and take over when that is there only aim.

Australia seems to be one of only Western Countries who have it down with a 'love it or leave it' attitude for those who choose not to assimilate.

But as our new "President" informs the World that America is a mostly Muslim nation, I suppose we don't have to worry about that.

"It would be a completely different story if those who follow that belief were of the live and let live variety. But – they’re mostly not."

Is that really true, ASDF, or is that we just notice the few bad apples?

While there are bad apples in every barrel, Islam is the only barrel that you'll get your throat cut for offending. Muslims, far more than anyone else on the planet, have a problem with getting along with their neighbors. The rest of us have to walk on eggshells with them, or else we die. We don't have any occasion, let alone inclination, to be so cowed by any other religion. No other religion is as hostile and explosive as this one.

Regarding the murders committed in the name of Islam, we've spent nearly a decade hearing a deafening silence from the supposedly overwhelming majority of Muslims who don't condone these murders. Wonder why that is?

As Peter Brimelow once said, speaking of a different aspect of the immigration issue, "Adolf Hitler has his revenge." The West is so afraid to be racist that it's bending over backwards to accommodate the most intolerant and most dangerous ethnicity on the planet. At a steep cost to freedom and security.

I don't doubt that there are peaceful followers of the "Religion of Peace" as one can't necessarily paint with such broad a brush. But mostly where there are Muslims there is trouble. Even amongst their own and anywhere around the world.

Two good points made previously highlight this: it seems to be the only religion where revenge and insult murders are common and the "good" Muslims don't seem too eager to disavow those of their faith who perpetrate those in the name of Allah. And whether that is out of fear for reprisals from their own or they are silent because atrocities that are done in the name of their faith are some how condoned, there is something certainly wrong there.

You see the point.

Also, let us not forget that those who don't follow the word are considered non-believers and thus expendable. Convert or die in some cases. And for those on the outside the belief that they are inferior makes that attitude easier to digest for your average zealot of jihadist.

The scarier part is those of us in the West who (like our current President and his crew) think that going over board to placate and cajole many of these fanatics will somehow help them to understand and get along with us. But their aim is to control and rule and their strong (and in many cases insane) beliefs will allow for them to do nothing else.

Just the idea that we "infidels" might all need panic rooms to protect ourselves should speak volumes.

Good points all, guys, and I agree with much that has been said. But I have to confess I giggle when I see Christians point at Islam (or any other religion) and accuse it of being violent. I know there is not a tally sheet on who has committed the most or worst physical/spiritual atrocities but Christianity is in no moral position to judge any other belief system. Oceans of blood have been shed in the name of Christ the same as they have been shed for Mohammed and Allah. I agree that Islam is a vile religion and currently has more than its share of fanatics but Christianity is equally vile and historically has taken a back seat to none as far as death, destruction and zealotry is concerned. Let's not forget our history folks, we’re not as far removed from some very dark days under the Christian yoke as we would like to believe! Personally I feel that anyone that claims they hold a personal belief system that:

• Is a special, unique gateway to some sort of “Heaven” or “Paradise”

• Gets them a better seat than people who practice a different personal belief system in said “Heaven” or “Paradise”

is a jack-off at best, get ‘em all out of here I say! We'll be much better without them.

Maybe it's time to jettison all this B.S. organized religion and accept an enlarging, more personal and tolerant spirituality. We all would probably be much better off for it.

Since all I believe in is the world we have now (and perhaps because I'm not Christian), all I care about is the world as it is. And in that world, it's a Christian country--America--that has given freedom, refuge, and opportunity to nonbelievers like me.

It's not Christianity that poses an existential threat to freedom and personal security everywhere. No, in our lifetime, the enemy of tolerance is Islam. If I were living in the Middle Ages, I'm sure that I, as a Jew (albeit a nonbelieving one), would feel differently. Those days are gone. What can one say? Things change.

"Christianity is in no moral position to judge any other belief system."

Anyone with eyes, ears, and a brain is in a very good position to judge Islam.

Took the words right out of my fingers Alan. I was going to respond with pretty much the very same comments, especially noting the bloodletting in the Middle Ages at the behest of Christianity.

But the moral equivalency that some try to make with regard to how that translates to what it happening today with those who follow Islam is shallow.