The New Criterion

In April, Comedy Central received a (partially) veiled death threat against the creators of South Park from a New York– based group called Revolution Muslim. Their tort? Portraying Mohammed in a bear suit (a scene that Comedy Central, capitulating to the bullies, censored). In response, Molly Norris, a Seattle artist, suggested denominating May 20 “Everybody Draws Mohammed Day.” Nick Gillespie at Reason magazine took up the challenge and mounted an everybody-draws-Mohammed contest. By the time you read this, the winner will have been announced and, who knows, perhaps Revolution Muslim or some sister organization will have issued another round of death threats.

The conjunction of the words “cartoon” and “Mohammed” inevitably brings to mind the phrase “Danish cartoons,” the dozen images of Mohammed published by the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Poste ...