I don’t know where you got the false idea that I have the false idea
that the Danish cartoons were intended to be a provocation — it’s not
at all what I said on Thurs evening. Among the things that I did say,
which was disputed by Balvenie and DarkLord, was that the (initial 3, I
think) cartoons originated in a newspaper in Egypt/Cairo and were
simply reprinted by the Danish newspaper explicitly as something that
had already been published in the muslim world, but to which several
more cartoons were added. I would welcome an authoritative account
saying otherwise, but pro tem I stand by this account that I know is
significantly different from the prevailing version. I learned of it
a few weeks after the Copenhagen firestorm and upon checking, found
its veracity to be acceptable.

I concur, of course, that we must stand in any way necessary against
those who challenge/threaten the foundations of our worldview and
social order. A fight of some kind is unavoidable. I sense, however,
that in the ebb and flow of civilizations and epochs, the pinnacle of
ours was reached somewhere around 1985-1990 and that we can expect
retrograde change for at least some centuries to come. Which means
among many things that there will be a shrinking core of our society
strong enough to know that they must fight, and will, and wise enough
to know how, even understanding that it will be a rearguard action and
will occur in the face of shrinking support for the fight from the
affluence-anaesthetized masses. Pity. Perhaps some will
(necessarily) find comfort and strength in believing that God is on
their side.